For other uses, see Flag (disambiguation).

A flag is a piece of coloured cloth flown from a pole or mast, usually for purposes of signalling or identification. Flags were initially created for signalling, such as semaphore, and for the identification of those who displayed them, and are still used for that purpose today. Flags are also used in messaging or advertising, or for decorative purposes, though at this less formal end the distinction between a flag and a simple cloth banner is blurred. Generally, a piece of cloth is a flag if it is flown like a flag, with one side attached, though many flags are recognisable if displayed in other forms.

The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin vexillum meaning flag or banner.

History

Although flag-like symbols have been used by ancient cultures for thousands of years, the origin of flags in the modern sense is a matter of dispute. Some believe flags originated in China, while others hold that the Roman Empire's vexillum was the first true flag. Originally, the standards of the Roman legions were not flags, but symbols like the eagle of Caesar's Xth legion; this eagle would be placed on a staff for the standard-bearer to hold up during battle. But a military unit from Scythia had for a standard a dragon with a flexible tail which would move in the wind; the legions copied this; eventually all the legions had flexible standards — our modern-day flag.

During the Middle Ages, flags were used mainly during battles to identify individual leaders: in Europe the knights, in Japan the samurai, and in China the generals under the imperial army.

From the time of Christopher Columbus onwards, it has been customary (and later a legal requirement) for ships to carry flags designating their nationality; these flags eventually evolved into the national flags and maritime flags of today. Flags also became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals; see International maritime signal flags.

Beginning in the 17th century, European knights were replaced by centralized armies, and flags became the means to identify not just nationalities but also individual military units. Flags became much more elaborate, and were seen as objects to be captured or defended. Eventually these flags posed too much danger to those carrying them, and by World War I these were withdrawn from the battlefields, and have since been used only at ceremonial occasions.

National flags

Main article: National flag

One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolize a nation or country. Some national flags have been particularly inspirational to other nations, countries, or subnational entities in the design of their own flags. Some prominent examples include:

• The flag of Scotland, called the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross, dates to the 9th century, and is the oldest national flag still in use. Notable flags which share the saltire design include the flag of Jamaica, the Confederate Naval Jack, the naval ensign and naval jack of Russia and the flag for the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia. It also forms a key part in the design of the Union Flag of the United Kingdom.
• The flag of Denmark is the oldest state flag still in use. This flag, called the Dannebrog, inspired the cross design of other Nordic countries. Examples: the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland.
• The flag of Switzerland, with its colours reversed, gave rise to the emblem of the International Red Cross, which under international law is a safe conduct in war zones.
• The Union Flag of the United Kingdom, more commonly (and correctly, when used by warships at sea) called the Union Jack. British colonies typically flew a flag based on one of the ensigns based on this flag, and many former colonies have retained the design to acknowledge their cultural history. Examples: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tuvalu, and also the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, and the American state of Hawaii; see List of British flags and Category:Ensign images.
• The Tricolor of The Netherlands is the oldest tricolor, first appearing in 1572 as the Prince's Flag in orange–white–blue. Soon the more famous red–white–blue began appearing — it is however unknown why, though many stories are known. After 1630 the red–white–blue was the most commonly seen flag. The Dutch Tricolor has inspired many flags but most notably those of Russia, India and France, which spread the tricolor concept even further, as can be seen below. The Flag of the Netherlands is also the only flag in the world that is adapted for some uses, when the occasion has a connection to the royal house of the Netherlands an orange ribbon is added.
• The national flag of France, also called the Tricolore, which inspired other nations to adopt differenced tricolours in sympathy with the revolutionary spirit with which the flag was designed in 1794. Examples among many: Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Mexico.
• The flag of the United States, also nicknamed The Stars and Stripes or Old Glory. In the same way that nations looked to France for inspiration, many countries were also inspired by the American Revolution, which they felt was symbolized in this flag. Examples: Cuba, Chile, Liberia, Malaysia The flag of Malaysia is also referred to as Jalur Gemilang or Glorious Stripes.
• The flag of Russia, the source for the Pan-Slavic colors adopted by many Slavic states and peoples as their symbols. Examples: Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria.
• Ethiopia was seen as a model by emerging African states of the 1950s and 1960s, as it was one of the oldest independent states in Africa. Accordingly, its flag became the source of the Pan-African colours. Examples: Togo, Senegal, Ghana, Mali.
• The flag of Turkey, which was the flag of the Ottoman Empire, has been an inspiration for the flag designs of many other Muslim nations. During the time of the Ottomans the crescent began to be associated with Islam and this is reflected on the flags of Algeria, Azerbaijan, Comoros, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Tunisia, and the de facto country of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
• The Pan-Arab colors, green, white, red and black, seen on the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Yemen and on the Palestinian flag.
• The Soviet flag, with its golden symbols of the proletariat on a red field, was an inspiration to flags of other communist states, such as East Germany, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Angola, Afghanistan and Mozambique.
• The flag of Venezuela, created by Francisco de Miranda to represent the independence movement in Venezuela that later gave birth to the "Gran Colombia", inspired the individual flags of Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, all sharing three bands of colour and three of them (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela) sharing the yellow, blue and red.
• The flag of Argentina, created by Manuel Belgrano during the war of independence, was the inspiration for the United Provinces of Central America's flag, which in turn was the origin for the flags of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Flags at sea

Main article: Maritime flags

Flags are particularly important at sea, where they can mean the difference between life and death, and consequently where the rules and regulations for the flying of flags are strictly enforced. A national flag flown at sea is known as an ensign. A courteous, peaceable merchant ship or yacht customarily flies its ensign (in the usual ensign position), together with the flag of whatever nation it is currently visiting at the mast (known as a courtesy flag). To fly one's ensign alone in foreign waters, a foreign port or in the face of a foreign warship traditionally indicates a willingness to fight, with cannon, for the right to do so. As of 2006, this custom is still taken seriously by many naval and port authorities and is readily enforced in many parts of the world by boarding, confiscation and other civil penalties.

In some countries yacht ensigns are different from merchant ensigns in order to signal that the yacht is not carrying cargo that requires a customs declaration. Carrying commercial cargo on a boat with a yacht ensign is deemed to be smuggling in many jurisdictions.

There is a system of International maritime signal flags for numerals and letters of the alphabet. Each flag or pennant has a specific meaning when flown individually.

As well, semaphore flags can be used to communicate on an ad hoc basis from ship to ship over short distances.

Shape and design

Main article: Flag terminology

Flags are usually rectangular in shape, but may be of any shape or size that is practical for flying. Named shapes include square (e.g., the national flag of Switzerland and the state flag of the Vatican City), pennant, double pennant (e.g., the state flag of Ohio), swallowtail, triangular or swallowtail burgee, gonfanon and oriflamme. A more unusual flag shape is that of the flag of Nepal, which is in the shape of two stacked triangles.

Often the image is through and through, in which case there are two possibilities:

• the image is symmetrical in an axis parallel to the flag pole, so the image is the same when viewed from the other side
• when viewed from the other side one sees the mirror image; this is very common and usually not disturbing if there is no text in the flag — the whole image of flag with flag staff is not the same anyway, with the staff on the other side; examples are the flag of the United States with stars and stripes on the hoist-side, and the former Nazi swastika flag at sea (compare with the flag on land mentioned below)

If the image is not through and through there are also two possibilities:

• the image is not symmetric, nevertheless the image is the same when viewed from the other side; for example the former Nazi swastika flag on land ([1], at the bottom)
• the image is different; examples are the national flag of Paraguay, the state flag of Oregon and the now-obsolete flag of the Soviet Union.

Common designs on flags include crosses, stripes, and divisions of the surface, or field, into bands or quarters — patterns and principles mainly derived from heraldry. A heraldic coat of arms may also be flown as a banner of arms, as is done on both the state flag of Maryland and the flag of Kiribati. Writing occasionally features on flags — for example, on several flags of U.S. states, or on revolutionary flags of the former Soviet Union. The practice is, however, not widely favoured, as it is expensive to reproduce accurately and is either difficult to read on the reverse of a flag (in mirror image), or sewn on both sides of the flag, making the flag too heavy to fly properly.

The flag of Libya, which consists of a rectangular field of green, is the only national flag using a single color and no design or insignia.

In sports

Because of their ease of signalling and identification, flags are often used in sports.

• In American and Canadian football, referees use flags to indicate an error has been made in game play. The phrase used for such an indication is flag on the play. The flag itself is a small, weighted handkerchief, tossed on the field at the approximate point of the infraction; the intent is usually to sort out the details after the current play from scrimmage has concluded. In American football, the flag is usually yellow; in Canadian football, it is usually red.
• In auto and motorcycle racing, racing flags are used to communicate with drivers. Most famously, a checkered flag of black and white indicates the end of the race, and victory for the leader. A yellow flag is used to indicate caution requiring slow speed and a red flag requires racers to stop immediately. A black flag is used to indicate penalties.
• In Association football (soccer), linesmen carry small flags along the touch lines. They use the flags to indicate to the referee potential infringements of the laws, or who is entitled to possession of the ball that has gone out of the field of play, or, most famously, raise the flag overhead to indicate an offside offence. Officials called touch judges use flags for similar purposes in both codes of rugby.
• In addition, fans of almost all sports wave flags in the stands to indicate their support for the participants. Many sports teams have their own flags, and, in individual sports, fans will indicate their support for a player by waving the flag of his or her home country.
• Capture the flag is a popular children's sport.

Swimming flags

In Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, and the United Kingdom a pair of red/yellow flags is used to mark the limits of the bathing area on a beach, usually guarded by surf lifesavers. If the beach is closed, the poles of the flags are crossed. The flags are coloured with a red triangle and a yellow triangle making a rectangular flag, or a red rectangle over a yellow rectangle. On many Australian beaches there is a slight variation with beach condition signalling. A red flag signifies a closed beach (or, in the UK, some other danger), yellow signifies strong current or difficult swimming conditions, and green represents a beach safe for general swimming. Blue flags may also be used away from the yellow-red lifesaver area to designate a zone for surfboarding and other small, non-motorised watercraft.

Reasons for closing the beach include:

• no lifeguards in attendance
• waves too strong
• dangerous rip
• sharks
• tsunami

A surf flag exists, divided into four quadrants. The top left and bottom right quadrants are black, and the remaining area is white.

Signal flag "India" (a black circle on a yellow square) is frequently used to denote a "blackball" zone where surfboards cannot be used but other water activities are permitted.

Railway flags

Railways use a number of colored flags, usually with the following meanings:

• red = stop
• yellow = proceed with care
• green or white or blue = proceed.
• a flag of any color waved vigorously means stop

• A blue flag on the side of a locomotive means that it should not be moved because someone is working on it (or on the train attached to it). A blue flag on a track means that nothing on that track should be moved. The flag can only be removed by the person or group that placed it.

At night, the flags are replaced with lanterns showing the same colors.

Railway signals are a development of railway flags.

Flagpoles

A flagpole or flagstaff can be a simple support made of wood or metal. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The flag is fixed to one lower end of the cord, and is then raised by pulling on the other end. The cord is then tightened and tied to the pole at the bottom. The pole is usually topped by a flat plate called a "truck" (originally meant to keep a wooden pole from splitting) or by a ball or a finial in a more complex shape.

Very high flagpoles may require more complex support structures than a simple pole, such as guy wires, or need be built as a mast. The highest flagpole in the world, at 160 metres (525 feet), is that at Gijeong-dong in North Korea, the flag weighing about 270 kilograms (600 pounds)) when dry. The world's biggest regularly hoisted flag, however, is the Brazilian national flag flown in the Square of the Three Powers in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. This flag weighs about 600 kilograms (1300 pounds) when dry and measures 70×100 metres (230x330 feet). It can be seen from all parts of Brasilia and its flagpole is the tallest structure in the city. The tallest free-standing flagpole in the world is in Aqaba, Jordan, with a total height of 132 meters (430 feet). The second tallest free standing flagpole in the world is also in Jordan but in the capital, Amman. It reaches a height of 126 meters (410 feet), and hoists a flag which measures 60×40 meters (200x130 feet), and is illuminated at night, and can be seen from 25 km (16 miles) away.

Flag facts

• The flag of Cyprus is the only national flag to display its map outline.
• The flag of Nepal is the only national flag which isn't square or rectangular: it is in the shape of two triangles.
• The flag of Libya is the only national flag which is a single colour: green.
• The flags of Switzerland and Vatican City are the only national flags which are exact squares.
• The most popular colour combinations are: red, white, and blue (mainly European and Western nations) and red, yellow, and green (mainly African nations) The Olympic rings - blue, yellow, black, green and red represent colours used at least once in every national flag around the world.
• Some countries have the same or very similar national flags as other nations, for example:
  • Monaco and Indonesia (or Poland upside-down)
  • Chad and Romania
  • The flags of Luxembourg and the Netherlands differ only in their shades and ratios.
  • India and Niger have very similar flags
  • Guinea and Mali have the same flag, flipped horizontally
  • France and Netherlands have the same flag, rotated through 90 degrees
  • Ireland and the Ivory Coast also have the same flag, flipped horizontally
  • Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador all have the same colors in different ratios.
  • Italy and Mexico have the same colors.
  • The U.S. state of Texas and Chile have the same colors, three rectangles, and a lone star in the blue field.
  • The flag of Cuba is similar to the Irian Jaya flag. The difference is that Irian Jaya's flag contains a red box, while Cuba's flag contains a red triangle instead.
  • The following national flags are like 'negatives' of each other:
    • Costa Rica and Thailand;
    • Puerto Rico and Cuba
    • Iceland and Norway

See also

Lists and galleries of flags

• Gallery of flags by design
• List of flags
• List of sovereign state flags
• List of flag names
• Unofficial flags

Notable flag-related topics

• Flag Day
• Flag desecration
• Flag terminology
• Flag throwing
• Flagpole annexation
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Standard-bearer (also enumerates various types of standards, both flag types and immobile ensigns)
• Vexillology

References

• William G. Crampton; The World of Flags; Rand McNally; ISBN 0-528-83720-6 (hardcover, 1994).
• Ultimate Pocket Flags of the World; Dorling Kindersley; ISBN 0-7894-2085-6; (1st American edition, hardcover, 1996).

External links

• fotw.net, Flags of the World, an outstanding source of vexillological information, contributed to by a group of international volunteers.
• The Flag Institute (UK)
• Country Flags
• Open Clip Art Library, flags category (SVG and PNG formats)
• NAVA: North American Vexillological Association