Norway’s flag is by no means the oldest in the world, though having been designed in 1821 by MP Fredrik Meltzer (1779-1855), it is older than most. With proportions of 8:11 it certainly isn’t the largest. It isn’t unique in design either since all of Scandinavia (except Greenland) uses the iconic Nordic Cross. Red, white […]
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Flag of Berlin
The flag of Germany’s capital city was officially adopted in May 1954 as the flag of the free city of West Berlin. Since the unification of Germany in 1990 the Landesflagge (state flag) has become the flag of the whole city. Designed by vexillologist Ottfried Neubecker, the 3:5-proportioned red-white-red horizontal tricolour with the city’s emblem […]
Flag of Moldova: 25 today
Today (27th April) marks the silver jubilee of Moldova’s flag. The flag itself, a blue, yellow and red tricolour, is almost identical to neighbouring Romania’s, reflecting their cultural and national affinity. What distinguishes the two is Moldova’s coat of arms (a dark golden eagle with an Orthodox Christian cross in its beak and a sceptre […]
The many crosses of St George
The St George’s Cross, a red cross on a white background, is recognised around the globe as the flag of England. King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) is believed to have adopted St. George’s Cross as his flag during his crusades. Red crosses were also used by English soldiers throughout the Middle Ages, […]
The West Indies Federation Flag
The West Indies Federation existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Edna Manley (1900–87), ‘mother of Jamaican art’, designed its flag. Her design comprised two pairs of wavy horizontal white stripes on blue to represent the Caribbean Sea. The upper pair reflects the lower, and in their centre sits an orange-gold disc representing […]
Easter Island Flag
The flag of Easter Island, a special territory of Chile, first flew in public, alongside the Chilean flag, on 9 May 2006. Adorning its white background is a red Reimiro, an ornament worn around the chest. The Indiana University Art Museum says: “The Reimiro was worn by both men and women. It served as an insignia […]
Flag of the Vatican City
As I’m sure we’re all aware, the Vatican City is the world’s smallest country in both size and population. Perhaps this is why its flag is one of the most instantly recognisable in the world. Despite the papacy dating back to 33AD, it was not until the signing of the 1929 Lateran Treaty by Pope […]
Flag of Namibia
Saturday 21 March 2015 marks 25 years since Namibia gained its independence from South Africa and officially adopted its national flag. Chosen from 835 publicly submitted designs, its origins lie in the flags of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) and the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). Naturally, each of its colour represents an aspect […]
Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations
Today 9 March 2015 is Commonwealth Day. The current flag for the Commonwealth of Nations was introduced in November 2013, just 16 months ago. It contained a number of small but significant changes to the original flag, first adopted on 26 March 1976. Three year earlier at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Ottawa, […]
Flag of Wales: a blood-red dragon on a field of green
Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon) has officially been the flag of Wales since 1959, athough a dragon has represented the Principality since 830. The Red Dragon itself can be dated back to the Roman occupation of Britain or Arthurian Legend. Merlin prophesied of a battle between a red and a white dragon – the […]
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