World's most beautiful national flags
Introduction
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design that is used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or as decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have since evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is similarly challenging (such as the maritime environment where semaphore is used). National flags are patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for other decorative purposes. The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin word vexillum, meaning flag or banner.
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Bhutan
#12.1The national flag of Bhutan (Dzongkha: ཧྥ་རན་ས་ཀྱི་དར་ཆ་) is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. The flag is based upon the tradition of the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and features Druk, the Thunder Dragon of Bhutanese mythology. The basic design of the flag by Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji dates to 1947. A version was displayed in 1949 at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty. A second version was introduced in 1956 for the visit of Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuk to eastern Bhutan; it was based upon photos of its 1949 predecessor and featured a white Druk in place of the green original.
Sri Lanka
#23.5The Flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag, consists of gold lion passant, holding a sword in its right fore paw, in front of a crimson background with four golden bo leaves in each corner. Around the background is a yellow border, and to its left are two vertical stripes of equal size in saffron and green, with the saffron stripe closest to the lion. It became the flag in 1950 following the recommendations of a committee appointed by the 1st Prime Minister of Sri Lanka D.S. Senanayake.
Bangladesh
#34.2The national flag of Bangladesh (Bengali: বাংলাদেশের জাতীয় পতাকা pronounced [baŋlad̪eʃer dʒat̪ie̯o pɔt̪aka]) was adopted officially on 17 January 1972. It consists of a red disc on top of a green field, offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centred when the flag is flying. The red disc represents the sun rising over Bengal, and also the blood of those who died for the independence of Bangladesh. The green field stands for the lushness of the land of Bangladesh. The flag is based on a similar flag used during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, which had a yellow map of the country inside the red disc. In 1972 this map was removed from the flag. One reason given was the difficulty for rendering the map correctly on both sides of the flag. The civil ensign and naval ensign place it in the canton of a red or white field, respectively.
Nepal
#44.4The national flag of Nepal (Nepali: नेपालको झण्डा) is the world's only non-quadrilateral national flag. The flag is a simplified combination of two single pennons, the vexillological word for a pennant. Its crimson red is the colour of the rhododendron, the country's national flower. The blue border is the colour of peace. Until 1962, the flag's emblems, the sun and the crescent moon, had human faces. They were removed to modernize the flag.
Spain
#54.7The new Spanish flag has three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width) and red, with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band. The shield includes the royal seal, which is flanked by two crowned pillars (the Pillars of Hercules) bearing the inscription Plus Ultra.
Canada
#65.7The flag of Canada, often referred to as the Canadian flag, or unofficially as the Maple Leaf and l'Unifolié (French for "the one-leafed"), is a national flag consisting of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of 1:2:1, in the middle of which is featured a stylized, red, 11-pointed maple leaf charged in the centre.[1] It is the first specified by law for use as the country's national flag. In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson formed a committee to resolve the ongoing issue of the lack of an official Canadian flag, sparking a serious debate about a flag change to replace the Union Flag. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George Stanley,[2] based on the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada, was selected. The flag made its first official appearance on February 15, 1965; the date is now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day.
Argentina
#76.9The flag of Argentina is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured baby blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors.
Brazil
#87.5The flag of Brazil (Portuguese: Bandeira do Brasil), known in Portuguese as A Auriverde (The Yellow-and-green One), is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto "Ordem e Progresso" ("Order and Progress"), within a yellow rhombus, on a green field. Brazil officially adopted this design for its national flag on November 19, 1889 — four days after the Proclamation of the Republic, to replace the flag of the Empire of Brazil. The concept was the work of Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, with the collaboration of Miguel Lemos, Manuel Pereira Reis and Décio Villares. The Brazilian flag is regarded as one of the most beautiful national flags as it stands out due to its uniqueness in colour and design.
Guatemala
#99.1The two sky blue stripes represent the fact that Guatemala is a land located between two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean sea); and the sky over the country (see Guatemala's national anthem). The white signifies peace and purity.
Saudi Arabia
#109.7The flag of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: علم المملكة العربية السعودية) is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since March 15, 1973. It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or shahada. The Arabic inscription on the flag, written in the calligraphic Thuluth script, is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith: لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muhammadun rasūlu-llāh There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."[1] The green of the flag represents Islam and the sword stands for the strictness in applying justice.[2] The flag is manufactured with identical obverse and reverse sides, to ensure the shahada reads correctly, from right to left, from either side. The sword points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The flag is sinister hoisted, meaning that it is hoisted to the left of the flagpole, as viewed from the obverse (front) side. (Flagpole is to the right of the flag). The flag's green is Pantone 349 C (C90, M12, Y95, K40).
England
#1110.7The flag of England is derived from St George's Cross (heraldic blazon: Argent, a cross gules). The association of the red cross as an emblem of England can be traced back to the Middle Ages, and it was used as a component in the design of the Union Flag in 1606.[2] Since the 1990s it has been in increasingly wide use, particularly at national sporting events.
Turkmenistan
#1211.6The national flag of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistanyň baýdagy, Түркменистаның байдагы) features a white crescent (symbol of Islam) and five stars; those stars represent the five regions of the country. Placed upon a green field is a symbolic representation of the country's famous carpet industry.
Panama
#1312.1The flag of Panama was made by María de la Ossa de Amador and was officially adopted by the "ley 48 de 1925".[1] The Panamanian flag day is celebrated on November 4, one day after Panamanian separation from Colombia. The first flag proposed in 1903 consisted of thirteen horizontal stripes of alternating red and yellow, with a blue canton containing two golden suns, joined by a narrow line to depict the oceans to be united by the Panama Canal (see the depiction below). However, this was not accepted by the Panamanian leader, Manuel Amador Guerrero, whose family designed a new flag. The stars and quarters are said to stand for the rival political parties, and the white for the peace in which they operate. Blue was the color of the Conservatives, and red the color of the Liberals.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
#1413.2The flag of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is officially the flag of France, as Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is a self-governing overseas collectivity of France. Contents. In 1982 an unofficial local flag was designed, based on the Collectivity's coat of arms.
Ecuador
#1513.3
Serbia
#1613.8The flag of Serbia is a tricolor consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom. The same tricolor, in altering variations, has been used since the 19th century as the flag of the state of Serbia and the Serbian nation.
USA
#1714.3The flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the American flag, is the national flag of the United States. It consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the "union") bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the U.S. Nicknames for the flag include The Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner.
Swaziland
#1816.6The red stands for past battles, the blue for peace and stability, and the yellow for the resources of Swaziland. The central focus of the flag is a Nguni shield and two spears, symbolizing protection from the country's enemies.
Japan
#1916.8The national flag of Japan is a white rectangular flag with a crimson-red disc in the center. This flag is officially called Nisshōki (日章旗, "sun-mark flag") in the Japanese language, but is more commonly known as Hi no maru (日の丸, "circle of the sun"). The flag embodies Japan's nickname as the Land of the Rising Sun. The Nisshōki flag is designated as the national flag in the Law Regarding the National Flag and National Anthem, which was promulgated and became effective on August 13, 1999. Although no earlier legislation had specified a national flag, the sun-disc flag had already become the de facto national flag of Japan. Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, each had a provision for a design of the national flag. A sun-disc flag was adopted as the national flag for merchant ships under Proclamation No. 57 of Meiji 3 (issued on February 27, 1870), and as the national flag used by the Navy under Proclamation No. 651 of Meiji 3 (issued on October 27, 1870). Use of the Hi no maru was severely restricted during the early years of the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II; these restrictions were later relaxed.
Belgium
#2018.2The newly designed flag of Belgium, with the same colors but in a vertical striped pattern was finally introduced and officially adopted as the Belgian flag in January 1831. The original vertical banded design was modeled after the French tricolor flag.
Kazakhstan
#2118.2The national flag of the Republic of Kazakhstan has a gold sun with 32 rays above a soaring golden steppe eagle, both centered on a sky blue background; the hoist side displays a national ornamental pattern "koshkar-muiz" (the horns of the ram) in gold; the blue color is of religious significance to the Turkic peoples of the country, and so symbolizes cultural and ethnic unity; it also represents the endless sky as well as water; the sun, a source of life and energy, exemplifies wealth and plenitude; the sun's rays are shaped like grain, which is the basis of abundance and prosperity; the eagle has appeared on the flags of Kazakh tribes for centuries and represents freedom, power, and the flight to the future. The width of the flag to its length is 1:2
Germany
#2219.3The flag of Germany or German Flag (German: Flagge Deutschlands) is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold (German: Schwarz-Rot-Gold).
Uruguay
#2320.0The national flag of Uruguay (Pabellón Nacional) has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy.
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Added to listTurkmenistan
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Added to listSaint Pierre and Miquelon
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Added to listSwaziland
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Added to listKazakhstan
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Added to listUruguay
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