Interesting Facts about Country Flags
National flags often develop from historical, geographical, or cultural elements. Geography is also a strong indication of a flag’s design.
Read below to learn some interesting flag facts about vexillology , the study of flags.
Flag Facts about African and the Middle Eastern Flags
- The light blue color in the flag of Somalia was a tribute to the UN troops that helped to maintain peace in Somalia for many years.
- An olive branch, which symbolizes peace, is present in the flags of Cyprus, the United Nations and Eritrea.
- Islam is a major influence in flag design, particularly in North Africa. Green symbolizes the color of Allah. The crescent and star, a symbol of Hagar the mother of Ishmael, and the written form of the shahada (the Islamic affirmation of faith) are often used as charges. The use of symbols is prominent in Islamic designs because depictions of the human form are forbidden by the Qu'ran. For example, the Libyan flag, Mauritanian flag, Saudi Arabian flag and the flag of Comoros all reflect the Islamic flag design.
- Ethiopia is one of the few African countries with little history of European colonization thus, making it a model to other emerging African nation-states in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1957, Ghana flipped the colors of the Ethiopian flag and added a black star to represent the people. To emulate Ethopia's green-yellow-red tricolor was red, yellow, green, and black became the basis for several sub-Sahara African flags. For example, the flag of the Republic of Congo, the flag of Senegal, the Rwandan flag, the flag of Mali and the flag of Togo are all similar to the Ethiopian flag and echo the feeling of African pride.
- In the Middle East, several countries use red, white, black, and green, to recall the flag of the Hejaz and the Sharif of Mecca, who led the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Turks. For example, the Egyptian flag, the Kuwaiti, the Yemen flag, the flag of the United Arab Emirates.
- Upon gaining independence, Rwanda was intended to raise a red-yellow-green vertical tricolor flag. But last minute it was changed when it was discovered that this design was already in use by Guinea, so they added a black "R" in the central stripe.
Flag Facts about North American Flags, Central American Flags, and South American Flags
- The original USA Pledge of Allegiance to the flag did not contain the phrase "of America". In 1923, the words were added to avoid confusion among immigrants as to which country they were pledging their allegiance! The pledge was officially amended again on June 14, 1954, by a joint resolution of Congress approved by President Eisenhower, to read "one nation under God."
- The white color on the national flag of Chile represents the snow of the Andes Mountain Range.
- Honduras , El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were once united together as the United Provinces of Central America. The United Provinces flag used a blue and white flag. Today, the now-independent countries all still use a blue and white flag themselves, except for Costa Rica made the addition of red. Hondura’s flag bears five stars to recall the original union of the United Provinces of Central America.
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Some Central American, South American, and West Indian countries use red, white, and blue as colors and stars and stripes as design elements. They were influenced by the American struggle for independence and hoped to express solidarity with the U.S. in their own flags. For example, the Cuban flag, the Puerto Rican flag, the Panamanian flag and the Chilean flag are all in similar in color and design.
Flag Facts about European Flags
- The national flag of Malta has a replica of bravery medal called the George Cross awarded by King George VI of the United Kingdom for its bravery in the II World War.
- The green and orange colors in the Irish national flag represent the Catholics and Protestants respectively. The white in between stands for peace and unity.
- Italians who supported Napoleon Bonaparte of France first used their flag in 1796 during a war against Austria. Napoleon designed the Italian flag to look like that of France, but replaced the blue, which was present in the French flag, with green - his favorite color.
- Many Eastern European countries view Russia as the cultural homeland of all Slavs, and have adopted the white-red-blue in their own flags. Russia was given its flag by Peter the Great, who was influenced by the tricolor of the Netherlands.
- The off-centered cross of the Scandinavian and Norden regions’ flags represent not only Christianity but also a cultural tie to Denmark, the first country in the region to adopt a flag. There is a legend that says the flag fell from the sky on 15 June 1219, and King Valdemar II led his knights to victory against the "heathen" Estonians under the standard the same day. For example, the Finnish flag, Icelandic flag, Norwegian flag and the flag of the Faroe Islands display a regional connection to one another.
Flag Facts about World Flags
- The Malaysian flag has 14 red and white stripes which represent the 14 original states. The design was based on the flag of the US, which has 13 stripes representing the 13 original colonies.
- The large yellow star on China’s flag represents the leadership of the Communist Party. The smaller four stars represent economic classes: peasants, workers, petty bourgeoisie, and patriotic capitalists.
- The Indian flag represents Hinduism and Islam, by the saffron and green stripes which are their holy colors. At the same time, the saffron on the Indian flag stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation, while the green stands for faith and fertility.
Liechtenstein and Haiti used to have the same flag, apparently by coincidence. The tiny European country of Liechtenstein differenced their blue over red bicolor with a gold coronet after it was discovered at the 1936 Olympic Games that the flag was formerly identical to Haiti's.
- The flags of Monaco and Indonesia are identical again by coincidence.
- Romania , Chad, Andorra, and Moldova all have flags of blue, yellow and red vertical tricolors which are either directly or indirectly influenced by the French tricolor. Besides Romania's cultural influence on neighboring Moldova, they are unrelated.
- Liberia was founded by freed American slaves, who imitated the U.S. flag in an attempt to represent what they felt to be the true ideals of the U.S.A