A flag is a piece of fabric, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. It is most commonly used to symbolize a country. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.
The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields, and flags have since evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signaling and identification, especially in environments where communication is similarly challenging (such as the maritime environment where semaphore is used). National flags are potent 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 vexillum meaning flag or banner.
History
The usage of flags spread from India and China, where they were almost certainly invented, to neighboring Burma, Siam, and southeastern Asia.
The Persians used Derafsh Kaviani as the flag, at the time of Achaemenian dynasty at 550–330 B.C. Afterwards it was used in different look by the late Sassanid era (224-651). It was also representative of the Sassanid state - Ērānshāhr, the "Kingdom of Iran" - and may so be considered to have been the first "national flag" of Iran.
Originally, the standards of the Roman legions were not flags, but symbols such as the eagle of Augustus Caesar's Xth legion; this graphic of the eagle would be placed on a staff for the standard-bearer to hold up during battle. But a military unit from Dacia had for a standard a dragon with a flexible tail which would move in the wind; the legions copied this, and eventually all the legions had physically flexible standards–the modern-day flag.
During the Middle Ages, flags were used for a variety of purposes including: identification of members of nobility, guilds, cities, religious worship, and for use during battles. In battle, flags were used by military companies for identification on the field and relaying of strategic instructions. Though not always, flags could identify individual leaders: in Europe, monarchs and knights; in Japan, the samurai; in China, the generals under the imperial army; and in Mexico, the Aztec alliances.
From the era of sailing vessels 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 .
As European knights were replaced by centralized armies, flags became the means to identify not just nationalities but also individual military units. Flags became objects to be captured or defended. Eventually these flags posed too much of a practical 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 flagOne 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 Denmark is the oldest state flag still in use. This flag, called the Dannebrog, inspired the cross design of the other Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and regional Scandinavian flags for the Faroe Islands, Åland, Scania and Bornholm, as well as flags for the non-Scandinavian Shetland and Orkney.
- The Union Flag (Union Jack) of the United Kingdom is the most commonly used. 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, Ontario and British Columbia, and the American state of Hawaii; see commons:Flags based on British ensigns .
- The Tricolour 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, New York City, South Africa (the 1928-94 flag), and France, which spread the tricolor concept even further. 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, the Tricolore was designed in 1794. As a forerunner of revolution, France's tricolour flag style has been adopted by other nations. Examples : Italy, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Haiti, 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 : Liberia, Chile, Malaysia, Uruguay, and the French region of Brittany.
- The flag of Russia, the source for the Pan-Slavic colors adopted by many Slavic states and peoples as their symbols. Examples : Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria (with green replacing blue).
- The original tricolor Flag of Iran, the source for the Pan-Iranian colors Green , White and Red adopted by many Indo-Iranian or Aryan states and peoples as their symbols. Examples : Tajikistan, Kurdistan, Republic of Ararat, Talysh-Mughan. Some of Iran's non-Iranian neighboring countries also adopted these colors see Kuwait and Oman.
- 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 colors, or "Rasta colors" to the ill-informed. 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 and of Tunisia.
- The Pan-Arab colors, green, white, red and black, are derived from the flag of the Great Arab Revolt as seen on the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine.
- The Soviet flag, with its golden symbols of the hammer and sickle 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 and Ecuador, both sharing three bands of color 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, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
National flag designs are often used to signify nationality in other forms, such as flag patches.
Civil flags
Main article: Civil flagA civil flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on non-government installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past, in order to denote buildings or ships that were not manned by the military. In some countries the civil flag is the same as the war flag or state flag, but without the coat of arms, such as in the case of Spain, and in others it's an alteration of the war flag.
War flags
Main article: War flagStanding for the UK's Royal Air Force, the Ensign of the RAF displays the RAF roundel.Several countries (including the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union) have had unique flags f
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