National flag

The design of a national flag is sometimes altered after the occurrence of important historical events.

Throughout history, various examples of such proto-flags exist: the white cloth banners of the Zhou dynasty's armies in the 11th century BC, the vexillum standards flown by the armies of the Roman Empire, the Black Standard famously carried by Muhammad which later became the flag of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the various "Raven banners" flown by Viking chieftains.

Angelino Dulcert published a series of comprehensive Portolan charts in the 14th century AD, which famously showcased the flags of several polities depicted – although these are not uniformly "national flags", as some were likely the personal standards of the respective nation's rulers.

It continued in use until 1 January 1801, the effective date of the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, when the Cross of St. Patrick (a red diagonal cross on white) was incorporated into the flag,[5] giving the Union Jack its current design.

With the emergence of nationalist sentiment from the late 18th century national flags began to be displayed in civilian contexts as well.

[6] Notable early examples include the US flag, which was first adopted as a naval ensign in 1777 but began to be displayed as a generic symbol of the United States after the American Revolution, and the French Tricolor, which became a symbol of the Republic in the 1790s.

In Europe, the red-white-blue tricolour design of the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands became popular, since it was associated with a republican form of government through that country's long war of independence against the Spanish Crown.

That association was greatly reinforced after the French Revolution (1789), when France used the same colours, but with vertical instead of horizontal stripes.

Other countries in Europe (like Ireland, Italy, Romania and Estonia) and in South and Central America selected tricolours of their own to express their adherence to the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity as embodied in the French flag.

Also in the 19th century, most countries of South America introduced a flag as they became independent (Peru in 1820, Bolivia in 1851, Colombia in 1860, Brazil in 1822, etc.)

22.2 Die Bundesflagge ist schwarz-rot-gold), but its proportions were regulated in a document passed by the government in the following year.

In such cases, the military origins of the national flag and its connection to political ideology (form of government, monarchy vs. republic vs. theocracy, etc.)

In a number of countries, however, and notably those in Latin America, there is a distinct difference between civil and state flags.

The Philippines does not have a distinctive war flag in this usual sense, but the flag of the Philippines is legally unique in that it is flown with the red stripe on top when the country is in a state of war, rather than the conventional blue.

[10] Examples of countries that have special protocol for vertical hanging are: Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Israel, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United States (reverse always showing); and the United Kingdom (obverse always showing).

A third of the world's 196 countries currently have national flags that include religious symbols.

Blue, white, and red is a common combination in Slavic countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia as well as among Western nations including Australia, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Many African nations use the Pan-African colours of red, yellow, and green, including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Senegal.

Flags containing red, white, and black (a subset of the Pan-Arab colours) can be found particularly among the Arab nations such as Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Moldova adopted the Romanian flag during the declaration of independence from the USSR in 1991 (and was used in various demonstrations and revolts by the population) and later the Moldovan coat of arms (which is part of the Romanian coat of arms) was placed in the centre of the flag.

All Nordic countries, with the exception of Greenland, use the Nordic Cross design (Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, in addition to the autonomous regions of the Faroe Islands and Åland), a horizontal cross shifted to the left on a single-coloured background.

Also, several former colonies of the United Kingdom, such as Australia, Fiji and New Zealand include the Union Jack in the top left corner.