The National Flag of Malta is defined in the Constitution and consists of two equal vertical stripes, white in the hoist and red in the fly, with a representation of the George Cross, edged with red, in the canton of the white stripe; the breadth of the flag is one and a half times its height.
Malta remained the only collective awardee of the decoration until it was awarded to the Royal Ulster Constabulary of Northern Ireland in 1999.
The original flag of the Knights Hospitaller consisted of a white Maltese Cross on a black background, however this was never used in Malta.
The flag is still used by the Knights' modern successor, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Later flags consisted of the British blue ensign defaced by the coat of arms of Malta.