Country flags (where to buy, tips, etc) | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Country flags (where to buy, tips, etc)

Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I had always heard about the Magen David also, but when I looked it up while I was writing that post, the article talked about some sort of agreement to use this "red crystal." So I was totally confused but would far rather see the Star of David be the symbol, because of course it is more easily recognizable and more distinctive. So I hope you're right.
 
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CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
OK, Olympia, you’ve dragged it out of me. I was trying to avoid sounding like somebody who is deeply interested in flags and their history. But, seeing as I have finally found somebody who has the same interest, I am dropping the veil!

A lot of striped flags (particularly in Europe) are derived from coats of arms. Here is a selection:

National Flags

Belgium (vertical stripes): Gold (yellow) lion with red claws on a black background (order changed on flag to make it resemble French Tricolore).
Germany (horizontal stripes): Black eagle with red claws on a yellow background.
Malta (vertical stripes): White Maltese Cross on a red background.
Poland (horizontal stripes): Silver (white) eagle on a red background.
Slovakia (horizontal stripes): White cross on top of a blue mountain on a white background.
Ukraine (horizontal stripes): Golden (yellow) lion on blue background (order reversed – see below).

Regional Flags

Bohemia (horizontal stripes): Red lion on a white background.
Brandenburg (horizontal stripes): Red eagle on a white background.
Lower Austria (horizontal stripes): Golden (yellow) eagles on a blue background (colours reversed).
Tyrol (horizontal stripes): Red eagle on a white background.
Tyrone (vertical stripes): Red hand on a white background.
Upper Silesia (horizontal stripes): Yellow eagle on a blue background.
Utrecht (horizontal stripes): White cross on a red background.
Vienna (horizontal stripes): White cross on a red background (colours reversed).
Voralberg (horizontal stripes): Red gonfanon on a silver (white) background.
Westphalia (horizontal stripes): White horse on a red background.

I have long had a belief that all flags that are derived from coats of arms should display that coat of arms somewhere on the flag. It would prevent confusion arising as to whose flag it is when there are many flags which use the same basic design.

Look at how many red-and-white horizontal bi-colours I have in my list. If there were no coat of arms, how would you tell the difference between the flags of Bohemia (where Tomáš Verner is from), Brandenburg, the Tyrol (and, for that matter, South Tyrol, where Carolina Kostner is from), Vienna and Voralberg?

Also, if there is no coat of arms, it would be easy to fly the flags upside-down. So, you could easily confuse the flags of Poland, Utrecht and Westphalia (where Isabel Drescher is from) with those flags I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Similarly, were it not for the flag of Malta having a picture of the George Cross on the white stripe, it would be easy to confuse it with an upside-down flag of Tyrone (where I am from) Although, you certainly could not confuse the weather of these 2 places!!! ;) :biggrin:

As well as flying flags upside-down, there can be confusion caused when countries deliberately reverse the order of the colours of their flags. The best example is the Ukraine. The flag was originally a yellow-blue horizontal bi-colour, as translated from the coat of arms. But, the people in the Ukraine were consistently flying the flag upside down, with the blue at the top rather than the yellow. I suppose they thought that the blue looked like sky, and the yellow like the land. In the end, the government decided to make this upside-down version official.

The result was that the flag of the Ukraine was no longer the same as the flag of Upper Silesia. So, less confusion! On the other hand, for some reason (which I don’t know), Lower Austria also uses a blue-yellow horizontal bi-colour, when in theory it should be yellow-blue. So, more confusion!

Wales has its heraldic device, the red dragon, on its flag. The red dragon is displayed in the position called passant, which means it's in profile and I think specifically that one foreleg is up. The British lion is rampant, meaning up on its hind legs facing sideways, I believe. I'll get out one of my books and look later on.

Then there are places where the flags are armorial banners - essentially a re-shaped version of the coat of arms. You mentioned 2 in your last post – Switzerland and Wales. If Switzerland had translated their coat of arms into strips, it would be yet another white-red bi-colour! So, thank goodness they didn’t! With Wales, it would be a red-green-white tri-colour, and if it was horizontal, it would be an upside-down Bulgarian flag! So, perhaps it is a good job Wales decided to be more original!

Other examples are Albania; British Columbia; Gibraltar; Kiribati; the Isle of Man; Maryland; Northern Ireland (where Jenna McCorkell and I are both from); the Orkney Islands; South Holland (which is identical to the Scottish Royal Standard); all the provinces of Ireland (including Ulster, where Jenna McCorkell and I are both from); most of the Swiss Cantons.

I'll get out one of my books and look later on.

Just out of curiosity, what books do you use? I have “The World Encyclopedia Of Flags” by Alfred Znamierowsi.

History geek alert: By the way, I've heard that the insignia of the Red Cross originates from the reverse colors of the Swiss flag, which is white cross on a field of red. Because Switzerland, the origin of the RC movement, was and is a neutral country, using its flag as the basis for the symbol underlined the neutrality of the Red Cross, so that its workers would be trusted in all countries. Of course in Muslim countries a cross would not be suitable, so their chapters of the organization use a crescent and are called the Red Crescent. I think Israel uses a red diamond shape called a Red Crystal.

By the way, I had heard the story behind the Red Cross before (it might have been taught at school). And I found out about the Red Crescent about 9 years ago when I did a project about the then-recent (2003) earthquake in Bam, Iran. But, although I assumed that there was a Jewish version, I never knew what it was until now! So, thank you! (I wonder is there a Buddhist version…)

You know, it’s amazing what you accidentally find out when you are trying to find out something else! It was only when I was writing this message that I found out that Alyona and Tatiana were BOTH from the Ukraine! I had known for years that Alyona was, but it was only Christmas Eve that I found out about Tatiana. I always thought she was Russian. Well, I suppose that explains why there is such a strong rivalry between the 2 partnerships! ;) :biggrin:

CaroLiza_fan
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I was referring to my books of heraldry. I have a few books that tell about the language and crests and so forth; it's so fascinating.

We think of heraldry as mostly European, for good reason, but other places have crests and insignia. One of the most fascinating non-European crest systems is the Japanese family crests. As you would expect, they're beautiful. I don't know which families have crests, whether you have to be of a certain rank in Japanese tradition, but here they are:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jap...sG-Wz0QHVyYG4BA&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=1294&bih=678

I'd suspect that Nobunari Oda, who is descended from a samurai family, has a crest.
 
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