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Current and historical flags and banners

The Flag and State Encyclopedia

The English portal of www.flaggenlexikon.de

 

The Flag and State Encyclopedia is a comprehensive database of approximately 4.600 flags, which provides information about countries, nations, colonies and old states and their related flags. It also provides information about the geography, history, and coats of arms. An alphabetical list is provided but there is also a semiotic search engine – The Flag-Finder – which enables the user to search flags by their geometric features and also find, assign and identify them.

Flags and banners of the whole world

This site shows current and historical flags and banners from all of the officially recognized countries of the world. It also includes current and former nations and states, merchant, navy, head of state, secessionist regions, provincial, flags of subordinated territories, provinces and many more.

Alphabetical Search:

 

Overview of topics

Flag Studies & Basics

• Flags, coats of arms and their colours
• The origins of the German black, red and gold flag
• The origins of the German black, white and red flag
• Why the imperial eagle has a red beak
• From the banner flag to the national flag
• From heraldry to the study of flags
• Flag or banner

Heraldry

• The eagle in heraldry
• The lion in heraldry
• Banners of Arms

Historical Flags & Politics

• The Flag Controversy over the Confederate Flag
• The flag of Saxony-Poland

Special flags

• Flags on ships
• Signal flags
• Knights Orders flags and coats of arms

Interactive content

• Flag-Finder
• Flag App Features

Learning & Children

• Flags and children
• Lexical terms

Service & Information

• Help
• Imprint
• Data Protection

Lexical clarification of terms relating to flags

• Banner
• Banner of Arms
• Bicolour
• Blue Ensign
• Coat of Arms
• Cockade
• Colonel flag
• Colours
• Dipping
• Emblem
• Ensign
• Flag
• Flying end
• Half-staff
• Jack
• Leech
• Merchant flag
• Mourning flagging
• National flag
• Naval flag
• Official flag
• Official flag at sea
• Pennant
• Postal flag
• Rank flag
• Red ensign
• Standard
• State flag
• Swallowtail-flag
• Tricolour
• Union Jack
• Upper Corner
• War Flag

From crest banner to national flag

National flags, as we know them today, typically represent regional or national populations, only came into being in the wake of the Bourgeois revolutions. Previously, flags were Dynastic, representative of Rulers. They were mostly in the form of Crest Banners. The dynastic flags of these Rulers were often superseded by the national flags that are today emblems of sovereign states. The handling of these flags is often determined by strict rules. Of special importance are flags and pennants in a maritime setting.

From Heraldry to Vexillology

The (semi-)science, which is dealt with flags is called vexillology. It has evolved out of the heraldry. Many terms that describe a flag, have their root actually in heraldry. The term 'vexillology' derives from the Latin word for banner, from 'vexillum'.

more topics: Local and municipal flags •The Flag Finder

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