The color is the first of the characteristics of the flags, and especially the most symbolic. Moreover, we do not say to speak about it, "the hello to the colors" or "the rise of the colors".
The first function of flags was to distinguish armies on battlefields. As such, the color is very important because it is the one that allows the best and the fastest to distinguish its camps and enemy lines.
The first flags were single-color, which is the easiest to manufacture. 1000 years ago, the very limited number of active flags allowed it. Later, as the number of flags increased and manufacturing techniques improved, the flags evolved. Appearance of two, three colors ... Then addition of ornamentation, first cross crusades and decorations more and more sophisticated.
Colors have more symbolic meanings that can be local or national. However, we often find quite similar meanings for each color.
Monocolour flag
Black flags
In the West, black represents death, mourning, darkness or even fear and chaos. For this reason it is found in some flags to evoke the dark hours that the country has known as for example Estonia.
Black is also used in many African flags to evoke negritude. He is also associated with Islam in pan-Arab flags.
Green often represents vegetation and agriculture. In Western culture, it is a positive color associated with hope and luck.
This color is also one of the symbols of Islam found in all pan-Arab flags.
dynasty of the Fatimids (979 - 1171)Libyan Arab Jamahiriya popular and socialist (1977 - 2011)Zirid dynasty (972 - 1148)Department of Beni (Bolivia)
Yellow flags
Yellow is a joyous color used to represent joy, celebration or warmth. In a more figurative way, it represents the sun or sometimes the wheat fields (Ukraine) . It can also evoke gold, a mineral richness for Colombia or Venezuela. The yellow represents simply the sand beaches, tourist wealth of the country, for Bahamas or Barbados.
Sultanate of Brunei before 1906Ayyubid dynasty (1171 - 1341)Sultanate of Maguindanao between the sixteenth and the nineteenth century
Associated with the Blue Ensign in the flag of Niue, it evokes the sun.
Island State of Niue
White flags
White is a positive color associated with peace and innocence. In a more figurative way, the white represents the snow in the flag of Lebanon.
In the Arab countries, Vietnam, South Korea or India, white is the color of mourning.
White is one of the pan-Arab colors. In battles, the white flag is a sign of truce or surrender.
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French naval flag in the 17th and 18th century in 1814 and from 1815 to 1830caliphate of the Umayyads (661 - 750)Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996 - 1997)white flag, sign of truce or surrenderJerusalem (1099 - 1162)
Red flags
The red evokes violence, passion and prohibition. In the flags, the red often represents the blood and figuratively the struggles and sufferings of the people.
Since the Russian Revolution, the red evokes communism. It is the color that is most present in the flags, 75% of the flags contain. It is included in all flags bearing Pan-Arab, Pan-African or Pan-Slave colors.
Ottoman Empire (1383 - 1453)Kingdom of Ayutthaya (Thaïlande) (1351 - 1767)Sultanate of the Maldives before 1903Sultanate of Morocco Alawite dynasty (1666 - 1915)Mutawakkilite kingdom of Yemen (1918 - 1923)Kingdom of Hejaz (Saudi Arabia) (1916 - 1917)Sultanate of Muscat and Oman from the 18th century to 1970Sultanate of Muqdisho (Mogadishu) before 1860Pirate coast (1786 - 1818)Department of Oruro (Bolivia)
Orange flags
Orange is a cheerful color, evoking heat, light and sun. Later, he was associated with the idea of danger (orange light). The orange appeared only late and remains very little present in the flags.
There is also orange in the flags of Bhutan and Sri Lanka to talk about Buddhist religion.
Marathi Empire (India) (1674 - 1819)Hindu Sindhi (Pakistan)
The orange flag of sports fans in the Netherlands is not a historic flag but only a sporting flag.
Supporters of the Netherlands
Blue flag
Very rare flag of blue color, I only know this copy.
Department of Cochabamba (Bolivia)
two-colored flags
Red and white flags
With 2 horizontal bands white and red
PolandKingdom of Merina (1810 - 1885)Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech Republic) (1198 - 1918)1st flag of the Czech Republic (1990 - 1992)Land of Thuringia (Germany)Upper Austria (Austria)Tyrol (Austria)Province of Utrecht (Netherlands)Greenland (Denmark)
With 2 horizontal bands red and white
State of Hesse (Germany)IndonesiaSingaporeKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1772 - 1918)duchy of Courland (1561 - 1795)MonacoAlsace the "Rot a Wiss" (red and white)Salzburg (Austria)Vienna (Austria)Vorarlberg (Austria)Islamic state of Indonesia (1949 - 1965)Department of Tarija (Bolivia)canton of Solothurn (Switzerland)
Other red and white flags
AustriaBahrainProvince of North Brabant (Netherlands)CanadaDenmarkGeorgiaJapanLatviaPeruSwitzerlandTongaTurkeyTunisiaAkita Prefecture (Japan)Saitama Prefecture (Japan)Kanagawa Prefecture (Japon)Prefecture of Ōita (Japan)Okinawa Prefecture (Japan)Department of Potosí (Bolivia)Department of Chuquisaca (Bolivia)canton of Schwyz (Switzerland)Department of Atlántico (Colombia)
Blue and white flags
National blue and white flags
FinlandGreeceHondurasIsraelMicronesiaSomalia
With 2 white and blue horizontal stripes
State of Bavaria (Germany)Canton of Lucerne (Switzerland)
With 2 blue and white horizontal stripes
Department of Valle del Cauca (Colombia)
Blue flags with white decor
Yamagata Prefecture (Japan)Prefecture of Ishikawa (Japan)Prefecture of Fukui (Japan)Shiga Prefecture (Japan)Prefecture of Osaka (Japan)Hyogo Prefecture (Japan)Tottori Prefecture (Japan)Prefecture of Fukuoka (Japan)San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina Archipelago (Colombia)
White flags with blue decor
Prefecture of Wakayama (Japan)Nagasaki Prefecture (Japan)Canton of Zurich (Switzerland)canton of Zug (Switzerland)
Federal Republic of Central America (1821 - 1822) then (1824 - 1841)United Provinces of Central America (1823 - 1824) then (1842 - 1844)Great Republic of Central America (1896 - 1898)
United Provinces of Río de la Plata
United Provinces of Río de la Plata (1810 - 1835)United Provinces of Río de la Plata (1819 - 1831)Argentine Confederation (1831 - 1850)Argentine Confederation (1850 - 1861)
Green and white flags
National green and white flags
Saudi ArabiaNigeriaPakistan
With 2 horizontal bands white and green
Saxony (Germany)Styria (Austria)Department of Pando (Bolivia)Canton of Vaud (Switzerland)Department of Antioquia (Colombia)Department of Vaupés (Colombia)
Prefecture of Miyagi (Japan)Tochigi Prefecture (Japan)Prefecture of Mie (Japan)Kagawa Prefecture (Japan)Balochistan (Pakistan)Sind (Pakistan)Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)Punjab (Pakistan)Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan)Department of Santa Cruz (Bolivia)Canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland)Department of Cesar (Colombia)Department of Meta (Colombia)Department of Risaralda (Colombia)
Brown / crimson and white flags
LatviaQatarAichi Prefecture (Japan)Prefecture of Nara (Japan)Hiroshima Prefecture (Japan)vYamaguchi Prefecture (Japan)Prefecture of Kochi (Japan)Kumamoto Prefecture (Japan)
Orange and white flags
Rare enough color and rather late, the orange appears especially on the flags of prefectures of Japan.
Prefecture of Fukushima (Japan)Nagano Prefecture (Japan)
Red and yellow flags
Soviet Union
USSR
A first series of flags refer to the Soviet Union. Red flag with a hammer and a yellow sickle topped with a yellow star. To see all the flags of the Soviet Socialist Republics, see USSR .
ChinaKyrgyzstanNorth MacedoniaVietnam
Kingdom of Aragon and Barcelona County
Red and yellow are the colors of the kingdom of Aragon and the county of Barcelona, they will be included in the flags of Spain, Andorra, Catalonia and some other Spanish provinces. They are also found in parts of southern France that have been related to them at some point in their history.
Kingdoms of Aragon and Catalonia
Spain and Andorra take back these two colors
SpainPrincipality of Andorra
Old French regions
County of FoixLanguedocProvenceRoussillonBéarnContested flag of Poitou
Other red and yellow flags
Niigata Prefecture (Japan)Pirkanmaa (Finland)Prefecture of Shimane (Japan)Department of Tolima (Colombia)Burgenland (Austria)
Blue and yellow flags
National green and white flags
KazakhstanPalauUkraine
With 2 horizontal bands blue and yellow
Lower Austria (Austria)Voivodeship of Opole (Poland)
Department of La Paz (Bolivia)Department of Arauca (Colombia)
Red and blue flags
canton of Ticino (Switzerland)
Green and yellow flags
With 2 horizontal bands yellow and green
Department of Nariño (Colombia)Department of Vichada (Colombia)
Other yellow and green flags
Mauritania (1959 - 2017)Prefecture of Miyazaki (Japan)Kainuu (Finland)Department of Caldas (Colombia)Department of Cauca (Colombia)
Red and black flags
Albania
Yellow and black flags
State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany)Empire of Austria (1867 - 1918)State of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany)Canton of Schaffhausen (Switzerland)
White and black flags
Canton of Friborg (Switzerland)Canton of Basel-Stadt (Switzerland)State of Pahang (Malaysia)Corsairs republic 1706 - 1718 (Bahamas)
Flags with violet color
This color is very rare, in the national flags currently in operation, we find in the flag of Dominica. It is also found in regional flags such as Japanese prefectures.
DominiquePrefecture of Ibaraki (Japan)Gunma Prefecture (Japan)Tokyo Prefecture (Japan)Okayama Prefecture (Japan)Department of Quindío (Colombia)
Current flags in 5 colors
Antigua and BarbudaCentral African RepublicComorosGuyanaMozambiqueNamibiaPortugalSeychellesEswatiniTuvaluZimbabwe
Current flags in 6 colors
South AfricaDominicaSouth Sudan
Current flags in 8 colors
Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Russia)
Historic pan-African colors
It is necessary to distinguish the traditional colors and the official colors. The traditional colors are green, yellow and red. It’s colors are taken from the Ethiopian flag, 1 er country to free themselves from the colonial occupation of Italy.
The official colors of panafricanism, defined are red, black and green.
Traditional pan-African colors
BeninBurkin FasoCameroonCentral African RepublicCongoEthiopiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauMaliSao Tome and PrincipeSenegalTogo
Official pan-African colors
Official flag of pan-africanism KenyaMalawiMozambique1st flag of Rwanda (1962 - 2001)South AfricaSouth SudanZambiaZimbabwe
Pan-African colors in non-African flags
These flags generally correspond to countries with a large black population and claiming this origin. This population has often arrived as a slave in the nineteenth century and has conquered since independence.
GuyanaSaint Kitts and NevisGuyana (2010 - 2015)
Panarabic colors
These colors are red, green, white and black.
The red color is that of the Hashemite house of Muhammad, the green comes from the Fatimid dynasty, the white comes from that of the Umayyads and the black from that of the Abbassids.
Afghanistan (2013 - 2021)EgyptUnited Arab EmiratesIraqIranJordanKuwaitLibyaOmanPalestineSudanSouth SudanSyriaTajikistanYemen
Balcony colors
These colors, taken from the Russian flag, are white, blue and red.
- The red color meant in the Byzantine tradition "sovereignty" and "power",
- The blue color that of "the Virgin Mother", protecting Russia,
- The white color that of "freedom" and "independence".
Today, the interpretation has become:
The white color means peace, purity, innocence and perfection, the blue color is the color of faith and fidelity,
permanence and the red color symbolizes energy, strength, blood shed for the Fatherland. [1]
Russie
Current national flags
CroatiaSerbiaSlovakiaSloveniaTchequieKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1918 and 1929Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between 1945 and 1992
Some historical flags
Russia (1914 - 1917)Bohemia and Moravia (1939 - 1945)Czechoslovakia (1918 - 1992)Eastern Roumelia (1878 - 1885)Yugoslavia (1945 - 1992)Serbia and Montenegro (1992 - 2003)