“Beyond Borders: Exploring the Rich History of Flags”

By Suvro Sanyal.

The study of Flags is known as “Vexillology” from the Latin vexillum, meaning “flag” or “banner”.

FLAG :

Predominantly; a piece of cloth, varying in size, shape, color, and design, usually attached at one edge to a staff or cord, and used as a means of signaling; ensign; standard; banner; pennant; oriented to be the symbol of a nation, state, or organization over the ages.

The term “Flag” is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and Flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment, where semaphore is used). Many Flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families.

While the origin of the flag remains a mystery, the oldest flag discovered is made of bronze: a Derafsh or ‘flag-like’ Shahdad, which was found in Shahdad, Iran, and dates back to c. 2400 BC. It features a seated man and a kneeling woman facing each other, with a star in between. This iconography was found in other Iranian Bronze Age pieces of art.

Flags made of cloth were almost certainly the invention of the ancient peoples of the Indian subcontinent or the Zhou dynasty of Ancient China.

In Europe, during the High Middle Ages, Flags came to be used primarily as a heraldic device in battle, allowing easier identification of a knight. Already, during the high medieval period, and increasingly during the Late Middle Ages, city states and communes such as those of the Old Swiss Confederacy also began to use Flags as field signs. Regimental Flags for individual units became a common place during the Early Modern period, during the capture of Sujagi of Eo Jae-Yeon in 1871.

During the peak of the sailing age, beginning in the early 17th century, it was customary (and later a legal requirement) for ships to fly Flags designating their nationality; these Flags eventually evolved into the national Flags and maritime Flags of today. Flags also became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals.

Use of Flags beyond a military or naval context began with the rise of nationalism by the end of the 18th century, although some Flags date back earlier. 

One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolise a nation or country. Some national Flags have been particularly inspirational to other nations, countries, or subnational entities in the design of their own Flags.

Parts of a flag: 

The general parts of a flag are: Canton (the upper inner section of the flag); Field or Ground (the entire flag except the canton); the Hoist (the edge used to attach the flag to the hoist), and the Fly (the furthest edge from the hoist end)

Types of Flags:

Horizontal Flag – It is the most common form of Flags, used extensively from the time of its invention.

Vertical Flag – is a vertical form of the standard flag. Used in lieu of the standard horizontal flag in central and eastern Europe, particularly in the German-speaking countries. This practice came about because the relatively brisk wind needed to display horizontal Flags is not common in these countries.

Kind of Flags:

• National Flags – They are the most determining element of the National Identity. A Flag is upheld to symbolise a nation or country.
• Civil Flags – A Civil Flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on non-government installations or craft. The use of civil Flags was more common in the past, in order to denote buildings or ships that were not crewed by the military. In some countries the civil flag is the same as the war flag or state flag, but without the coat of arms, such as in the case of Spain, and in others it is an alteration of the war flag.
• War Flags – Several countries, including the Royal Air Force, British Army and the Royal Navy (White Ensign) of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union have had unique Flags flown by their armed forces separately, rather than the national flag. The Philippines’ armed forces may use their standard national flag, but during times of war the flag is turned upside down. Bulgaria’s flag is also turned upside down during times of war. These are also considered war Flags, though the terminology only applies to the flag’s military usage.
• International Flags -The Flag of the United Nations, sky blue field with north polar view looking down on a world map in white with two olive branches wreaths curved around. First version presented April–June 1945 to the United Nations Organization (UNO) at the San Francisco Conference, second version adopted by the United Nations in December 1946. Among the international Flags, those of the United Nations, Europe, Olympic, NATO, and, Paralympic Flags are the most significant.
• Maritime Flags – Flags are demonstratively important at sea, where they can demonstrate the difference between life and death, and consequently where the rules and regulations for the flying of Flags are strictly enforced. It is mention worthy that a national flag flown at sea is known as an ensign. A courteous, peaceable merchant ship or yacht customarily flies its ensign (in the usual ensign position), together with the flag of whatever nation it is currently visiting at the mast (known as a courtesy flag). In some countries yacht ensigns are different from merchant ensigns in order to signal that the yacht is not carrying cargo that requires a customs declaration. Carrying commercial cargo on a boat with a yacht ensign is deemed to be smuggling in many jurisdictions. Traditionally, a vessel flying under the courtesy flag of a specific nation, regardless of the vessel’s country of registry, is considered to be operating under the law of her ‘host’ nation.
• Sports Flag – Because of their ease of signalling and identification, Flags are often used in sports.
• Football – linesmen carry small Flags along the touch lines. They use the Flags to indicate to the referee potential infringements of the laws, or who is entitled to possession of the ball that has gone out of the field of play, or, most famously, raising the flag to indicate an offside offence.
• Rugby – Officials called touch judges use Flags for similar purposes in both codes of rugby.
• Yacht racing – Flags are used to communicate information from the race committee boat to the racers. Different Flags hoisted from the committee boat may communicate a false start, changes in the course, a cancelled race, or other important information. Racing boats themselves may also use Flags to symbolise a protest or distress. The Flags are often part of the nautical alphabetic system of International maritime signal Flags, in which 26 different Flags designate the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet.
• Diving – Flags indicate the locations of underwater scuba divers or that diving operations are being conducted in the vicinity.
• Water Sports – such as wakeboarding and Water-Skiing, an orange flag is held in between runs to indicate someone is in the water.
• Golf – the hole is almost always marked with a flag. The flagpole is designed to fit centered within the base of the hole and is removable. Many courses will use colour-coded Flags to determine a hole location at the front, middle or rear of the green. However, colour-coded Flags are not used in the professional tours. (A rare example of a golf course that does not use Flags to mark the hole is the East Course of Merion Golf Club, which instead uses flagpoles topped by wicker baskets.)
• Auto & Motorcycle racing – Flags are used to communicate with drivers. A checkered flag of black and white squares indicates the end of the race, and victory for the leader. A yellow flag is used to indicate caution requiring slow speed and a red flag requires racers to stop immediately. A black flag is used to indicate penalties.
• Diplomatic Flags – Some countries use diplomatic Flags, such as the United Kingdom (see image of the Embassy flag) and the Kingdom of Thailand (see image of the Embassy flag). The socialist movement uses red Flags to represent their cause. The anarchist movement has a variety of different Flags, but the primary flag associated with them is the black flag. In the Spanish Civil War, the anarchists used the red-and-black bisected flag. In the 20th century, the rainbow flag was adopted as a symbol of the LGBT social movements. Its derivatives include the Bisexual pride and Transgender pride Flags. Some of these political Flags have become national Flags, such as the red flag of the Soviet Union and national socialist banners for Nazi Germany. The present Flag of Portugal is based on what had been the political flag of the Portuguese Republican Party previous to the 5 October 1910 revolution which brought this party to power.
• Personal Flags – Throughout history, monarchs have often had personal Flags (including royal standards), representing the royal person, including in personal union of national monarchies.
• Vehicle Flags – Flags are often representative of an individual’s affinity or allegiance to a country, team or business and can be presented in various ways. A popular trend that has surfaced revolves around the idea of the ‘mobile’ flag in which an individual displays their particular flag of choice on their vehicle. These items are commonly referred to as car Flags and are usually manufactured from high strength polyester material and are attached to a vehicle via a polypropylene pole and clip window attachment.
• Swimming Flags – In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, Ireland and the United Kingdom, a pair of red-yellow Flags is used to mark the limits of the bathing area on a beach, usually guarded by surf lifesavers. If the beach is closed, the poles of the Flags are crossed. The Flags are coloured with a red triangle and a yellow triangle making a rectangular flag, or a red rectangle over a yellow rectangle. On many Australian beaches there is a slight variation with beach condition signalling. A red flag signifies a closed beach (in the UK also other dangers), yellow signifies strong current or difficult swimming conditions, and green represents a beach safe for general swimming. In Ireland, a red and yellow flag indicates that it is safe to swim; a red flag that it is unsafe; and no flag indicates that there are no lifeguards on duty. Blue Flags may also be used away from the yellow-red lifesaver area to designate a zone for surfboarding and other small, non-motorised watercraft.
• Railway Flags – Railways use a number of coloured Flags. When used as wayside signals they usually use the following meanings (exact meanings are set by the individual railroad company):
• red = stop
• yellow = proceed with caution
• green or white = proceed.
• a flag of any colour waved vigorously means stop
• a blue flag on the side of a locomotive means that it should not be moved because someone is working on it (or on the train attached to it). A blue flag on a track means that nothing on that track should be moved. The flag can only be removed by the person or group that placed it. In the railway dominated steel industry this principle of “blue flag and tag” was extended to all operations at Bethlehem Steel, Lackawanna, New York. If a man went inside a large machine or worked on an electrical circuit for example, his blue flag and tag was sacrosanct. The “Lock Out/Tag Out” practice is similar and now used in other industries to comply with safety regulations. At night, the Flags are replaced with lanterns showing the same colours.
• Clinical Flags – They are common to many areas of health e.g., Red Flags for musculoskeletal disorders, which are indicators of possible serious pathology such as inflammatory or neurological conditions, structural musculoskeletal damage or disorders, circulatory problems, suspected infections, tumours or systemic disorders.

Written by Suvro Sanyal

Mavericknews30 has launched a series of articles starting with the history of flags and featuring ‘Know Your National Indian Flag,’ in anticipation of Independence Day on August 15th. Stay tuned for the next article!