These countries were all once British colonies. The majority of their first flags were blue British ensigns defaced with a seal. While most of the countries have their own unique design, many still retain some elements of British flags, such as the 1:2 aspect ratio.
Despite being relatively young as far as flags go, the Ugandan flag is a unique and striking design that holds its own against some of the classic national flag designs. And even though Uganda’s national history is a complicated one, the history of it’s flag is relatively simple. Uganda got its first flag in 1914 while … More Uganda: Ornithological influence
In the grand scheme of history, the concept of a national flag as we know it is relatively new. By the time that most countries had picked their flags, record keeping had become standard practice. This makes tracing the history behind a national flag relatively easy in a lot of cases. However, there are some flags whose history and … More Isle of Man: Mystery of the triskele
Hong Kong is a very interesting place for many reasons. It operates almost completely autonomously as a capitalist state even though it is a part of the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC); it has the fourth greatest population density per square mile of any country or territory in the world; and it has a great example of modern flag … More Hong Kong: One country, two systems
While Sri Lanka didn’t officially have a national flag until 1815, the roots of its flag, the lion imagery, are some of the oldest in the vexillological world. The lion symbolism was brought to Sri Lanka by Vijaya, Sri Lanka’s first king. Vijaya came to the island in 486 BC with 700 followers after being expelled from the Vanga … More Sri Lanka: Royal outcast
Flags and boats have had a close relationship for several centuries. At sea, flags have many uses, from communication to identification, even threatening others. In fact, our concept of national flags stems from 17th century sailing ships (as explained in A brief history of flags and why we use them). However, the world of maritime flags isn’t as … More Ensigns, jacks, and more: A primer on maritime flags
South Africa’s current flag was introduced in 1994. In it’s short life, it has become arguably one of the most well known African flags. As we will explore, however, this design was only meant to be a placeholder. South Africa’s first flag was flown in 1910 when the British united the Natal, Cape, Transvaal, and Orange … More South Africa: A new classic
A special thanks to Rich Campbell for suggesting this post. To get a better sense of the history of the Pakistani flag, we should begin with the colonization of the Indian subcontinent by the British East-India Company (BEIC). While the organization had a presence in the area since 1612, the BEIC didn’t establish a firm foothold in the … More Pakistan
Fun Flag Facts 