Afghanistan

The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان بیرغ; Dari: پرچم افغانستان), also used as the flag of the Taliban, consists of a white field with a black Shahada. It was adopted on 15 August 2021 with the victory of the Taliban in the 2001–2021 war. Since the Anglo-Afghan War of 1919, also known as the War of Independence, Afghanistan has used about 19 national flags, more than any other country in this period. The national flag had black, red and green colors most of the time during the period. The tricolor flag of the internationally-recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which remains in use internationally and by resistance movements against the Taliban inside Afghanistan, has vertical black, red and green stripes. It has the national emblem in white at the center. The emblem, which is surrounded by sheaves of wheat, includes a Shahada; a Takbir; rays of sun; a mosque with a mihrab, minbar and two Afghan flags; the year 1298 (١۲۹٨) in the Solar Hijri calendar (i.e. Gregorian 1919); and an inscription stating Afghanistan (افغانستان). A similar flag with three vertical stripes of the same colors, which had an emblem surrounded by sheaves of wheat, was first flown by King Amanullah Khan in July 1928. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Bahrain

The national flag of Bahrain (Arabic: علم البحرين, romanized: ʿalam al-Baḥrayn) consists of a white band on the left, separated from a red area on the right by five triangles that serve as a serrated line. The five white triangles symbolize the five pillars of Islam. It is sometimes mistaken for the flag of Qatar, but said flag is maroon, has 9 points and normally has a much greater length-to-width ratio. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Bangladesh

The national flag of Bangladesh, was adopted officially on 17 January 1972. It consists of a red disc on top of a dark green banner. The red disc is offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centered when the flag is flying. While there are many interpretations, according to Shib Narayan Das who put the map on the first flag design, green on the flag represented the landscape and the red circle represented the sun, symbolising a new day and end of oppression. The flag is based on a similar flag used during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, which had a yellow map of the country inside the red disc. In 1972 this map was removed from the flag. One reason given was the difficulty for rendering the map correctly on both sides of the flag. The civil ensign and naval ensign place it in the canton of a red or white field, respectively. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Bhutan

The national flag of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་རྒྱལ་དར) is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. The flag features a Chinese dragon (druk [Wylie 'brug] in Dzongkha, the Bhutanese language) from Bhutanese mythology. This alludes to the Dzongkha name of Bhutan – Druk Yul (འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, 'brug yul, lit. 'Dragon Country' or 'Dragon Kingdom') – as well as the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the dominant religion of Bhutan. The basic design of the flag by Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji dates to 1947. A version was displayed in 1949 at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty. A second version was introduced in 1956 for the visit of Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck to eastern Bhutan; it was based upon photos of its 1949 predecessor and featured a white Druk in place of the green original. The Bhutanese subsequently redesigned their flag to match the measurements of the flag of India, which they believed fluttered better than their own. Other modifications such as changing the red background color to orange led to the current design, in use since 1969. The National Assembly of Bhutan codified a code of conduct in 1972 to formalize the flag's design and establish protocol regarding acceptable flag sizes and conditions for flying the flag. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Brunei

The flag of Brunei has a centered emblem of Brunei on a yellow field cut by black and white diagonal stripes (parallelograms at an angle). The yellow field represents the sultan of Brunei. The red crest consists of a crescent facing upwards, joined with a parasol, with hands on the sides. Black and white stripes run across the flag. In Southeast Asia, yellow is traditionally the color of royalty, and the royal standards of Malaysia and Thailand, and the flag of Sarawak, along with the presidential flag of Indonesia, all use a yellow field as well. The crescent symbolizes Islam, the parasol symbolizes monarchy, and the hands at the side symbolize the benevolence of the government. The black and white stripes represent Brunei's chief ministers who were once joint-regents and then – after the sultan came of age – senior advisors: the Pengiran Bendahara (First Minister, symbolised by a slightly thicker white stripe) and the Pengiran Pemancha (Second Minister, governing foreign affairs, symbolised by black), with the white stripe being roughly 12% wider than the black one. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Cambodia

The flag of Cambodia (Khmer: ទង់ជាតិកម្ពុជា, Tóngchéatĕ Kâmpŭchea [tɔŋciət kampuciə]; lit. 'National flag of Cambodia') in its present form was originally adopted in 1948 and readopted in 1993, after the Constituent Assembly election in 1993 and restoration of the Cambodian monarchy. Since around 1850, the Cambodian flag has featured a depiction of Angkor Wat in the centre. The current flag, with a blue border and red central (the stripes are in the ratio 1:2:1) was adopted following Cambodia's independence in 1948. It was used until 9 October 1970, when a new flag was introduced for Lon Nol's Khmer Republic that lasted until the takeover of the Khmer Rouge in 1975. The subsequent state of Democratic Kampuchea, which existed from 1975 to 1979, used a red flag with a three-towered Angkor Wat design retained in yellow beginning in 1976. The People's Republic of Kampuchea was established in 1979, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

China

The National Flag of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Five-star Red Flag, is a Chinese red field with five golden stars charged at the canton. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in an arc set off towards the fly. It has been the national flag of China since the foundation of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. The red represents the Chinese Communist Revolution and the five stars and their relationships to each other represent the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The flag was first hoisted by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on a pole overlooking Beijing's Tiananmen Square on 1 October 1949, at a ceremony proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

East Timor

The national flag of East Timor (Portuguese: Bandeira de Timor-Leste) is one of the official symbols of East Timor. It consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag. The national flag is rectangular and is formed by two isosceles triangles, the bases of which are overlapping. One triangle is black and its height is equal to one-third of the length overlapped to the yellow triangle, whose height is equal to half the length of the Flag. In the centre of the black triangle there is a white star of five ends, meaning the light that guides. The white star has one of its ends turned towards the left side end of the flag. The remaining part of the flag is red. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

India

The national flag of India, colloquially called the Tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, and it became the official flag of the Dominion of India on 15 August 1947. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India. In India, the term 'tricolour' almost always refers to the Indian national flag. The flag is based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya.[N 1] By law, the flag is to be made of khadi, a special type of hand-spun cloth or silk, made popular by Mahatma Gandhi. The manufacturing process and specifications for the flag are laid out by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The right to manufacture the flag is held by the Khadi Development and Village Industries Commission, who allocates it to regional groups. As of 2009, the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha has been the sole manufacturer of the flag. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Indonesia

The Flag of Indonesia is a simple bicolor with two equal horizontal bands, red (top) and white (bottom) with an overall ratio of 2:3. It was introduced and hoisted in public during the proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945 at 56 Proklamasi Street (formerly Pegangsaan Timur Street) in Jakarta, and again when the Dutch formally transferred sovereignty on 27 December 1949. The design of the flag has remained unchanged since. The flag of Indonesia is graphically similar to the flag of Monaco, with a slight difference in the shade of red, and ratio of its dimensions. The flag of Poland has similar dimensions but has the colours reversed: white on top and red on the bottom. In both, the red is of a slightly darker shade. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Iran

The national flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: پرچم ایران, romanized: Parčam-e Irân, pronounced [pʰæɾˌtʃʰæme ʔiːˈɾɒːn]), also known as the Three-Coloured Flag (Persian: پرچم سه‌رنگ ایران, romanized: Parčam-e se rang-e Irân, pronounced [pʰæɾˌtʃʰæme seˌɾæŋge ʔiːˈɾɒːn]), is a tricolour comprising equal horizontal bands of green, white and red with the national emblem ('Allah') in red centred on the white band and the takbir written 11 times each in the Kufic script in white, at the bottom of the green and the top of the red band. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the present-day flag was adopted on 29 July 1980. Many Iranian exiles opposed to the Iranian government use alternate flags, including the tricolor flag with the Lion and Sun at the center,[page needed] or the tricolor without additional emblems. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Iraq

The flag of Iraq (Arabic: علم العراق Kurdish languages: الله اكبر) includes the three equal horizontal red, white, and black stripes of the Arab Liberation flag, with the phrase “God is the greatest” in Arabic and 'Allahu Akbar' written in Central Kurdish with Kufic script in the center. This basic tricolor has been in use since its adoption on 31 July 1963, with several changes to the green symbols in the central white stripes; the most recent version adopted on 22 January 2008 bears the takbīr rendered in dark green and removes the three green stars present since 1963. The northern autonomous provinces of Kurdistan Region emerged as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament. The Kurdistan Regional Government uses a separate flag known as the flag of Kurdistan which was adopted in 1992. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Israel

The flag of Israel (Hebrew: דגל ישראל Degel Yīsraʾel; Arabic: علم إسرائيل ʿAlam Israʾīl) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes. The Israeli flag legislation states that the official measurements are 160 × 220 cm. Therefore, the official proportions are 8:11. Variants can be found at a wide range of proportions, with 2:3 being common. The blue colour is described as 'dark sky-blue', and varies from flag to flag, ranging from a hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue, to hues about 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue. An early version of the flag was displayed in 1885 at a procession marking the third anniversary of Rishon LeZion. A similar version was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891. The basic design recalls the Tallit (טַלִּית), the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with black or blue stripes. The symbol in the center represents the Star of David (Magen David, מָגֵן דָּוִד), a Jewish symbol dating from late medieval Prague, which was adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Japan

The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the Nisshōki (日章旗, 'flag of the sun'), but is more commonly known in Japan as the Hinomaru (日の丸, 'Ball of the sun'). It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising Sun. The Nisshoki flag is designated as the national flag in the Act on National Flag and Anthem, which was promulgated and became effective on 13 August 1999. Although no earlier legislation had specified a national flag, the sun-disc flag had already become the de facto national flag of Japan. Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, each had a provision for a design of the national flag. A sun-disc flag was adopted as the national flag for merchant ships under Proclamation No. 57 of Meiji 3 (issued on 27 February 1870), and as the national flag used by the Navy under Proclamation No. 651 of Meiji 3 (issued on 27 October 1870). Use of the Hinomaru was severely restricted during the early years of the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II; these restrictions were later relaxed. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Jordan

The flag of Jordan, officially adopted on 16 April 1928, is based on the 1916 flag of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The flag consists of horizontal black, white, and green bands that are connected by a red chevron. The colours are the Pan-Arab Colors, respectively representing the Abbasid (black band), Umayyad (white band), and Fatimid or Rashidun caliphates (green band). The red chevron is for the Hashemite dynasty, and the Arab Revolt. In addition to the bands and chevron, a white star with seven points is featured on the hoist side of the red chevron. The star stands for the unity of the Arab people; its seven points refer to the seven verses of Al-Fatiha as well as the seven hills Amman was built on. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Kazakhstan

The flag of Kazakhstan or Kazakh flag (Kazakh: Қазақстан туы, Qazaqstan tuy; Russian: Флаг Казахстана, romanized: Flag Kazakhstana) was adopted on 4 June 1992, replacing the flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The flag was designed by Shaken Niyazbekov. The national flag of the Republic of Kazakhstan has a gold sun with 32 rays above a soaring golden steppe eagle, both centered on a sky blue background; the hoist side displays a national ornamental pattern called 'koshkar-muiz' (the horns of the ram) in gold; the blue colour is of religious significance to the Turkic peoples of the country, and so symbolises cultural and ethnic unity; it also represents the endless sky as well as water; the sun, a source of life and energy, exemplifies wealth and plenitude; the sun's rays are shaped like grain, which is the basis of abundance and prosperity; the eagle has appeared on the flags of Kazakh tribes for centuries and represents freedom, power, and the flight to the future. The width of the flag to its length is 1:2. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Kuwait

The flag of Kuwait (Arabic: علم الكويت) was adopted on September 7, 1961, and officially hoisted November 24, 1961. Before 1961, the flag of Kuwait was red and white, like those of other Persian Gulf states at the time, with the field being red and words or charges being written in white. When The Utub settled in Kuwait, Kuwaiti ships were flying a flag common on the western coast of the Persian Gulf, a red flag added to it near the mast a serrated white ribbon similar to the current Bahrain flag and was called in the name of the Sulaimi flag. This flag was raised in the rule of Sheikh Sabah I bin Jaber in 1746 to 1871. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Kyrgyzstan

The flag of the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyz: Кыргыз Республикасынын Мамлекеттик Туусу, romanized: Kyrgyz Respublikasynyn Mamlekettik Tuusu, lit. 'The State Flag of the Kyrgyz Republic', Russian: Флаг Кыргызстана, Государственный флаг Кыргызской Республики) consists of a red field charged with a yellow sun that contains a depiction of a tunduk, the opening in the center of the roof of a yurt (traditional nomadic tent). It is actually a depiction of the first thing one sees when waking up in a yurt, namely the construction of the pinnacle of every Kyrgyz yurt with three crisscrossing laths across the circular opening at the top of the yurt. Adopted in 1992, just over seven months after the country's independence was declared, to replace the flag of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), it has been the flag of the Kyrgyz Republic since that year. The red on the flag is said to be inspired by the pennant lifted by Manas, the country's folk hero. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Laos

The flag of Laos (Lao: ທຸງຊາດລາວ; thungsad Lāo) consists of three horizontal stripes, with the middle stripe in blue being twice the height of the top and bottom red stripes. In the middle is a white disc, the diameter of the disc is 4⁄5 the height of the blue stripe. The flag ratio is 2:3. The flag was first adopted in 1945 under the short-lived Lao Issara government of 1945–46, then by the Pathet Lao. It is one of the two flags of a currently communist country (the other being Cuba) that currently does not use any communist symbolism. The current flag was adopted on December 2, 1975, when it became a socialist state. The royal flag before 1975 remains in use by a number of Laotian diaspora. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Lebanon

The national flag of Lebanon (Arabic: علم لبنان) is formed of two horizontal red stripes enveloping a horizontal white stripe. The white stripe is twice the height (width) of the red ones (ratio 1:2:1)—a Spanish fess. The green cedar (Lebanon cedar) in the middle touches each of the red stripes and its width is one third of the width of the flag. The presence and position of the Cedar in the middle of the flag is directly inspired by the Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani). The Cedar is the symbol of Lebanon. The Cedar of Lebanon has its origin in many biblical references. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Malaysia

The national flag of Malaysia, also known as the Stripes of Glory (Malay: Jalur Gemilang), is composed of a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as the Bintang Persekutuan (Federal Star). The 14 stripes, of equal width, represent the equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal territories, while the 14 points of the star represent the unity between these entities. The crescent represents Islam, the country's state religion; the blue canton symbolises the unity of the Malaysian people; the yellow of the star and crescent is the royal colour of the Malay rulers. It is in the stars and stripes and the Muslim crescent flag families. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Maldives

The Flag of the Republic of Maldives (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖެގެ ދިދަ, romanized: Dhivehi Raajjeyge dhidha) is green with a red border. The center bears a vertical white crescent; the closed side of the crescent is on the raising side of the flag. It was adopted on 25 July 1965. The red rectangle represents the blood of the nation's heroes, and their willingness to sacrifice their every drop of blood in defense of their country. The green rectangle in the center symbolizes peace and prosperity. The white crescent moon symbolizes the Islamic faith of the state and authorities. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Mali

The national flag of Mali (French: drapeau du Mali) is a tricolour with three equal vertical stripes. From the hoist (the place where the flagpole meets the flag) the colours are green, gold, and red, the pan-African colours. The flag of Mali is almost identical to the flag of Guinea, with the exception that the colours are in reverse order. The green stands for fertility of the land, gold stands for purity and mineral wealth, and the red symbolizes the blood shed for independence from the French. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Mongolia

The national flag of Mongolia (Mongolian: Монгол улсын төрийн далбаа, romanized: Mongol ulsiin töriin dalbaa, pronounced [ˈmɔɴɢɞ̆ɮ ʊɬˈsiŋ tʰɵˈɾiŋ taɮˈpa]) is a vertical triband with a red stripe at each side and a blue stripe in the middle, with the Mongolian Soyombo symbol centering on the leftmost stripe. The blue stripe represents the eternal blue sky, and the red stripes thriving for eternity. The Soyombo symbol is a geometric abstraction that represents fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and a Taijitu symbol representing the duality of yin and yang. The current flag was adopted on 12 January 1992, with the current official colour standards being set on 8 July 2011. Until 1992, the flag had a communist star above the Soyombo, during the final 47 years of the Mongolian People's Republic. The flag was originally designed by artist Dodiin Choidog (Додийн Чойдог). It has been commonplace among Mongolians in the Inner Mongolia to hang the flag. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Myanmar

The State Flag of Republic of the Union of Myanmar was adopted on 21 October 2010. The State flag described in the 2008 Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar was adopted by enacting the 2010 Union Flag Law and the repealing of the 1974 State Flag Law on 21 October 2010. It was hoisted for the first time at 3:00 p.m. local time on 21 October 2010. Orders were also handed out to ensure all old flags were burned. Unlike the previous 1974 State Flag Law, the 2010 Union Flag Law includes the definition of the flag. The current flag is a horizontal tricolour flag of yellow, green, and red charged with a five-pointed white star in the centre of the field. The background is a yellow, green, and red tricolor meant to honour the tricolours used during the independence struggle. The yellow represents unity, conformity, wisdom, happiness, and unity of all national races amicably. The green symbolises fertility, conformity, fairness, and being a peaceful, pleasant, and green nation. The red represents bravery and decisiveness. The white star stands for purity, honesty, fullness of compassion, and power. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Nepal

The national flag of Nepal (Nepali: नेपालको झण्डा) is the world's only non-rectangular flag that acts as both the state flag and civil flag of a sovereign country. The flag is a simplified combination of two single pennons (or pennants), known as a double-pennon. Its crimson red is the symbol of bravery and it also represents the color of the rhododendron, Nepal's national flower, while the blue border is the color of peace. Until 1962, the flag's emblems, both the sun and the crescent moon, had human faces, but they were removed to modernize the flag. The current flag was adopted on 16 December 1962, along with the formation of a new constitutional government. Shankar Nath Rimal, a civil engineer, standardised the flag on the request of King Mahendra. It borrows from the original, traditional design, used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and is a combination of the two individual pennons used by rival branches of the ruling dynasty. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

North Korea

The flag of North Korea, also known as the Ramhongsaek Konghwagukgi (Korean: 람홍색공화국기; literally 'blue and red-coloured flag of the republic'), sometimes known as the flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, consists of a central red panel, bordered both above and below by a narrow white stripe and a broad blue stripe. The central red panel bears a five-pointed red star within a white circle near the hoist. The flag is strictly prohibited under the National Security Act in South Korea due to its association with the ruling North Korean regime, but it is only allowed in extremely exceptional cases such as media coverage, drama and film shooting, and international sports events. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

North Macedonia

The flag of North Macedonia is the national flag of the Republic of North Macedonia and depicts a stylized yellow sun on a red field, with eight broadening rays extending from the center to the edge of the field. It was created by Miroslav Grčev and was adopted on 5 October 1995. The eight-rayed sun represents the 'new sun of Liberty' referred to in 'Denes nad Makedonija' ('Today over Macedonia'), the national anthem of North Macedonia. The first post-Yugoslav flag of the country, adopted in 1992, known as the Kutlesh Flag, featured the Vergina Sun, a symbol that had been discovered at Aigai, the first capital and burial ground of the ancient kings of Macedon. Greece considers the Vergina Sun to be a Greek symbol and imposed a year-long economic embargo in order to persuade the then Republic of Macedonia to remove it from its flag, resulting in the current design. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Oman

The national flag of Oman (Arabic: علم عُمان) consists of three stripes (white, green and red) with a red bar on the left that contains the national emblem of Oman (Dagger and two swords). Until 1975, Oman used the plain red banner of the indigenous people. In 1970, the Sultan introduced a complete new set of national flags.[clarification needed] Bands of green and white were added to the fly, and the national emblem, the badge of the Albusaidi Dynasty, was placed in the canton. This depicts crossed swords over a khanjar, a traditional curved dagger. White has been associated historically with the Imam, the religious leader of Oman, and at times the political rival to the ruling Sultan. It also symbolizes peace. Green is traditionally associated with the Jabal al-Akdar, or 'Green Mountains', which lie toward the north of the country. Red is a common color in Gulf state flags. The national emblem is said to date back to the 18th century. A curved dagger is fastened over a pair of crossed swords. An ornate horsebit links the weapons. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Pakistan

The flag of Pakistan (Urdu: پرچمِ ستارہ و ہلال) traces its current form back to a meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, three days before the Partition of British India, when it was adopted by the All-India Muslim League as the official flag-to-be of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was retained upon the establishment of a constitution in 1956, and remains in use as the national flag for the present-day Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The flag is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white crescent moon and five-pointed star at its centre, and a vertical white stripe at its hoist-end. Though the specific shade of green on the flag is mandated only as 'dark green', its official and most consistent representation is in Pakistan green, which is shaded distinctively darker. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Papua New Guinea

The flag of Papua New Guinea (Tok Pisin: plak bilong Papua Niugini) was adopted on 1 July 1971. In the hoist, it depicts the Southern Cross; in the fly, a Raggiana bird-of-paradise is silhouetted. The design was chosen through a nationwide design competition in early 1971. The winning designer was Susan Karike, who was 15 at the time. Red and black have long been traditional colours of many Papua New Guinean tribes. Black-white-red was the colour of the German Empire flag, which had colonised New Guinea prior to 1918. The bird-of-paradise is also found on the national coat-of-arms. The Southern Cross shows that it is a country in the Southern Hemisphere and can be seen in Papua New Guinea. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Philippines

The national flag of the Philippines (Tagalog: Pambansang watawat ng Pilipinas; Ilocano: Nailian a bandera ti Filipinas; Cebuano: Nasudnong bandila ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Bandera Nacional de Filipinas) is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of royal blue and crimson red, with a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. In the center of the triangle is a golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing a province. At each vertex of the triangle is a five-pointed, golden-yellow star, each of which representing one of the country's three main island groups—Luzon, Visayas (though originally referring to the island of Panay) and Mindanao. The white triangle at the flag represents liberty, equality, and fraternity. A unique feature of this flag is its usage to indicate a state of war if it is displayed with the red side on top, which is effectively achieved by flipping the flag upside-down. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Qatar

The national flag of Qatar (Arabic: علم قطر) is in the ratio of 11:28. It is maroon with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side. It was adopted shortly before the country declared independence from Britain on 3 September 1971. The flag is very similar to the flag of the neighbouring country Bahrain, which has fewer points, a 3:5 proportion, and a red colour instead of maroon. Qatar's flag is the only national flag having a width more than twice its height. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Russia

The national flag of Russia (Russian: Флаг России, romanized: Flag Rossii), also known as the State Flag of the Russian Federation (Russian: Государственный флаг Российской Федерации, romanized: Gosudarstvenny flag Rossiyskoy Federatsii), is a tricolour flag consisting of three equal horizontal fields: white on the top, blue in the middle, and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for Russian merchant ships in 1696. It remained in use until 1858, when the first official flag of the Russian Empire was decreed by Alexander II, which was a tricolour consisting of three horizontal fields: black on the top, yellow in the middle, and white on the bottom. A decree in 1896 reinstated the white, blue, and red tricolour as the official flag of the Russian Empire until the Revolution of 1917. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Saudi Arabia

The flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: علم المملكة العربية السعودية) is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since 15 March 1973. It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or shahada: 'There is no deity but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God'. The green of the flag represents Islam and the sword stands for the strictness in applying justice. The flag is manufactured with identical obverse and reverse sides, to ensure the shahada reads correctly, from right to left, from either side. The sword also points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The flag is sinister hoisted, meaning that when viewed from the obverse (front) side, it is hoisted to the left of the flagpole. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Singapore

The flag of Singapore was adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. It remained the national flag upon the country's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The design is a horizontal bicolour of red above white, overlaid in the canton (upper-left quadrant) by a white crescent moon facing a pentagon of five small white five-pointed stars. The elements of the flag denote a young nation on the ascendant, universal brotherhood and equality, and national ideals. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

South Korea

The national flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi (also spelled as Taegeukgi, lit. 'Taiji flag') and colloquially known as the flag of Korea, has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, accompanied by four black trigrams, one in each corner. Flags similar to the current Taegeukgi were used as the national flag of Korea by the Joseon dynasty, the Korean Empire, as well as the Korean government-in-exile during Japanese rule. South Korea adopted the Taegukgi as its national flag when it gained independence from Japan on 15 August 1945. The flag's field is white, a traditional color in Korean culture. White was common in the daily attire of 19th-century Koreans, and it still appears in contemporary versions of traditional Korean garments, such as the hanbok. The color represents peace and purity. The circle in the flag's center symbolizes balance in the world. The blue half represents the sky, and the red half represents the land. Together, the trigrams represent movement and harmony as fundamental principles. Each trigram (hangeul: 괘 [gwae]; hanja: 卦) represents one of the four classical elements, as described below: (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Sri Lanka

The flag of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජාතික කොඩිය, romanized: Śrī Laṃkāvē jāthika kodiya; Tamil: இலங்கையின் தேசியக்கொடி, romanized: Ilankaiyin teciyakkoṭi), also called the Sinha Flag or Lion Flag, consists of a golden lion holding a kastane sword in its right fore-paw in a maroon background with four gold bo leaves, one in each corner. This is bordered by gold, and to its left are two vertical stripes of equal size in teal and orange, with the orange stripe closest to the lion. The lion and the maroon background represent the Sinhalese, while the saffron border and four bo leaves represent concepts of mettā, karuṇā, muditā and upekshā respectively. The stripes represent the country's two largest minorities, with the orange representing the Tamils living in Sri Lanka – both the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka – and the green stripe representing the Sri Lankan Moors (Muslims of Sri Lanka). The golden yellow border represents the other minority communities of the country. It was officially adopted in 1972. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Syria

The flag of the Syrian Arab Republic consists of three colours: red, white and black, with two green stars, of five angles each. The flag is rectangular, with its width measuring two-thirds of its length. It is divided into three rectangles of identical dimensions and have the same length as the flag. The upper one is red, the middle being white and the bottom one is black, with the two green stars in the middle of the white rectangle. The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag, which had four colours – black, green, white and red – representing four major dynasties of Arab history: Abbasids, Faṭimids, Umayyads, and Hashimites. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

Taiwan

The flag of the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國國旗), also known as the Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth (青天白日滿地紅) and retroactively the Nationalist Flag of China, now more commonly known as the Flag of Taiwan, consists of a red field with a blue canton bearing a white disk surrounded by twelve triangles; said symbols symbolize the sun and rays of light emanating from it, respectively. The public display of this flag is still seen in historical museums and war cemeteries across mainland China but its use remains illegal as tools for subversion of state power. Some supporters of Taiwanese independence reject the flag due to its association with Chinese nationalism and as a statement of opposition against the Kuomintang, although the Democratic Progressive Party and its leaders still generally retain and use the current flag both domestically and abroad. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)

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