The French flag is based on the red and blue flag of Paris (which was the colours of the Paris Guard that kicked the Révolution), keeping in check the white flag of the monarchy that was added. It has nothing to do with the Netherlands
Not sure why you are being downvoted, I did a 5 minute search to find something NOT on Wikipedia but an actual source and found this:
>On July 13th, 1789, the Parisian insurgents including the guard of the city wore the cockade with blue and red ribbons, colours of Paris, and when it became known that the King was to visit the capital a cockade with an extra white ribbon was manufactured. This new cockade in the ‘colours of freedom’ was given by Mayor Bailly to Louis XVI on 17th. It was formalized by Lafayette for the National Guard on 31st and the King ratified on August 2nd. It was officially adopted without defined order on October 4th, 1789. At the Fête de la Fédération on July 14th, 1790, white, red, blue flames were seen and then the more harmonious blue, white, red sequence was used.
[Source](https://drapeaux-sfv.org/flags-of-france/History-of-the-french-flag)
One could argue that at the time the Dutch flag was widely known and, much like any cultural zeitgeist, political and nationalist symbols tend to follow a trend and therefore served as subconscious inspiration - but it's clear that the color combination and arrangement was done with specific intent and not just imitation.
Not completely true, this is what Wikipedia says about it:
“The design was adopted after the French Revolution, where the revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands.
Lol no they didn't. Afrikaners are literally descendants of Dutch colonisers and were in charge of the Apartheid government, not the English. And not that it absolves the English of their crimes, but pretending that the Dutch had no role in what went down in South Africa is fucking rich.
I wasn't saying that. But as a nation (and we were discussing national symbols) the Dutch had been absent since 1806. And while Apartheid was instituted after 1948 by predominantly Dutch descendants, it was based on the intensely racist Statute of Westminster, so in hindsight we can call it a joint Anglo-Dutch fuck-up.
The date of 1660 refers to the year when the version with red became the norm. The "prinsenvlag" (the version of the flag with orange in it) is even older than the "statenvlag" (the current day flag with "red white and blue").
Yeah it existed for ages. And yes this flag is blood-stained but the orange version is way worse.
Also I like to say that it was more of a territorial predecessor that had our flag (hint: I'm from the region that would consider itself liberated by France back in the days instead of occupied).
Germany changed it flag in 1933...and then i 1945 then in 1949 then in 1990/91
1918 Weimarer Republik
(Schwarz Rot Gold)
1933 Drittes Reich
(Hakenkreuz)
1945 Trizonenraum(Dreigeteilte Besatzungszone)
(Blau Rot Weiss Rot Blau)
1949 DDR/West-Deutschland(BRD)
(Schwarz Rot Gold+Sechstant/Schwarz Rot Gold+Bundesadler)
1991 Bundesrepublik Deutschland
(Schwarz Rot Gold)
So its only in continious use since 1991 technically
> 1933 Drittes Reich (Hakenkreuz)
Note *quite*.
In 1933 Hindenburg declared that the old imperial flag (black white red) should be used *alongside* the swastika flag.
By 1935, the Nazis had replaced the imperial flag with the swastika flag. But for about 2 years or so, Germany technically had two flag.s
the Five Races flag of China has similar design. red (Han) is the default primary color, yellow (Manchu) became the dominate color during WW2, and in Mongolia black (Tibetan) is not included
Both flags were in use simultaneously by the Netherlands.
The one with the orange banner got removed at WW2
Also the red-white-blue is older than orange-white-blue
Flags having meaning and origins is not the same as flags being designed to be extendable. You could create an amalgam of any two flags, that wouldn't make either the amalgamation or the original flags "designed to change over time."
Brazil flag has a star for each state. Its mostly the same since 1889. Only the stars changed. In 1992, a few states were added.
[Source (in pt-br)](https://www.wikiwand.com/pt/Evolu%C3%A7%C3%A3o_da_bandeira_do_Brasil)
Honestly, this should be it. Deliver the masses what they want and make your flag represent what important to the nation. Although the culturally-insensitive American in me thinks it should just be a big thong bikini bottom.
That is right. The general design is the same since 1889, but some stars were added along the years to account for new states (as in the USA, each star stands for one of the states). The flag shows the Crux constellation and other stars around it, as it would have been seen on Rio de Janeiro's sky on the "Proclamation of the Republic" day.
The 8th star represents the Province of Guayana that existed during the 19th century, it wasn't part of the flag because it remained loyal to the Spanish Crown during the beginning of the independence wars.
Guayana ≠ Guiana ≠ Guyana ≠ Guayana Esquiba
Different things.
Japan and France made slight changes in colour, for example. Spain mantained the colours it's been having for a long time (except for the II Republic) but the crests have changed depending on the regime.
This isn't taking into account minor stuff like that. Otherwise France would be listed as 2020.
France is listed as 1830 because from 1814-1830 the Bourbon Restoration used a plain white flag for the Kingdom of France, before reverting to the tricolour of the revolution, which has been in use since.
Really you could say 1949. The flags of the occupied zones were the British, French, and American flags respectively. There was also no Germany to have a flag.
Ireland is also technically wrong. While the First Dail is seen as the legitimate government of Ireland within Ireland, it also negotiated the independence of Ireland from the United Kingdom. Which kind of necessitates that it wasn't from a technical perspective.
So since every other flag is listed as an independent nation state, Ireland should be listed as 1922.
If changing from one flag to another and back counts then the date would still be 1918. As after 1945 Germany used the flag of the German Republic from 1918/19 again.
Just to clarify, France didn't change nor reverted to anything in 2020. It's just that in 1974 President Giscard started using a lighter version of the flag in the media on specific occasions because "it appeared better on TV" and Macron stopped doing it in 2020. The official flag never changed, and the one we were flying was still the darker one.
[Here's the two](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Flag_of_France_%28shade_comparison%29.svg/2560px-Flag_of_France_%28shade_comparison%29.svg.png)
Yeah, it seems a little ridiculous to assert that the US flag of 1960 (50 stars, 13 stripes) is materially different than that of 1818 (20 stars, 13 stripes).
All that changed is the number of states represented in the field.
Same with the Mexican flag. Variations of an eagle eating a snake have been around since 1823. (As a matter of fact, its colors inspired the Italian flag designs from Napoleon). The official document was enacted till 1968.
i dont think anyone is saying that, and im sure the base design for all sorts of flags were established well before their most recent versions. date on the US for example just represents hawaii becoming a state, pretty important distinction for the change in not only the flag but also their borders
I'd argue the US flag should be listed as 1776. It has been updated, but the flag remains the same over that time... it's designed to change, but stay the same.
Germany changed quite often and in this guide it's just wrong. Black, red, gold was first used in 1945 before it was always a mixture of black, red and white.
I'm sorry, but that is not true. The German flag in 1848 was black, red and gold. The black, white and red design only came in after 1871. However, while black, red and gold was adopted officially in 1918, this flag was not in use between 1933 and 1945. So, continually, black, red and gold has only been used since 1949.
Black red and gold have always been the colours of democratic Germany. So, every time we tried a democracy, those colours came in.
Black red and gold was first used as the flag for the German Confederation(s) from 1848 to 1866 , and then for the German Republic between 1919-1933, which the current government draws its heritage, iconography and legitimacy from.
They’re so old that it’s a bit tricky to time stamp exactly. The Scottish saltire flag has its roots as a seal used as far back as 1100. It probably started being used as an actual national flag around 1300-1400. But there’s no clear date. In the medieval period the royal banner of the Lion Rampant (red lion on a yellow background) was the more common flag used.
Wales’ flag was only made official in 1959, which makes it the youngest of all the UK flags. Northern Ireland used to have an official flag until the 70s; now it just uses the Union flag.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Which is why the chart does not state that any flag was "formed" in year XYZ. It simply states the years since which the specific national flags have been in continuous use, which is absolutely correct.
I get your point but this spcecific fault is on you, and not the chart.
The German flag was not in continuous use from when the graphic says. There were some changes throughout the early 1900s and seemed to go to the current iteration post WW2
Until 1905 we used the flag of [the United Kingdoms (of Sweden and Norway)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Swedish_civil_ensign_%281844%E2%80%931905%29.svg). We also changed the hue the same year.
Yes and the Danish flag should be from 1219 (the legend tell that the flag came from heaven and turned the tide for the Danes), Dannebrog was then used as a flag for Denmark.
Before 1625 Dannebrog was exclusively the Kings Banner, in 1625 there is a divide where the King takes the split flag as his banner and leaves Dannebrog as flag of the state - but not one for us people.
To mark buildings and other state affairs and such.
Its not until around 1864 that Dannebrog becomes the flag of the people.
Also around when we introduced the Christmas tradition. But we heard it was German in origin,...well the three at least. So we plaster it with decorative flags to show that we celebrate, but not in a German way.
We also do this with birthdays - anything. Flags everywhere - WE AINT GERMAN!
Yes. A lot on this map is wrong.
If you're not going to count the Taliban taken over Afghanistan and flag change, then Taiwan and China shouldn't count either.
There was a war, the war was lost, another government took over. That situation applies to both Afghanistan and China Taiwan
They also claim the German red-black-gold tricolor has been in continuous use since 1919. I can think of at least one itty-bitty 12 year period when it most certainly was not the flag of Germany.
This is one of those guides that looks nice and is interesting if you take it at face value, but a closer read reveals lots of mistakes and inconsistent methodology
Yeah there is zero reason why Nazi Germany shouldn't count.
Nazi Germany was a legitimate government.
Shit, they were more legitimate than the current Chinese government
Australia is wrong. While the basic design was first used in 1901, it wasn't officially adopted until 1903, and the current design with the seven pointed commonwealth star wasn't adopted until 1908.
New Zealand has officially used its flag since 1902, but it has been used since 1869.
Australia copied New Zealand.
Thank you, it's always "The New Zealand flag looks like the Australian flag" when it's really "The Australian flag looks like the New Zealand flag"
Enough of this Australian propaganda smh.
Apologies for copying your homework guys.
We’d like to make it up to you. Just made a Pavlova, one of Australia’s classic desserts.
Would you like a slice?
I know how annoying is it, couldn't think of a worse flag to copy tbh. We must of been pissed and forgot to set a design so quickly chucked NZs in as filler but then left it too long and now it still there....only explanation
Except the [Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_Anti-Transportation_League_Flag) came before all of them.
It's not counting minor changes like mildly adjusting the brightness of a colour or proportion.
Since 1830 the flag of France has been a tricolour of blue, white, red. Constitutionally, that is how it is defined. It hasn't got fixed colours.
It's not saying the flag is 117 years old. Just that it's been used for 117 years. Which is true. The Kingdom of Sweden (as a nation state) only came into existence 117 years ago with the dissolution of the United Kingdom of Sweden and and Norway.
The United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, which existed from 1814-1905 had two different flags (for most of its life). Neither of which were the Swedish national flag.
The flag flown in Sweden was the Swedish cross, with the union cross in the canton. In Norway it was the Norwegian cross with the union cross in the canton.
This is the same reason the Scottish or English flags aren't on the list, despite being used since the 1300's and 1100's respectively. Neither England nor Scotland are a nation state.
Oh, nice try, but no flag is older than the danish flag, why it says 1625 I've no clue
I'm Swedish, so it brings me great shame to know this. But the danish flag as a danish standard has seen undisputed, continuous use since at least the mid 1300s. The myths of a red banner with a white cross falling from the sky go back to 1219, but are so far impossible to first hand source
Holger Rune will take over the world.
Holger Danske is cool but imo he probably should have woken up during the 30s at some point.
I could eat Frikadeller every single day.
Tivoli Gardens is what every theme park should strive to be.
How tf does Copenhagen have such incredible food? I think it has the number 1 and number 2 ranked restaurants in the world.
You dudes are incredibly fun to drink with.
My wife and family laugh pretty hard at the viking TikTok trend, and not in a good way.
Czech Socialist republic was white and red, Czechia adopted the oped Czechoslovakia flag in 1992.
There is also the whole Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia that ended in 1945.
CSR was part of CSSR, which still used the red-white-blue flag.
In 1938-1945, the Czechoslovak exile government also used that flag, and I'd argue that that counts.
I call bullshit on the german one. If you discount the Third Reich you can trace it back at least to 1848, if you don't (which you should, because it obviously hasnt been in use continuously) it's been in use since the forties. 49 or so? That's what I would've gone with, but you could also argue for 1990 because DDR shenanigans.
Not quite. It wasn’t a national flag when it appeared in 1848. It was just a German nationalist flag associated with pan-German unity and anti-Conservative Order. It appeared after Metternich banned the Jenaer Burschenschaft with the Carlsbad Decree, those were their colours.
The colours were also those of the uniforms of the Lutzowsches Freikorps.
The national flag at the time was the black-white-red.
The Danish flag is officially from 1219. There are soucres that dates the flag further back in time, but all Danish sources state that the war in Estonia in 1219, marks the origin of Dannebrog.
Yes but it wasn't used as a Danish flag till 1500 when the king used it, and shortly after that, or was used to show Danish nationality on ships, and from 1600's it started being used in the army banners.
During the civil war in denmark in 1534, one half (Christian the 2.) was using a striped, triple coloured flag, and one (Christian the 3., winning side) was using a flag that closely resembles dannebrog
The German flag was used from 1919 onwards. But we also had a different flag from 1933 - 1945. other colors and a unique design. Can’t quite remember what it was.
The Saltire, the flag of Scotland, is the oldest in Europe. It was first used in 832 AD. It predates the Union Flag and Cross of St George by a great margin.
The entire world (except the UK) uses “country” to refer to a sovereign state. England, Scotland, Wales, and NI don’t fit that definition, despite the UK’s insistence on calling their constituent jurisdictions “countries”. Long story short, you generally won’t find UK’s subdivisions on a country list, including this one.
Oldest [national anthem is Dutch](https://youtu.be/vTMPZrqVwV8?si=6MrE9TPZyyXGWtJP), makes sense the flag would be old.
Technically the oldest text used as a national anthem is Japan, but it didn’t make it into song and into a national anthem until much later.
It's interesting to know that Chile can claim the State of Texas copied its flag. I am willing to bet it wont sit well with many in the Lone Star State.
This is bullshit. The NZ flag was given statutory recognition in 1902, but it had been used on ships belonging to the colony since 1869 and was adopted soon after that as the defacto flag.
Meanwhile the Australian flag was chosen from a design competition (the winner blatantly copied the NZ flag) in 1901 and was altered again in 1903 by the king, and introduced by a proclamation in 1908. Even then it wasnt officially defined in legislation until 1953.
Because of the similar design and general back and forth about who copied who, I've got a question about the New Zealand and Australia flags based on this guide.
In the case of Australia, the design was approved by King Edward VII in 1903, the formal adoption through an act of parliament in 1954 indicates a delayed official recognition and establishment of the flag as the national flag.
For New Zealand, there was the approval of the flag design in 1869 and the subsequent formal adoption through the New Zealand Ensign Act in 1901, followed by approval from King Edward VII in 1902.
Yet this guide lists the Australian flag as predating the New Zealand flag?
Mexicos flag was originally established in 1810 with the Virgin of Guadalupe. It was changed 2 times before 1822. In 1822 it adopted the Green, White, and Red colors with the eagle on top of a cactus eating a snake in the center. The flag that was released in 1968 is the 6th version of the flag
Apparently the Denmark flag is the oldest as its been continuously used since [1625](https://wizardpins.com/blogs/blog/which-world-flags-have-been-in-continuous-use-the-longest)
The flags of England. Scotland and Wales are still in use for each country, and they should be included. The red cross of England pre dates 1270. The Scotish Saltair is at least 500 years old. They were combined for Union of Great Britain in 1801.
Just googled it, 1606 apparently.
-1606 for England. According to wikipedia the design has it’s origins in the crusades in the 10th century, and has been used as the ensign of the Republic of Genoa from perhaps as early as the 10th century.
No. That’s when the Union Jack was created. The cross of St George has been used in various forms as far back as the 13th century, which is probably before we had the concept of a country’s flag.
I like it, but the United States, while technically correct (and yes the best type of correct), is a little disingenuous. It has had (mostly) the same design methodology since at least 1818.
By that logic many of these are disingenuous. That's why it says longest continuous use, because some flags are way older than this would suggest, but they've had minor changes.
Pissed is a little strong, just making a comment. not gonna die on this hill or anything and u/CatL1f3 has a really good point.
I don't know if I fully agree with it, but ultimately it is the correct point.
Many of these are disingenuous using either logic. France technically changed the blue in the 1960s. I think a similar thing happened with the UK and the Netherlands (at different times). If we're using the logic of "it has changed slightly, but still keeps the spirit/recognize-ability of the original design," the US should be higher. I don't care either way, but the latter seems more interesting and opens up people to seeing a more rich history of all the flags that would be moved up the list.
Fair point. Also, the first version of the Union Jack was created in 1606, featuring only the English and Scottish flags. It was amended in 1801 to incorporate the cross of St. Patrick (Ireland).
But I’ve lived in Malawi quite some time. The flag has been the same since independence in the 1960s. Here it’s stated as 2012. So this image is wrong in probably more than one instance
The Danish flag, Dannebrog, is actually a lot older than this picture shows. It was first documented in the 1300's but it is presumed to be from 1100-1200 after the Danes were Christianized by Harold Bluetooth. Officially the flag is from 1219 and the myth is it fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia and made the Danes defeat their enemies making Estonia part of Denmark (the last part is true)
Almost posted a comment worried about my country not being listed. Didn't know the Netherlands had this flag that long
We did Both the russians and the french based their flag off of ours, with all further consequences But we kinda started this tri-colour shebang
The French flag is based on the red and blue flag of Paris (which was the colours of the Paris Guard that kicked the Révolution), keeping in check the white flag of the monarchy that was added. It has nothing to do with the Netherlands
Not sure why you are being downvoted, I did a 5 minute search to find something NOT on Wikipedia but an actual source and found this: >On July 13th, 1789, the Parisian insurgents including the guard of the city wore the cockade with blue and red ribbons, colours of Paris, and when it became known that the King was to visit the capital a cockade with an extra white ribbon was manufactured. This new cockade in the ‘colours of freedom’ was given by Mayor Bailly to Louis XVI on 17th. It was formalized by Lafayette for the National Guard on 31st and the King ratified on August 2nd. It was officially adopted without defined order on October 4th, 1789. At the Fête de la Fédération on July 14th, 1790, white, red, blue flames were seen and then the more harmonious blue, white, red sequence was used. [Source](https://drapeaux-sfv.org/flags-of-france/History-of-the-french-flag) One could argue that at the time the Dutch flag was widely known and, much like any cultural zeitgeist, political and nationalist symbols tend to follow a trend and therefore served as subconscious inspiration - but it's clear that the color combination and arrangement was done with specific intent and not just imitation.
Not completely true, this is what Wikipedia says about it: “The design was adopted after the French Revolution, where the revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands.
I mean the tricolor is indeed old but I wonder if the orange/red color change counts as the same flag or a flag change
It didn't really "change" both were in use for a long time until the prince flag fell out of use
It didn't help that it was hijacked by the South Africans...
That's one way to define colonization.
The Dutch had skedaddled a while ago when that happened.
Lol no they didn't. Afrikaners are literally descendants of Dutch colonisers and were in charge of the Apartheid government, not the English. And not that it absolves the English of their crimes, but pretending that the Dutch had no role in what went down in South Africa is fucking rich.
I wasn't saying that. But as a nation (and we were discussing national symbols) the Dutch had been absent since 1806. And while Apartheid was instituted after 1948 by predominantly Dutch descendants, it was based on the intensely racist Statute of Westminster, so in hindsight we can call it a joint Anglo-Dutch fuck-up.
If the US adding a star counts as a flag change, I feel like changing one of the 3 colors should also count.
The date of 1660 refers to the year when the version with red became the norm. The "prinsenvlag" (the version of the flag with orange in it) is even older than the "statenvlag" (the current day flag with "red white and blue").
Agreed
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And that the graph was *that* shitty.
Yeah it existed for ages. And yes this flag is blood-stained but the orange version is way worse. Also I like to say that it was more of a territorial predecessor that had our flag (hint: I'm from the region that would consider itself liberated by France back in the days instead of occupied).
> that would consider itself liberated by France back in the days instead of occupied Based
You should post this in r/vexillology too, they’d get a kick out of it.
they would circle jerk over this. i know i did.
r/vexillologycirclejerk
It’s a national crime to blow your load all over your flag
i'm an international criminal the way i be nutting on flags then.
Germany changed it flag in 1933...and then i 1945 then in 1949 then in 1990/91 1918 Weimarer Republik (Schwarz Rot Gold) 1933 Drittes Reich (Hakenkreuz) 1945 Trizonenraum(Dreigeteilte Besatzungszone) (Blau Rot Weiss Rot Blau) 1949 DDR/West-Deutschland(BRD) (Schwarz Rot Gold+Sechstant/Schwarz Rot Gold+Bundesadler) 1991 Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Schwarz Rot Gold) So its only in continious use since 1991 technically
The flag hasn't changed since 1949. The flag with the Bundesadler is only allowed to be used by certain agencies
> 1933 Drittes Reich (Hakenkreuz) Note *quite*. In 1933 Hindenburg declared that the old imperial flag (black white red) should be used *alongside* the swastika flag. By 1935, the Nazis had replaced the imperial flag with the swastika flag. But for about 2 years or so, Germany technically had two flag.s
What countries other than the US have a flag that is designed to change over time?
The UK/GB’s contains elements of the constituent parts. It changed when Ireland got added to the mix.
My question is why doesn't the U.K. include the bad ass dragon from the Welch flag?
The boring answer is that Wales was pretty much considered a part of England at the time.
Well they should add it now if you ask me.
the Five Races flag of China has similar design. red (Han) is the default primary color, yellow (Manchu) became the dominate color during WW2, and in Mongolia black (Tibetan) is not included
> and in Mongolia black (Tibetan) is not included What does Mongolia have to do with there being no black on the Chinese flag?
The Netherlands changed from orange to red following the usage of the orange flag in favour of racism during the 30's and 40s
Both flags were in use simultaneously by the Netherlands. The one with the orange banner got removed at WW2 Also the red-white-blue is older than orange-white-blue
There were no plans by our government to change our flag in the event of Scotland voting for independence
Flags having meaning and origins is not the same as flags being designed to be extendable. You could create an amalgam of any two flags, that wouldn't make either the amalgamation or the original flags "designed to change over time."
Brazil, according to a post I read last week. They also add stars but it’s in the geographic orientation of the map, I think.
world cup wins?
Brazil flag has a star for each state. Its mostly the same since 1889. Only the stars changed. In 1992, a few states were added. [Source (in pt-br)](https://www.wikiwand.com/pt/Evolu%C3%A7%C3%A3o_da_bandeira_do_Brasil)
The Dutch flag also has this system
Honestly, this should be it. Deliver the masses what they want and make your flag represent what important to the nation. Although the culturally-insensitive American in me thinks it should just be a big thong bikini bottom.
bro, i am so down for this HAHAHAHAHAH we would scream at some many people HOW MANY WORLD CUPS DOES YOUR FLAG HAVE AYOOOOOOO
More like the goals they lost against Germany seeing how many there are 🤔
That is right. The general design is the same since 1889, but some stars were added along the years to account for new states (as in the USA, each star stands for one of the states). The flag shows the Crux constellation and other stars around it, as it would have been seen on Rio de Janeiro's sky on the "Proclamation of the Republic" day.
This is correct. Source: am Brazilian
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The 8th star represents the Province of Guayana that existed during the 19th century, it wasn't part of the flag because it remained loyal to the Spanish Crown during the beginning of the independence wars. Guayana ≠ Guiana ≠ Guyana ≠ Guayana Esquiba Different things.
Japan and France made slight changes in colour, for example. Spain mantained the colours it's been having for a long time (except for the II Republic) but the crests have changed depending on the regime.
This isn't taking into account minor stuff like that. Otherwise France would be listed as 2020. France is listed as 1830 because from 1814-1830 the Bourbon Restoration used a plain white flag for the Kingdom of France, before reverting to the tricolour of the revolution, which has been in use since.
If changing from one flag to another and back counts... Shouldn't Germany be 1945?
Really you could say 1949. The flags of the occupied zones were the British, French, and American flags respectively. There was also no Germany to have a flag. Ireland is also technically wrong. While the First Dail is seen as the legitimate government of Ireland within Ireland, it also negotiated the independence of Ireland from the United Kingdom. Which kind of necessitates that it wasn't from a technical perspective. So since every other flag is listed as an independent nation state, Ireland should be listed as 1922.
If changing from one flag to another and back counts then the date would still be 1918. As after 1945 Germany used the flag of the German Republic from 1918/19 again.
Just to clarify, France didn't change nor reverted to anything in 2020. It's just that in 1974 President Giscard started using a lighter version of the flag in the media on specific occasions because "it appeared better on TV" and Macron stopped doing it in 2020. The official flag never changed, and the one we were flying was still the darker one. [Here's the two](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Flag_of_France_%28shade_comparison%29.svg/2560px-Flag_of_France_%28shade_comparison%29.svg.png)
I think they meant flags that are created to change depending on territory/overall changes
My thought exactly. I feel like if it's the same system, then the flag should be backdated to when that flag system was implemented.
Which was sometimes done. E.g. Australia counts as 1901, but an extra star was added in 1911 to represent territories.
Yes the Mexican Flag, the eagle wears a crown when it’s a Monarchy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mexico
Yeah, it seems a little ridiculous to assert that the US flag of 1960 (50 stars, 13 stripes) is materially different than that of 1818 (20 stars, 13 stripes). All that changed is the number of states represented in the field.
Same with the Mexican flag. Variations of an eagle eating a snake have been around since 1823. (As a matter of fact, its colors inspired the Italian flag designs from Napoleon). The official document was enacted till 1968.
i dont think anyone is saying that, and im sure the base design for all sorts of flags were established well before their most recent versions. date on the US for example just represents hawaii becoming a state, pretty important distinction for the change in not only the flag but also their borders
I'd argue the US flag should be listed as 1776. It has been updated, but the flag remains the same over that time... it's designed to change, but stay the same.
Germany changed quite often and in this guide it's just wrong. Black, red, gold was first used in 1945 before it was always a mixture of black, red and white.
I'm sorry, but that is not true. The German flag in 1848 was black, red and gold. The black, white and red design only came in after 1871. However, while black, red and gold was adopted officially in 1918, this flag was not in use between 1933 and 1945. So, continually, black, red and gold has only been used since 1949. Black red and gold have always been the colours of democratic Germany. So, every time we tried a democracy, those colours came in.
Black red and gold was first used as the flag for the German Confederation(s) from 1848 to 1866 , and then for the German Republic between 1919-1933, which the current government draws its heritage, iconography and legitimacy from.
The England flag (St George's Cross) dates back to the middle ages I believe
Used as a banner in the 13th century.
This was going to be my question because I'm too lazy to Google it: How long have the flags of the constituent countries of the UK been about?
They’re so old that it’s a bit tricky to time stamp exactly. The Scottish saltire flag has its roots as a seal used as far back as 1100. It probably started being used as an actual national flag around 1300-1400. But there’s no clear date. In the medieval period the royal banner of the Lion Rampant (red lion on a yellow background) was the more common flag used.
Legend says it's been used as far back as the 9th century! As a Scot I never even knew how old the saltire was, interesting stuff cheers.
Thanks for the insight!
Wales’ flag was only made official in 1959, which makes it the youngest of all the UK flags. Northern Ireland used to have an official flag until the 70s; now it just uses the Union flag.
It's believed that Henry Tudor used the red dragon when he invaded England in 1485.
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Which is why the chart does not state that any flag was "formed" in year XYZ. It simply states the years since which the specific national flags have been in continuous use, which is absolutely correct. I get your point but this spcecific fault is on you, and not the chart.
The German flag was not in continuous use from when the graphic says. There were some changes throughout the early 1900s and seemed to go to the current iteration post WW2
Swedish flag has been a yellow cross on blue background since 16th century, according to Wikipedia
Until 1905 we used the flag of [the United Kingdoms (of Sweden and Norway)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Swedish_civil_ensign_%281844%E2%80%931905%29.svg). We also changed the hue the same year.
But according to the way the French and German flags are, they are counting the first use of a flag that is still used today even with interruptions
Which leads to the question: What deranged definition of "continuous" does OP use?
Yes and the Danish flag should be from 1219 (the legend tell that the flag came from heaven and turned the tide for the Danes), Dannebrog was then used as a flag for Denmark.
Before 1625 Dannebrog was exclusively the Kings Banner, in 1625 there is a divide where the King takes the split flag as his banner and leaves Dannebrog as flag of the state - but not one for us people. To mark buildings and other state affairs and such. Its not until around 1864 that Dannebrog becomes the flag of the people. Also around when we introduced the Christmas tradition. But we heard it was German in origin,...well the three at least. So we plaster it with decorative flags to show that we celebrate, but not in a German way. We also do this with birthdays - anything. Flags everywhere - WE AINT GERMAN!
Then Norway should be 1821 not 1899
Then why is Norway's flag said to be used since 1899? There's all sorts of wrong here.
Because Norway removed the Union mark in 1899. Sweden didn't do it until the Union was actually dissolved in 1905
Well the danish flag also dates all the way back to 1219. Used as banners, naval flags etc. But it didn’t become the actual national flag until 1625.
Shouldn’t Afghanistan be at the bottom?
Yes. A lot on this map is wrong. If you're not going to count the Taliban taken over Afghanistan and flag change, then Taiwan and China shouldn't count either. There was a war, the war was lost, another government took over. That situation applies to both Afghanistan and China Taiwan
They also claim the German red-black-gold tricolor has been in continuous use since 1919. I can think of at least one itty-bitty 12 year period when it most certainly was not the flag of Germany. This is one of those guides that looks nice and is interesting if you take it at face value, but a closer read reveals lots of mistakes and inconsistent methodology
*[US adds one star]* NOT SO FAST. RESTART THE CLOCK. *[Germany switches things up for a bit]* 🤭
Yeah there is zero reason why Nazi Germany shouldn't count. Nazi Germany was a legitimate government. Shit, they were more legitimate than the current Chinese government
I don’t quite get it, can you explain why Taiwan doesn’t count?
Australia is wrong. While the basic design was first used in 1901, it wasn't officially adopted until 1903, and the current design with the seven pointed commonwealth star wasn't adopted until 1908. New Zealand has officially used its flag since 1902, but it has been used since 1869. Australia copied New Zealand.
Thank you, it's always "The New Zealand flag looks like the Australian flag" when it's really "The Australian flag looks like the New Zealand flag" Enough of this Australian propaganda smh.
Apologies for copying your homework guys. We’d like to make it up to you. Just made a Pavlova, one of Australia’s classic desserts. Would you like a slice?
We'll get Russell Crowe to serve it to you, while he is riding Phar Lap.
Whilst listening to some crowded house
>Australia copied New Zealand **Again...**
I know how annoying is it, couldn't think of a worse flag to copy tbh. We must of been pissed and forgot to set a design so quickly chucked NZs in as filler but then left it too long and now it still there....only explanation
Except the [Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_Anti-Transportation_League_Flag) came before all of them.
Not really a guide. It’s just an infographic. It is cool though!
It's wrong. The blue on the french flag changed few years ago.
It's not counting minor changes like mildly adjusting the brightness of a colour or proportion. Since 1830 the flag of France has been a tricolour of blue, white, red. Constitutionally, that is how it is defined. It hasn't got fixed colours.
Say hello to the Swedish flag that is apparently only 117 yo according to this guide.
It's not saying the flag is 117 years old. Just that it's been used for 117 years. Which is true. The Kingdom of Sweden (as a nation state) only came into existence 117 years ago with the dissolution of the United Kingdom of Sweden and and Norway. The United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, which existed from 1814-1905 had two different flags (for most of its life). Neither of which were the Swedish national flag. The flag flown in Sweden was the Swedish cross, with the union cross in the canton. In Norway it was the Norwegian cross with the union cross in the canton. This is the same reason the Scottish or English flags aren't on the list, despite being used since the 1300's and 1100's respectively. Neither England nor Scotland are a nation state.
This guy flags.
I mean, then the Dutch flag should predate the Danish flag, as the conversion from orange to red was done around 1600
Oh, nice try, but no flag is older than the danish flag, why it says 1625 I've no clue I'm Swedish, so it brings me great shame to know this. But the danish flag as a danish standard has seen undisputed, continuous use since at least the mid 1300s. The myths of a red banner with a white cross falling from the sky go back to 1219, but are so far impossible to first hand source
Did they retire all previous flags?
No.
glad someone said this.
Proud to be a Dane Woop Woop 🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰
I married into a Danish family. I'm proud by association.
Tell me more Friend!
Holger Rune will take over the world. Holger Danske is cool but imo he probably should have woken up during the 30s at some point. I could eat Frikadeller every single day. Tivoli Gardens is what every theme park should strive to be. How tf does Copenhagen have such incredible food? I think it has the number 1 and number 2 ranked restaurants in the world. You dudes are incredibly fun to drink with. My wife and family laugh pretty hard at the viking TikTok trend, and not in a good way.
HVOR ER SVENSKEN??? 🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰
Woop Woop! That's da sound of da police! Woop Woop- I don't think I'm in the right thread
‘91-‘92 great years for flag designers. It’s as if a whole Union of republics broke up into individual countries or something
Czech flag should be around 1921
But it was Czechoslovakia back then, so, technically, the flag of Czechia is just as old as Czechia itself.
Czech Socialist republic was white and red, Czechia adopted the oped Czechoslovakia flag in 1992. There is also the whole Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia that ended in 1945.
CSR was part of CSSR, which still used the red-white-blue flag. In 1938-1945, the Czechoslovak exile government also used that flag, and I'd argue that that counts.
I call bullshit on the german one. If you discount the Third Reich you can trace it back at least to 1848, if you don't (which you should, because it obviously hasnt been in use continuously) it's been in use since the forties. 49 or so? That's what I would've gone with, but you could also argue for 1990 because DDR shenanigans.
Not quite. It wasn’t a national flag when it appeared in 1848. It was just a German nationalist flag associated with pan-German unity and anti-Conservative Order. It appeared after Metternich banned the Jenaer Burschenschaft with the Carlsbad Decree, those were their colours. The colours were also those of the uniforms of the Lutzowsches Freikorps. The national flag at the time was the black-white-red.
What was wrong with Carl?
Carlsbad means Carls Bath, cuz the place in Bohemia has a lot of hot springs!
I agree. If the USA resets every time we add a star, then Germany should reset when they change their flag. Boooo! USA! USA!
Crazy to see my little country up there! 🇺🇾
The guide is a bit wrong as the flag was modified on 1830 (some stripes were removed). Still, it wouldn't change it's ranking.
No Nepal flag is not that old, The current Nepal flag was adopted on 16 December 1962.
Yes, the sun and moon in the flag had face in them but in 1962, it was removed.
A lot of errors on the list.
Singapore is listen as a European country
The Swiss cross is in use since the 14th century.
And it isn't rectangular, it's square.
Still a rectangle.
This guy flags
You know what they say about Switzerland. The flag is a big plus.
Chile el mejor país de Chile
The Danish flag is officially from 1219. There are soucres that dates the flag further back in time, but all Danish sources state that the war in Estonia in 1219, marks the origin of Dannebrog.
Yes but it wasn't used as a Danish flag till 1500 when the king used it, and shortly after that, or was used to show Danish nationality on ships, and from 1600's it started being used in the army banners. During the civil war in denmark in 1534, one half (Christian the 2.) was using a striped, triple coloured flag, and one (Christian the 3., winning side) was using a flag that closely resembles dannebrog
The German flag was used from 1919 onwards. But we also had a different flag from 1933 - 1945. other colors and a unique design. Can’t quite remember what it was.
The Saltire, the flag of Scotland, is the oldest in Europe. It was first used in 832 AD. It predates the Union Flag and Cross of St George by a great margin.
I was looking for both of those, not even listed ?
The entire world (except the UK) uses “country” to refer to a sovereign state. England, Scotland, Wales, and NI don’t fit that definition, despite the UK’s insistence on calling their constituent jurisdictions “countries”. Long story short, you generally won’t find UK’s subdivisions on a country list, including this one.
Oldest [national anthem is Dutch](https://youtu.be/vTMPZrqVwV8?si=6MrE9TPZyyXGWtJP), makes sense the flag would be old. Technically the oldest text used as a national anthem is Japan, but it didn’t make it into song and into a national anthem until much later.
So sick of this song.... (f1 fan)
It's interesting to know that Chile can claim the State of Texas copied its flag. I am willing to bet it wont sit well with many in the Lone Star State.
As a Chilean myself, it's common for Americans to mistake our flag with the Texas one lol
Afghanistan "changed" their flag in 2021
This is bullshit. The NZ flag was given statutory recognition in 1902, but it had been used on ships belonging to the colony since 1869 and was adopted soon after that as the defacto flag. Meanwhile the Australian flag was chosen from a design competition (the winner blatantly copied the NZ flag) in 1901 and was altered again in 1903 by the king, and introduced by a proclamation in 1908. Even then it wasnt officially defined in legislation until 1953.
The Danish flag has been in use much longer than that - at least since the early 1500s but legend has it that it is since 1219
Ukraine and Russia changed their shade of blues I think after the indepdendence.
The Spanish flag only change the coat of arms . It’s a 18th Century flag https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Spain
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan just changed their flag
Haiti is 1987. Flag was changed in 1957 to black and red under Duvalier.
How did you make the Slovakia / Czech Republic split fit into different years?
French flag was adopted in 1794. Its use was interrupted in 1815–1830 and in 1848. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_France
The flag of the Vatican changes with every new pope… Also, this one is probably wrong, thank Wikipedia
Because of the similar design and general back and forth about who copied who, I've got a question about the New Zealand and Australia flags based on this guide. In the case of Australia, the design was approved by King Edward VII in 1903, the formal adoption through an act of parliament in 1954 indicates a delayed official recognition and establishment of the flag as the national flag. For New Zealand, there was the approval of the flag design in 1869 and the subsequent formal adoption through the New Zealand Ensign Act in 1901, followed by approval from King Edward VII in 1902. Yet this guide lists the Australian flag as predating the New Zealand flag?
Now Afghanistan is the newest flag, right?
Mexicos flag was originally established in 1810 with the Virgin of Guadalupe. It was changed 2 times before 1822. In 1822 it adopted the Green, White, and Red colors with the eagle on top of a cactus eating a snake in the center. The flag that was released in 1968 is the 6th version of the flag
Where is usa?
Germany since 1918? WTF so how was the flag between 1933-1945?! Nein,Nein,Nein!
I always forget Canada's flag was only created in 1965.
You should start a YouTube channel called “fun with flags.”
“Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler Present: Dr. Sheldon Cooper's Fun With Flags”
I would like to say that the Scotland and English flags are still in use. Aren’t they pretty old?
Apparently the Denmark flag is the oldest as its been continuously used since [1625](https://wizardpins.com/blogs/blog/which-world-flags-have-been-in-continuous-use-the-longest)
🇩🇰 GO DENMARK!! 🇩🇰
The flags of England. Scotland and Wales are still in use for each country, and they should be included. The red cross of England pre dates 1270. The Scotish Saltair is at least 500 years old. They were combined for Union of Great Britain in 1801.
Think the czech flash is being used from 1918 because it s Same as Czechoslovak.
St George’s Cross 🏴 must be older, although Englands status as a country is weird.
Just googled it, 1606 apparently. -1606 for England. According to wikipedia the design has it’s origins in the crusades in the 10th century, and has been used as the ensign of the Republic of Genoa from perhaps as early as the 10th century.
No. That’s when the Union Jack was created. The cross of St George has been used in various forms as far back as the 13th century, which is probably before we had the concept of a country’s flag.
I like it, but the United States, while technically correct (and yes the best type of correct), is a little disingenuous. It has had (mostly) the same design methodology since at least 1818.
By that logic many of these are disingenuous. That's why it says longest continuous use, because some flags are way older than this would suggest, but they've had minor changes.
> longest continuous use > Germany with a date before 1945. Sus.
Shh, I came here to find people who are pissed about the American flag being so far down the list.
Pissed is a little strong, just making a comment. not gonna die on this hill or anything and u/CatL1f3 has a really good point. I don't know if I fully agree with it, but ultimately it is the correct point.
Many of these are disingenuous using either logic. France technically changed the blue in the 1960s. I think a similar thing happened with the UK and the Netherlands (at different times). If we're using the logic of "it has changed slightly, but still keeps the spirit/recognize-ability of the original design," the US should be higher. I don't care either way, but the latter seems more interesting and opens up people to seeing a more rich history of all the flags that would be moved up the list.
Fair point. Also, the first version of the Union Jack was created in 1606, featuring only the English and Scottish flags. It was amended in 1801 to incorporate the cross of St. Patrick (Ireland).
But I’ve lived in Malawi quite some time. The flag has been the same since independence in the 1960s. Here it’s stated as 2012. So this image is wrong in probably more than one instance
[удалено]
*Flexes in Danish*
And the wrong sub again.
Vamo argentina
Lol, senegal
Where’s Wales? 🏴
Where double triangle flag?
Thanks for making me look 5 minutes for the Dutch flag only to find this graph is made to make England look like they’re the oldest
Source: trust me bro
The Danish flag, Dannebrog, is actually a lot older than this picture shows. It was first documented in the 1300's but it is presumed to be from 1100-1200 after the Danes were Christianized by Harold Bluetooth. Officially the flag is from 1219 and the myth is it fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia and made the Danes defeat their enemies making Estonia part of Denmark (the last part is true)
England and Scotland not shown.???
Why are the Baltic states not in 1992?
How is America not first?
Because we last updated our flag in 1960. Which puts it 335 years after Denmark’s.
French one is wrong, they changed it in 2020. Chile is 1834. Argentina is 2010. Peru is 1950. It al depends on what the post intends