Sub-Saharan Africa
Ethiopia
Liberia
Congo
Zanzibar
South Africa
Middle East and North Africa
Turkey
Tunisia
Egypt
Jebel Shammar
Morocco
Muscat and Oman
Persia
state flag 11 Flown by the government, and often by private citizens.
Persia
national flag 22 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Hejaz · Arab Revolt
Nejd
ʿAsir
Kuwait 33 There were many variations of this flag, depending on who was flying it and when. Some versions would have added inscriptions, decorations or royal symbols. The flag could also be triangular.
Bahrain 44 The number of points could vary. Some flags even had a completely straight-edged stripe.
Qatar
Ras al-Khaimah · Sharjah 55 Officially all of the Trucial States were supposed to fly a square red flag with a thick white border. In practice this flag became exclusively associated with the Al Qasimi dynasty. The other states mostly flew plain red flags.
Mount Lebanon
Western Europe
France
Italy
national flag 66 Flown by private citizens and merchant ships. The "Italian Social Republic", the Nazi puppet regime in the north, flew the plain tricolour as a national flag and had a war flag with an eagle gripping a fasces. The anti-fascist Italian partisans flew either plain tricolours or tricolours with a white or red star on the middle stripe.
Italy
state flag 77 Flown by the government and navy.
Ireland
Belgium 88 Flying the national flag was banned under the German occupation.
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Germany
Austria
Imperial colours 99 The dynastic colours of the Hapsburg monarchy, often used as a flag on land.
Austria
naval flag 1010 Flown by navy ships. Direct predecessor of the modern Austrian flag. By law the flag was also supposed to have the coat of arms of Hungary on it, but flags of this type were never manufactured.
Spain
Andorra
Denmark
national flag 1111 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Denmark
sovereign flag 1212 Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies.
Norway
merchant flag 1313 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Norway
state flag 1414 Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships.
Finland
state flag 1515 Flown by the government and armed forces. Flown on a temporary basis while the current national flag was being designed.
Finland
merchant flag 1616 Allowed to be flown by anyone. Mostly used by merchant ships. Flown on a temporary basis while the current national flag was being designed.
Iceland
national flag 1717 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Iceland
state flag 1818 Flown on government buildings and coast guard ships.
Sweden 1919 Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military.
Greece
land flag 2020 Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross.
Greece
sea flag 2121 Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross.
Switzerland
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Jersey
San Marino
Liechtenstein
princely flag 2222 Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use.
Monaco
national flag 2323 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Monaco
princely flag 2424 Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings.
Malta
traditional flag 2525 Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it.
Portugal
Catalonia
Basque Country
Cornwall
Galicia
Corsica
Wales
Flanders
Wallonia
Eastern Europe and Western Turkestan
Russia
Carniola
national colours 2626 Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Carniola. Regarded as the unofficial national flag of Slovenia.
Slovakia 2727 Flown by advocates of Slovakian independence. The "Upper Hungary" region did not have an official flag.
Croatia and Slavonia
Serbia
national flag 2828 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Serbia
state flag 2929 Flown the government and armed forces.
Montenegro
merchant flag 3030 Flown by the merchant fleet. The plain Serbian tricolour was also widely flown within in the country.
Montenegro
royal flag 3131 Flown by the king and the government.
Poland
Bohemia
state colours 3232 Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Bohemia. Not an official flag, but informally regarded as a Czech national symbol. A white flag with the Bohemian coat of arms was also sometimes used.
Byelorussia
Hungary
Bulgaria
Estonia
Crimea
Latvia
Romania
Moldavia
Ukraine 3333 Flown by Ukrainian nationalists. The order of colours wasn't fixed.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lithuania
Albania
Siberia
Mountain Republic
Alash Orda
Bukhara
Khiva
Turkestan
South Asia and the Indian Ocean
India 3434 The "Calcutta flag" flown by independence activists. British India had several colonial flags. A red civil ensign with the Star of India medal on it was used to represent India at international sporting events.
Afghanistan
Hyderabad
Jammu and Kashmir 3535 The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom.
Nepal
Jhabua 3636 The raja's flag was rectangular
Dewas
Kota
princely flag 3737 Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer.
Benares
Sailana 3838 The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag.
Ajaigarh 3939 The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower.
Mewar 4040 Mewar had a number of reported princely banners which were also sometimes used as state flags. The most common one had a large yellow sun and a blue katar dagger.
Kolhapur 4141 Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag.
Dhar
Jaipur
Alwar
Idar
Sirohi
Jodhpur
Gwalior
Jaisalmer
Nabha
Bikaner
Mysore
Wankaner
Manipur
Charkhari
Banswara
Dholpur
Chhatarpur
Kapurthala
Cambay
Bharatpur
Kochin
Dhrangadhra
Rajpipla
princely flag 4242 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag.
Rajpipla
national flag 4343 Allowed to be flown by civilians.
Indore 4444 Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours.
Bhavnagar 4545 There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it.
Tonk 4646 The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand.
Garhwal 4747 The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes.
Suket 4848 The raja's flag had a gold tiger head in the middle. The war flag was a red flag with the state coat of arms on it.
Kalat
Bahawalpur
Baroda
princely flag 4949 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown.
Kutch
Travancore
Rajgarh
Pratapgarh 5050 The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white.
Cooch Behar
Barwani
Porbandar
Sitamau 5151 The Raja's flag had a red sun
Faridkot
Rewa
princely flag 5252 Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag.
Bundi
Jhalawar
Karauli
Orchha
Alirajpur
Khairpur
Dungarpur
Baoni
Mandi 5353 The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it.
Kishangarh
Bhopal 5454 The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it.
Jaora
Rampur
Bilaspur
Sikkim
Sinhalese Flag 5555 Flown by Sinhalese nationalists in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. There was also an infrequently-used blue British colonial ensign with an elephant badge.
Maldive Islands
Muslim League 5656 Flag of the All-India Muslim League, which advocated for Muslim interests within British India. The direct predecessor of the flag of Pakistan.
East, Central and Southeast Asia
Japan
Korea 5757 Flown by the Korean independence movement. Banned under Japanese occupation.
China
Mongolia
Cambodia
Laos
Siam
Philippines 5858 Banned by the American colonial government. The Insular Government of the Philippine Islands had no official flag at this time.
Federated Malay States
Brunei
Terengganu
Sarawak
Perlis
Johor
state flag 5959 Flown by the sultan and on naval ships.
Johor
merchant flag 6060 Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag.
Kedah
state flag 6161 Flown over the sultan's palace and the military.
Kedah
merchant flag 6262 Flown by merchant ships.
Kelantan
Burma 6363 Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag.
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
Hawaiʻi
Tonga
Wallis and Futuna
Guam
North America
United States
Canada 6464 Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. The badge was only supposed to have the arms of the original four provinces, but the nine-province version was much more common. It was also often placed on a white disc, or adorned with wreath of maple leaves and a crown.
Newfoundland 6565 Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag.
Texas
Acadia
Québec
California
Métis
Latin America
Brazil
Mexico
Peru
national ensign 6666 Flown by the government, the navy, the national police, and national sports teams. Raised at major ceremonies. The army uses a similar flag with a different coat of arms.
Peru
national flag 6767 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Guatemala
Argentina
Nicaragua
El Salvador
national flag 6868 The most common flag, flown over most government buildings, at ceremonies, by diplomatic missions and often by public citizens.
El Salvador
inscribed flag 6969 An alternative government flag, most commonly flown by the armed forces but also on some public buildings and offices.
El Salvador
plain flag 7070 The simplest version of the national flag, flown by some private citizens.
Honduras
Paraguay
front side
Paraguay
back side
Costa Rica
national flag 7171 The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too.
Costa Rica
national ensign 7272 Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens.
Puerto Rico 7373 Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists. Display of the flag was initially banned under American rule.
Cuba
Uruguay
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Chile
Panama
Venezuela
national ensign 7474 Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens.
Venezuela
national flag 7575 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Colombia
Ecuador
Bolivia
state flag 7676 Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms.
Bolivia
national flag 7777 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Other International and Cultural Flags
Buddhist Flag
Zionist Movement
Esperanto
Red Cross
Red Crescent
Olympic Games
Events of 1917
ARABIA • The Kingdom of Hejaz adopted a new flag on May 30, based on the Arab Nationalist tricolour with a red triangle added to represent the Hashemite dynasty. Known as the Arab Revolt flag, it was a profoundly influential design that served as the basis for many national flags across the Arab World.
Just to the south, the Emriate of ʿAsir declared independence from the Ottoman Empire on August 3.
GUAM • The flag of Guam was adopted on July 4.
SIAM • Less than a year after introducing its striped civil flag, Siam adopted a single new national flag with a blue central stripe. The new colour scheme was deliberately copied from the flags of Britain, France, the United States, and Russia — its allies during the First World War.
RUSSIA • The Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, ending three centuries of rule by the Romanov dynasty and kicking off a 5-year-long civil war. The 1914 civil flag, which had included the imperial coat of arms, was abolished on March 15.
During the years that followed, many nationalities tried to break away from Russia, with varying degrees of success. Finland declared independence on December 6, under a pair of provisional flags based on the Finnish coat of arms. They'd be replaced with the modern blue and white Nordic cross around six months later.
The Moldavian Democratic Republic declared independence on December 15, with the intention of joining Romania.
The former protectorates of Khiva and Bukhara fully broke away from Russia after the revolution. (The Bukharan flag from this era is not well attested. This image is reconstructed from a photograph of an old flag in the Museum of History in Bukhara.)
The modern Latvian flag was designed by artist Ansis Cirulis in May. The Lithuanian National Council adopted a green and red flag in September. Both countries would declare independence the following year. The Byelorussian white-red-white flag was also designed sometime this year.
The Mountain Republic of the Northern Caucasus declared independence on March 6.
Several other regions declared autonomy within Russia: The Crimean People's Republic on December 13, Turkestan on November 27, Alash Orda on September 13, and Siberia on October 28.
Notes
1 Flown by the government, and often by private citizens. ↩
2 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
3 There were many variations of this flag, depending on who was flying it and when. Some versions would have added inscriptions, decorations or royal symbols. The flag could also be triangular. ↩
4 The number of points could vary. Some flags even had a completely straight-edged stripe. ↩
5 Officially all of the Trucial States were supposed to fly a square red flag with a thick white border. In practice this flag became exclusively associated with the Al Qasimi dynasty. The other states mostly flew plain red flags. ↩
6 Flown by private citizens and merchant ships. The "Italian Social Republic", the Nazi puppet regime in the north, flew the plain tricolour as a national flag and had a war flag with an eagle gripping a fasces. The anti-fascist Italian partisans flew either plain tricolours or tricolours with a white or red star on the middle stripe. ↩
7 Flown by the government and navy. ↩
8 Flying the national flag was banned under the German occupation. ↩
9 The dynastic colours of the Hapsburg monarchy, often used as a flag on land. ↩
10 Flown by navy ships. Direct predecessor of the modern Austrian flag. By law the flag was also supposed to have the coat of arms of Hungary on it, but flags of this type were never manufactured. ↩
11 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
12 Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies. ↩
13 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
14 Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships. ↩
15 Flown by the government and armed forces. Flown on a temporary basis while the current national flag was being designed. ↩
16 Allowed to be flown by anyone. Mostly used by merchant ships. Flown on a temporary basis while the current national flag was being designed. ↩
17 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
18 Flown on government buildings and coast guard ships. ↩
19 Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military. ↩
20 Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩
21 Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩
22 Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use. ↩
23 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
24 Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings. ↩
25 Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it. ↩
26 Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Carniola. Regarded as the unofficial national flag of Slovenia. ↩
27 Flown by advocates of Slovakian independence. The "Upper Hungary" region did not have an official flag. ↩
28 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
29 Flown the government and armed forces. ↩
30 Flown by the merchant fleet. The plain Serbian tricolour was also widely flown within in the country. ↩
31 Flown by the king and the government. ↩
32 Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Bohemia. Not an official flag, but informally regarded as a Czech national symbol. A white flag with the Bohemian coat of arms was also sometimes used. ↩
33 Flown by Ukrainian nationalists. The order of colours wasn't fixed. ↩
34 The "Calcutta flag" flown by independence activists. British India had several colonial flags. A red civil ensign with the Star of India medal on it was used to represent India at international sporting events. ↩
35 The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom. ↩
36 The raja's flag was rectangular ↩
37 Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer. ↩
38 The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag. ↩
39 The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower. ↩
40 Mewar had a number of reported princely banners which were also sometimes used as state flags. The most common one had a large yellow sun and a blue katar dagger. ↩
41 Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag. ↩
42 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. ↩
43 Allowed to be flown by civilians. ↩
44 Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours. ↩
45 There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it. ↩
46 The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand. ↩
47 The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes. ↩
48 The raja's flag had a gold tiger head in the middle. The war flag was a red flag with the state coat of arms on it. ↩
49 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown. ↩
50 The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white. ↩
51 The Raja's flag had a red sun ↩
52 Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag. ↩
53 The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it. ↩
54 The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it. ↩
55 Flown by Sinhalese nationalists in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. There was also an infrequently-used blue British colonial ensign with an elephant badge. ↩
56 Flag of the All-India Muslim League, which advocated for Muslim interests within British India. The direct predecessor of the flag of Pakistan. ↩
57 Flown by the Korean independence movement. Banned under Japanese occupation. ↩
58 Banned by the American colonial government. The Insular Government of the Philippine Islands had no official flag at this time. ↩
59 Flown by the sultan and on naval ships. ↩
60 Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag. ↩
61 Flown over the sultan's palace and the military. ↩
62 Flown by merchant ships. ↩
63 Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag. ↩
64 Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. The badge was only supposed to have the arms of the original four provinces, but the nine-province version was much more common. It was also often placed on a white disc, or adorned with wreath of maple leaves and a crown. ↩
65 Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. ↩
66 Flown by the government, the navy, the national police, and national sports teams. Raised at major ceremonies. The army uses a similar flag with a different coat of arms. ↩
67 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
68 The most common flag, flown over most government buildings, at ceremonies, by diplomatic missions and often by public citizens. ↩
69 An alternative government flag, most commonly flown by the armed forces but also on some public buildings and offices. ↩
70 The simplest version of the national flag, flown by some private citizens. ↩
71 The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too. ↩
72 Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens. ↩
73 Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists. Display of the flag was initially banned under American rule. ↩
74 Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens. ↩
75 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
76 Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms. ↩
77 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩