Terminologie des Drapeaux : Chaque Mot Expliqué

Vexillology

Vexillology is the study of flags — their history, symbolism, design rules and usage. The word comes from the Latin "vexillum", the banner used by Roman cavalry. A person who studies or designs flags is called a vexillologist.

Flag ratio

The flag ratio is the official proportion between a flag's height and width. Common ratios are 2:3 (most of Europe and Latin America), 1:2 (the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand) and 1:1 (Switzerland and Vatican City). Ratio is one of the easiest ways to tell two similar flags apart.

• Switzerland — square 1:1 — the only square national flag besides Vatican City
• Niger — 2:3, the most common ratio worldwide
• Australia — 1:2, twice as long as it is tall

Canton

The canton is the upper hoist (top left) quarter of a flag — the position of honour. It usually carries stars, a cross or a union badge, and it is the first place to look when telling two similar flags apart.

• United States — 50 stars fill the canton
• Australia — Union Jack + Federation Star in the canton
• Greece — white cross on blue in the canton

Field

The field is the background area of a flag — everything behind the emblems and charges. Many lookalike flags share the same field colours, and only the order of the stripes or a single emblem separates them.

• Ukraine — a field split into two horizontal bands
• Japan — a plain white field with a single red disc
• Libya — a tricolour field where the black band is double height

Charge

A charge is any emblem placed on the field: an eagle, a coat of arms, a star, a crescent, a sun. Charges usually appear on only one of two similar flags, which makes them the fastest difference to spot.

• Mexico — eagle on a cactus charge at the centre
• Ecuador — full coat of arms, unlike Colombia's simpler tricolour
• Spain — off-centred coat of arms sets it apart from other red-yellow-red flags

Hoist and fly

The hoist is the edge of the flag attached to the pole; the fly is the free edge that flutters. Descriptions like "the canton sits at the hoist" use these terms — and on a windy day, the fly side takes the most wear, which is why old flags fray there first.

• United States — the star canton sits against the hoist
• Portugal — armillary sphere and shield sit toward the hoist, leaving the fly plain

Saltire

A saltire is a diagonal cross in an "×" shape, running corner to corner. It is also called Saint Andrew's Cross. If you see diagonals instead of a "+" on a flag, you are looking at a saltire.

• Jamaica — green and black triangles formed by a gold saltire
• United Kingdom — white diagonal of St Andrew's Cross inside the Union Jack
• Burundi — white saltire behind a central emblem

Cross

A cross on a flag runs vertically and horizontally in a "+" shape. The Nordic cross variant is shifted toward the hoist. Crosses and saltires are a classic confusion pair — check the angles: "+" is a cross, "×" is a saltire.

• Denmark — the oldest continuously used Nordic cross flag
• Switzerland — a bold square cross at the centre
• Greece — white cross on the canton

Nordic cross

The Nordic cross is a cross flag whose vertical bar is shifted toward the hoist. All five Nordic countries use it, differing only in colour — which is exactly why Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Finland get mixed up.

• Denmark — white cross on red
• Sweden — yellow cross on blue
• Norway — white-fimbriated blue cross on red — compare with Denmark
• Finland — blue cross on white
• Iceland — red cross inside a white border on blue — compare with Norway

Fimbriation

Fimbriation is a narrow border added around a charge or stripe so that two similar colours do not touch. In heraldry it follows the "rule of tincture". The white edges around the blue diagonals of the Union Jack are fimbriation, and they are what most distinguishes related flags.

• United Kingdom — white fimbriation separates the red crosses from the blue field
• Malaysia — white fimbriation around the canton cross
• South Africa — gold and white fimbriation edges the green Y-shape

Pall

A pall is a Y-shaped figure: one central band that splits into two. On a flag it often unites parts of a country, as the green pall does on South Africa's flag, where it joins the hoist to the fly and symbolises the convergence of cultures.

• South Africa — the only national flag built around a pall

Tricolour

A tricolour is a flag of three stripes, vertical (France, Italy, Romania) or horizontal (Russia, Netherlands, Germany). Dozens of countries use three-stripe flags in the same colours with a different order — the sequence is the difference.

• France — vertical blue-white-red
• Russia — horizontal white-blue-red
• Ireland — vertical green-white-orange — mirror of Ivory Coast

Bicolour

A bicolour is a flag of two stripes or two fields. Indonesia and Monaco use the identical red-over-white; Poland uses white-over-red. With bicolours there is no emblem to help you — order and ratio are everything.

• Indonesia — red over white
• Monaco — identical to Indonesia, but 4:5 ratio
• Poland — white over red — the reverse

Ensign

An ensign is the flag that marks a ship's or a nation's allegiance, especially at sea. Britain's Red, White and Blue Ensigns became the template for many national flags: Australia and New Zealand are both defaced Blue Ensigns.

• United Kingdom — the White Ensign is the Royal Navy's flag
• Australia — a defaced British Blue Ensign
• New Zealand — also a Blue Ensign — with red stars instead of the Commonwealth Star

Pennant

A pennant is a narrow flag that tapers to a point or swallowtail, flown by ships, clubs and militaries to signal rank or identity. It is defined by its elongated triangular shape rather than its colours.

Banner and standard

A banner is a flag-like cloth hung or carried for display, often square, and in heraldry it means a square version of a coat of arms. A standard is a personal flag of a monarch, president or military officer. Switzerland and Vatican City are the only countries whose national "banners" are square.

• Switzerland — square 1:1 banner form
• Vatican City — the only other square national flag

Defacement

In flag terminology, defacement is the practice of adding an emblem onto an existing flag design. Australia "defaced" the British Blue Ensign with the Commonwealth Star and Southern Cross — the exact difference between the Australian and New Zealand flags.

• Australia — Blue Ensign defaced with Commonwealth Star + Southern Cross
• New Zealand — Blue Ensign defaced with four red stars
• Fiji — Blue Ensign defaced with the national coat of arms