Similarities in flags

This article is a documentation of similar or identical designs in flags, much of these flags are similar by intention, or similar by coincedence. Flags to be added should abide to this criteria:

  • If comparing with similar instead of identical it must be a country flag[1]
  • The flag is a flag of a country[2] or region[3] of a country.
  • The flag, if a region is not being compared to another region flag under the same country. (example: Dubai [UAE] compared to Ajman [UAE] )
  • The flag, if a region is not identical to something due to it being too small/unknown to warrant its own flag. (example: US Minor Outlying Islands)
  • The flag isn't similar enough, such as France compared to Russia.
  • Adding notes with citations is needed unless there is not a way to relate the flags to each other (coincidence, then.)

Flag comparisons can be either very similar or identical.

Identical flags

"Identical" here means identical by design. If flag size ratio and hue were taken into account, none of these would be identical.

Bicolors
Country/Region Flag Notes
Monaco The Monaco vs Indonesia flag identicality has been mentioned by the public, but not mentioned by either of their respective country leaders and minimal talk for change has been made.
Hesse
(German state)
Indonesia
Poland
Thuringia (German state)
Antioquia (Colombian Department)
Pando (Bolivian Department)
Esmeraldas (Ecuadorian Province)

Tricolors
Country/Region Flag Notes
Netherlands[4] This is a coincidence, despite the geographical and historical links between the two countries. Luxembourg did not use the design on the Dutch flag; Luxembourg's flag was derived from the old coat of arms for the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.[5]
Luxembourg
The Galápagos Islands
(Ecuadorian archipelago)
Sierra Leone
Country Flag Notes
Romania The Romania / Chad flag issue has been mentioned by both countries, who both claim that the tricolor belongs to them.[6]
Chad

Similar flags (countries only)

South/Central America
Country Flag Notes
Colombia These 3 flags all came from the flag of the short lived state Gran Colombia, which was a union of lands in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, and Panama. After the country dissolved in 1831, these three countries decided to make their flags use the design of Gran Colombia.[7]
Ecuador
Venezuela
Country Flag Notes
Nicaragua All of these countries were part of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1824-1840, though the nation was not successful, it was the first time the countries gained freedom from Spain, so they kept flags similar to it when it dissolved and it has stayed since.[8]
Honduras
El Salvador

Arabic / Middle Eastern
Country Flag Notes
Qatar The Qatar flag is purple - maroon due to Qatar being one of the earliest known makers of purple dye,[9] and it's nine maroon spikes represents how it was the 9th member of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.[10]
Bahrain
Country Flag Notes
Palestine These flags were inspired by the Arab Revolt and the Egyptian Revolt flag. The Arab Revolt happened in 1916-1918 and gave many Middle Eastern / Arabic countries freedom from the Ottoman Empire, when the countries gained independence, most of the countries used a flag very similar to the Arab Revolt flag.[11] The Egyptian Revolt of 1952 was when the monarchy of Egypt was abolished, similarly, whenever this change happened, many countries kept the revolution's flag.[12]
Jordan
Syria
Egypt
Iraq
Yemen

Africa
Country Flag Notes
Guinea These flags all use the Pan-African colors,[13] which were the colors of Ethiopia's flag in the Scramble for Africa, in which many European countries colonized Africa at the same time, despite this, Ethiopia stayed almost fully uncolonized by the end of it, which inspired the other African countries when they gained independence.[14]
Mali
Senegal

Europe
Country Flag Notes
Denmark The Scandinavian / Nordic countries have a close history together, through being part of the Kalmar Union, Danish Empire, and Swedish Empire. The Scandinavian cross originates very far back, being seen prominently in 1397-1520 with the Kalmar Union. It is likely that the Danish Flag was the first to use this design.[15]
Finland
Sweden
Norway
Iceland
Slovenia These three flags[16] use the Pan-Slavic colors, which were originally (from top to bottom) blue white red, as seen in the flag of Yugoslavia, though now the blue and white stripes have been switched, and all other Slavic countries no longer use the former design.
Slovakia
Russia

Oceanic countries
Country Flag Notes
Australia They all have the Union Jack due to them being colonized by Britain; the stars typically represent islands or territories of their land or constellations.[17][18]
New Zealand
Tuvalu

More than one region
Country Flag
Bolivia
Lithuania
Ghana
Myanmar
Country Flag Notes
Bangladesh While the circles in Japan and Bangladesh's flags represent the sun,[19] contrary to popular belief, the circle in Palau's flag represents the moon.[20]
Japan
Palau
Country Flag Notes
Chad Andorra's flag similarities are coincidence, as it was derived from the flag colours of France and Spain,[21] however, Moldova was part of Romania for a short time around WW1, and it was ceded to the USSR 1940, in 1989, there was an uprising which used the Romanian flag as a symbol to change the communist government, so when Moldova got independence from the USSR, it used a similar flag.[22]
Romania
Moldova
Andorra
Taiwan
Samoa
Liechtenstein
Haiti
Ireland
Ivory Coast
Malaysia The Malaysian flag similarities is mostly coincidence.[23]
However Liberia was founded mostly by newly freed slaves of the United States with financial support; for this, they designed their flag after the United States'.[24]
United States
Liberia
Tajikistan
Hungary
Bulgaria
Iran
Poland
Monaco
Indonesia
Singapore
Lebanon
Austria
Latvia
Somalia
Vietnam
Morocco
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Paraguay
France

See also
'

Notes & Sources
  1. this is because there are thousands of similarities between regions and country flags.
  2. For countries, it should be a UN recognized country.
  3. The word Region has a few synonyms and near-equivalents, such as State, Department, Province, Region, and County. This does not include municipalities, principalities, communes, or US state counties, as they are divisions of divisions of flags.
  4. https://www.britannica.com/list/flags-that-look-alike
  5. http://www.learn-french-help.com/flag-of-luxembourg.html
  6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3626821.stm Chad and Romania argue over who should change their flag
  7. https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Colombia
  8. https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-622
  9. Westcott, Tom. "Snails and deep purple: this ancient dye costs 2,700$ per gram".
  10. https://www.edarabia.com/qatar/flag/
  11. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arab-Revolt-Flag
  12. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170723-remembering-the-1952-egyptian-revolution/
  13. much more countries than these 3 use the Pan African colors, this is just the most similar set.
  14. https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-06-13-africa-flags-history-continent/
  15. https://www.scandinaviastandard.com/a-brief-history-of-the-scandinavian-and-nordic-flags/#:~:text=The%20Scandinavia%20cross%20flag%20originated,red%20cross%20and%20yellow%20body
  16. among many others that aren't as similar
  17. https://mch.govt.nz/nz-identity-heritage/flags/answers-common-questions
  18. https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Tuvalu
  19. https://japanhorizon.com/japan-flag-meaning/
  20. https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Palau
  21. https://www.worldatlas.com/flags/andorra#:~:text=The%20flag%20features%20three%20equal,red%20and%20yellow%20from%20Spain.
  22. https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Moldova
  23. https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Malaysia
  24. https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Liberia
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.