From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Term referring to two types of flag
In
vexillology
, a
state flag
is either the
flag
of the
government
of a
sovereign state
, or the flag of an individual
federated state
(subnational administrative division).
[
citation needed
]
Government flag
[
edit
]
A state flag is a variant of a
national flag
(or occasionally a completely different design) specifically designated and restricted by law or custom (theoretically or actually) to use by a country's government or its agencies. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as
government flags
. In many countries the state flag and the
civil flag
(as flown by the general public) are identical, but in other countries, notably those in Latin America, central Europe, and Scandinavia, the state flag is a more complex version of the national flag, often featuring the national
coat of arms
or some other emblem as part of the design. Scandinavian countries also use
swallowtailed
state flags, to further differentiate them from civil flags.
[1]
In addition, some countries have
state ensigns
, separate flags for use by non-military government ships such as
guard
vessels. For example, government ships in the United Kingdom fly the
Blue Ensign
.
[2]
State flags should not be confused with the national flag as used by military organizations; these are referred to as
war flags
and
naval ensigns
.
[3]
National flags with separate state and civil versions
[
edit
]
Flag of a federated state (subnational entity)
[
edit
]
In
Argentina
,
Australia
,
Brazil
,
Canada
, the
United States
, and some other federalized countries, the term
state flag
can have a different usage, as it frequently refers to an official flag of any of the individual
states
or
territorial subdivisions
that make up the nation.
[4]
To avoid confusion with the first meaning of the term, however, such a flag would be more precisely referred to as "the flag of the state of X", rather than "the state flag of X".
[
citation needed
]
For this usage, see also:
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Znamierowski. "Government Flags".
World Encyclopedia of Flags
. p. 66.
- ^
Znamierowski. "The Union Jack".
World Encyclopedia of Flags
. p. 108.
- ^
Znamierowski. "Naval Ensigns and Flags".
World Encyclopedia of Flags
. p. 88.
- ^
Znamierowski.
World Encyclopedia of Flags
. pp. 180, 192, 208.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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State-related
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Mobile civilian
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Other entities
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By design
(
National
,
Gallery
)
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By nations
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Names in
italics
indicate
non-sovereign
(dependent) territories, disputed states and/or former countries.
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