From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A
flag
is a piece of coloured cloth with a special
design
that is put on a pole as a
symbol
.
Flags first appeared more than 2000 years ago in
China
, and in
Europe
under the
Roman Empire
. Flags also have meanings, the colors and the shapes they use. For example, the
Japan
flag has a white backgroud and a red circle in the middle. The red cirle is the red sun and the white background means honesty and purity.
[1]
There are many types of flags:
State
- A
National Flag
is the symbol of a country (
nation
). For example, the national flag of the
United States
is the
Stars and Stripes
; the flag of the
United Kingdom
is the
Union Flag' or 'Union Jack
; the national flag of
France
is the
Tricolore
and the national flag of
Flag of Cyprus
has an image of a map of its own country on its flag.
- An
Ensign
is a special type of national flag for use on
ships
. Different kinds of ships often use different kinds of ensigns. For example,
warships
use a
naval ensign
which is usually different from the ensigns used by other ships.
- A
Rank Flag
is used by the
head of state
, as well as by a senior officer of the
navy
,
army
or
air force
, to show where he or she is.
- In the past,
soldiers
carried beautiful flags to
war
. Today these ceremonial flags are used only at
military
parades
.
- Some
states
,
provinces
,
cities
and
towns
have their own flags. For example, all 50 states within the
United States
have their own
state flags
.
- A
Signal Flag
is a flag used by ships to send
messages
to other ships or to people on land. Every ship keeps many different signal flags for use in different
situations
. Signal flags are also used for
racing
.
- Flags are sometimes also used to represent a
business
, a sports team, a
school
, a
political party
, or other
organizations
.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Flags
.