"the ""official flag"" of the republic, a ""de facto"" civil flag, which omits the coat of arms, can sometimes be seen flying. Some official sources of San Marino suggest that the civil flag is actually the bicolor with the coat of arms of the specific city it is used in, instead of the national one. The national ensign of San Marino is identical to the state flag. The oldest attested flag of the republic dates back from 4 September 1465, when it was commissioned from a manufacturer in Florence. It showed a horizontal tricolor of orange, white and purple, with"
"Flag of Finland The flag of Finland (, ), also called ""siniristilippu"" (""Blue Cross Flag""), dates from the beginning of the 20th century. On a white background, it features a blue Nordic cross, which represents Christianity. The state flag has a coat of arms in the centre, but is otherwise identical to the civil flag. The swallow-tailed state flag is used by the military. The presidential standard is identical to the swallow-tailed state flag but also has in its upper left corner the Cross of Liberty after the Order of the Cross of Liberty, which has the President of Finland"
"city of Maastricht used a similar design between 1938 and 1994 but reinstitated its old flag to avoid confusion. There are currently two independent states – Indonesia and Monaco – whose national flags are horizontal bicolors of red and white, reversing the Polish flag. The Monaco and Indonesia flags differ in proportions and shades of the colors (see Flag of Indonesia and Flag of Monaco). Flag of Poland The flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colors are defined in the Polish constitution as the"
"Flag of Slovenia The national flag of Slovenia features three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the Slovenian coat of arms located in the upper hoist side of the flag centred in the white and blue bands. The coat of arms is a shield with the image of Mount Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background at the centre; beneath it are two wavy blue lines representing the Adriatic Sea and local rivers, and above it are three six-pointed golden stars arranged in an inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of"
"the other two. Due to the horizontal bicolor being a relatively simple and widespread flag design, and white and red being the most popular colors used on flags, there are many flags worldwide that are similar or near identical to the flag of Poland despite being unrelated to it. For example, the historical flag of Bohemia, the major historical region of Poland's southern neighbor, the Czech Republic, consists of two horizontal stripes, white on top and red on bottom. Similarly to the flag of Poland, it is of heraldic origin, the coat of arms of Bohemia being ""Gules, a lion"
"Flag of Hungary The flag of Hungary (, more commonly ) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green. In this exact form, it has been the official flag of Hungary since May 23, 1957. The flag's form originates from national republican movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, while its colours are from the Middle Ages. The current Hungarian tricolour flag is the same as the republican movement flag of the United Kingdom (used since 1816) and the colours in that form were already used at least since the coronation of Leopold II in 1790, predating the first"
"use in the flag: The national flag of Croatia is represented as the Unicode emoji sequence and . Flag of Croatia The national flag of Croatia () or The Tricolour () is one of the state symbols of Croatia. It consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in colours red, white and blue. In the middle is the coat of arms of Croatia. The flag combines the colours of the flags of the Kingdom of Croatia (red and white), the Kingdom of Slavonia (blue and white) and partially of the Kingdom of Dalmatia (blue and yellow). Those three kingdoms are"
"flag, the field was light blue and had five narrow yellow bars. Westendorp's decision ended up being the first alternative flag. However, it was changed slightly to a darker blue to symbolize the European Union's flag. Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina contains a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow right triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag. The remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle. The"
"Flag of the Netherlands The flag of the Netherlands () is a horizontal tricolor of red, white, and blue. The tricolor flag is almost identical to that of Luxembourg, except that it is shorter and its red and blue stripes are a darker shade. It originates as a variant of the older orange-white-blue ""Prinsenvlag"" (""Prince's Flag""), introduced in the 17th century as the ""Statenvlag"" (""States Flag""), the naval flag of the States-General of the Dutch Republic. Its official status as the national flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was formalized in 1937. The national flag of the Netherlands is"
"Flag of Greece The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the ""sky-blue - white"" or the ""blue-white"" (), officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the established religion of the Greek people of Greece and Cyprus. The blazon of the flag is ""Azure, four bars Argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second."" The official flag ratio"
"a single-color background. Under state law, the background color is stated as purple, but the color used in practice is dark red. The ratio of the standard is 1:1.2. Each county of Lithuania has adopted a flag, each of them conforming to a pattern: a blue rectangle, with ten instances of the Cross of Vytis (double cross or) appearing in gold, acts as a fringe to the central feature of the flag, which is chosen by the county itself. Most of the central designs were adapted from the counties' coat of arms. Flag of Lithuania The flag of Lithuania ()"
"are centred in a circle (the radius of which is a third of the length of the hoist) upon a blue background. All the stars are upright (one point straight up), have five points and are spaced equally according to the hour positions on the face of a clock. The diameter of each star is equal to one-ninth of the height of the hoist. The colours are regulated in the 1996 guide by the EU, and equivalently in the 2004 guide by the Council of Europe. The base colour of the flag is defined as Pantone ""Reflex Blue"", while the"
"explicitly state anything about the width:length ratio of the flag; but, there is a law from 1957 that is in force stating that seagoing merchant vessels shall hoist the red–white–green tricolour in 2:3 ratio. By a government decree from 2000, the ratio (which is neither defined in the Constitution nor in 1995 or 2000 legislation) of flags used on government building is 1:2. Summarized, this would mean: Flag of Hungary The flag of Hungary (, more commonly ) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green. In this exact form, it has been the official flag of Hungary since"
"of Mali and Guinea are (aside from shade or ratio differences) vertically mirrored versions from each other. This means that the reverse of one flag matches the obverse of the other. Other than horizontal mirrored flags (like Poland and Indonesia) the direction in which these flags fly are crucial to identify them. There are three colour combinations that are used on several flags in certain regions. Blue, white, and red is a common combination in Slavic countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia as well as among Western nations including Australia, France, Iceland, Norway, New"
"flag on 18 January 1957. The plain tricolour is the state's civil flag. Government authorities use the state flag (""Landesdienstflagge""), where the flag is defaced by the state coat of arms. The tricolour was previously used for the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein (1868-1946). It is almost identical to the flags of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro (FR Yugoslavia), as well as the flag of the Netherlands inverted. Flag of Schleswig-Holstein The flag of Schleswig-Holstein is a horizontal tricolour of blue, white, and red. Schleswig-Holstein is one of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy"
"and red represents the road toward the construction of the nation, and the colours stand for peace (white) and effort (red). The yellow colour, circular formation of the stars, and dark blue field show similarity to the flag of Europe (which has 12 stars instead of 10, and was originally designed for the Council of Europe, but is also used by the European Union). The stripes are in 6:1:1:1:3 ratio, and the circle of stars is centred along the fly. The Constitution of the Republic does not specify what the official proportions for the height and the width of the"
"Arms of Latvia. The height of the Coat of Arms is of the width of the Standard, the centre of the sun depicted on the shield of the Coat of Arms is in the centre of the Standard. The proportion between the width of the national colours and that of the Standard is 1:5. The proportion between the length and width of the Standard is 3:2. The Standard of the Prime Minister of Latvia is white with the symmetric cross in the colour proportions of the national flag. In top left canton of the flag the Coat of Arms is"
"Flag of Croatia The national flag of Croatia () or The Tricolour () is one of the state symbols of Croatia. It consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in colours red, white and blue. In the middle is the coat of arms of Croatia. The flag combines the colours of the flags of the Kingdom of Croatia (red and white), the Kingdom of Slavonia (blue and white) and partially of the Kingdom of Dalmatia (blue and yellow). Those three kingdoms are the historic constituent states of the Croatian Kingdom. The red-white-blue tricolour has been used as the Croatian flag"
"Flag of the Western European Union The flag of the Western European Union (WEU) was dark blue with a semicircle of ten yellow five pointed stars, broken at the top, with the organisation's initials in the centre. Although it is the flag of a military organisation, it has rarely been flown in military situations. The flag is dark blue with a semicircle of ten yellow five pointed stars, broken at the top, with the white letters WEU horizontally across the centre and UEO vertically across the centre sharing the letter E with the former set of initials. UEO is the"
"flag of Russia is made up of a white, a blue, and a red bar, from top to bottom, whereas the flag of Estonia consists of a blue, a black and a white bar. From the point of view of a vexillologist, the colors have no meaning until they are grouped together and form the national symbol. Although white, blue and red may be ""national colors"" of Russia, combined in a different order they form the flag of Luxembourg. In reality, most national flags do not conform to the three-horizontal-band pattern. Furthermore, national flags vary somewhat in their horizontal and"
"96 (15 abstentions). In 2017, the president of France Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk which contained a declaration endorsing the symbols declaration of the Treaty of Lisbon. The flag of Europe is used to represent both the European Union and the Council of Europe. It consists of a circle of 12 golden (yellow) stars on a blue background. The blue represents the west, the number of stars represents completeness while their position in a circle represents unity. The stars do not vary according to the members of either organisation as they are intended to"
"flag of Bohemia in proportion 2:3 (by contrast to 5:8 proportion of the Polish flag) was introduced again from 1990 to 1993 as the flag of the then not independent Czech Republic, one of the constituent entities of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia the traditional white-and-red Kingdom of Bohemia flag has become obsolete. Other examples of flags that could be confused with the Polish one include the civil flags of the following regions: Cantabria, Spain; Kranj, Slovenia; Thuringia, Germany; Upper Austria and Tyrol, Austria; as well the city of Honda, Colombia. Furthermore, the Dutch"
"coat of arms. The royal standard is the flag of Denmark with a swallow-tail and charged with the monarch's coat of arms set in a white square. The centre square is 32 parts in a flag with the ratio 56:107. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are additional autonomous countries within the Kingdom of Denmark. These countries have their own official flags. Some areas in Denmark have unofficial flags, listed below. The regional flags of Bornholm and Ærø are known to be in active use. The flags of Vendsyssel (Vendelbrog) and the Jutlandic flag (""Den jyske fane"") are obscure. None of"
"Flag of Serbia The flag of Serbia is a tricolor consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom. The same tricolour, in altering variations, has been used since the 19th century as the flag of the state of Serbia and the Serbian nation. The current form of the flag was officially adopted on 11 November 2010. The state flag bears the lesser coat of arms, centred vertically and shifted to the hoist side by one-seventh of the flag's length. The flag ratio is 2 to 3 (height/width), with three"
"of arms of Dalmatia were sometimes used, and occasionally Italian groups with pretensions on Dalmatia, or those who left Dalmatia after World War II, used such flags in the last 50 years - always unofficially. An alternate version of the flag, featuring bleu celeste instead of azure, is almost indistinguishable from the modern flag of Ukraine, though there is no connection between the two. Flag of Dalmatia The flag of Dalmatia consists of two identical horizontal stripes of blue and yellow. Like the Croatian flag, it draws its modern roots from the period of the Austrian Empire, specifically from the"
"Flag of Liechtenstein The flag of Liechtenstein () consists of two horizontal blue and red bands charged with a gold crown at the canton. Adopted in 1921 after being officially enshrined into the nation's constitution, it has been the flag of the Principality of Liechtenstein since that year. The crown was added to the flag in 1937 after the country found out at the Summer Olympics held the previous year that their flag was identical to the flag of Haiti. Liechtenstein was formed in 1719 as a principality within the Holy Roman Empire, and gained complete independence in 1866. Within"
"Flag of Andorra The national flag of the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: ""Bandera d'Andorra"") was adopted in 1866. The flag is a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow, and red with the coat of arms of Andorra in the center. Although the three vertical bars may at first appear to be of equal width, the centre yellow bar is slightly wider than the other two so that the ratio of bar widths is 8:9:8. The overall flag ratio is 7:10. The design is related to the flags of France, Spain, Catalonia and Foix, the lands historically linked with the small country."
"of Europe, because Brussels is considered the unofficial capital of the EU. Flag of Europe The European Flag or Flag of Europe is an official symbol of two separate organisations—the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU). Flag is also used as symbol of Europe continent as whole. It consists of a circle of twelve five-pointed yellow (""or"") stars on a blue (""azure"") field. The flag was designed in 1955, and officially launched later that year by the Council of Europe as a symbol for the whole of Europe. The Council of Europe urged it to be adopted"
"of the Netherlands is a rectangular flag with proportions 5:6 with the colours of the royal standard (i.e. the orange field and blue cross) reversed. The upper left and lower right quarters bear the lion from the Dutch coat of arms (holding arrows in one hand and brandishing a sword on the other) while the other two quarters have a personal figure taken from their personal coat of arms. In general, the standard of a queen consort, or the wife of a prince of the Netherlands, is a flag in the form of a swallow tail. The two right quarters"
"not recommended outside Finnish waters to avoid confusion. Officially, however, the yachting club ensign is valid even for international use. Flag of Finland The flag of Finland (, ), also called ""siniristilippu"" (""Blue Cross Flag""), dates from the beginning of the 20th century. On a white background, it features a blue Nordic cross, which represents Christianity. The state flag has a coat of arms in the centre, but is otherwise identical to the civil flag. The swallow-tailed state flag is used by the military. The presidential standard is identical to the swallow-tailed state flag but also has in its upper"
"Coat of arms of Estonia The coat of arms of Estonia is a golden shield which includes a picture of three left-facing blue lions with red tongues in the middle, with golden oak branches placed on both sides of the shield. The insignia derive(s) from the coat of arms of Denmark, which ruled northern Estonia in the thirteenth century. The coat of arms of Estonia depicts a golden shield, which includes three slim blue ""lions passant gardant"" with red tongues in the middle and golden oak branches along both sides of the shield. The lesser coat of arms lacks these"
"the flag onto the castle and attempted to fly the flag from the building themselves. Extraordinary flying of the flag is common on Europe Day, celebrated annually on 9 May. On Europe Day 2008, the flag was flown for the first time above the German Reichstag. The flag has also been displayed in the context of EU military operations (EUFOR Althea). Sixteen out of twenty-seven member states in 2007 signed the declaration recognizing ""the flag with a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background"" as representing ""the sense of community of the people in the European Union and"
"arms of Greece consists of a white cross on a blue escutcheon which is surrounded by two laurel branches. The Flag of Greece is also blue and white, as defined by Law 851/1978 ""Regarding the National Flag"". It specifies the colour of ""cyan"" (Greek: κυανό, ""kyano""), meaning ""blue"", so the shade of blue is ambiguous. The Order of the Redeemer and military decoration Cross of Valour both have ribbons in the national colours. Since it was first established, the national emblem has undergone many changes in shape and in design. The original Greek national emblem depicted the goddess Athena and"