Flags of the World

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Australia Day today provoked the usual stirrings of republican sentiment with the focus this year being the flag: apparently it should be less British, or more Aboriginal, or possibly incorporate a Kangaroo. I think I'm in the majority in not caring very much one way or the other. I don't consider it an issue of merit, but nor would I kick up a fuss if it were to be changed. I do have one criteria for any new Australian flag, though: that it not look like shit. Alas, most candidates I've seen fail to clear this minor hurdle.

In any case it got me thinking about those nations in the world lucky enough to have arrived at flags pleasing to the eye. After careful deliberation, I have determined that Sweden has the most awesome flag of any nation. I like all the Nordic Cross flags, but Sweden's just edges out the others. The cross on the Finnish flag is a little too thick for my tastes, else that could well have been my choice instead.

Some other flags I like are those of the United States, the Soviet Union and - to stretch the topic - the United Nations. Of all the bi/tri-stripe flags, I like the French one best.

What say you?

The image below isn't actually very useful in identifying the various flags of the world, but it compensates with awesomeness:



Here's a boring old gallery.

 

[Roger Wilco]

I like the Czech flag, because it's different from most others but still looks nice and simple. Sweden is ok, I agree, the yellow-blue combination looks good, but it's only derivative of the Danish flag, so it gets a deduction in originality imo.

The Australian flag is very hideous, as are most other flags containing complicated ornaments/symbols imo (Kazachstan, Brazil, India).

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The Nepalese flag is kind of a cool, "let's be different" shape.

 

[Switch]

I like the Czech flag, because it's different from most others but still looks nice and simple.

Good points. I like the design, but the colours don't do much for me.

The Australian flag is very hideous

I don't much like the design of the current Australian flag, but I do like the dominant blue and would like to see that preserved in any new design. It works pretty well draped around a model or something.

The Nepalese flag is kind of a cool, "let's be different" shape.

I was looking at that earlier. Most proposals for a new Australian flag incorporate the Southern Cross, but it's difficult to do so in a way that pleases the eye as it's a vertically oriented symbol on a horizontally oriented surface. The Nepalese flag demonstrates that flags don't have to be that shape at all, which opens up some possibilities.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Last year when the issue of redesigning the Australian flag to be less British came up, I suggested this:

As far as flags I like, I've always been a fan of Jamaica's flag:

And Macedonia's is pretty cool too:

 

[Emher]

Yeah I like our flag But the Danes totally ripped off us.

 

[RoJoHen]

I really like the distribution of colors around the world. Africa has so much more green than anywhere else!

 

[Switch]

An awesome rendition of an awesome flag:

I really like the distribution of colors around the world. Africa has so much more green than anywhere else!

Islam.

 

[RoJoHen]

I really like the distribution of colors around the world. Africa has so much more green than anywhere else!

Islam.

Is that it? I don't really keep up on my religious color schemes. I just figured that back in the day they had easier access to green dye or something.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Green doesn't always mean Islam, but where it's the dominant colour in a flag it usually does - Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia; not Nigeria though for example.

 

[Subcommander R.]

I'm actually pretty fond of the Aussie flag. And Kazakhstan's.

 

[Switch]

And Macedonia's is pretty cool too:

Totally ripped off the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Green doesn't always mean Islam, but where it's the dominant colour in a flag it usually does - Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia; not Nigeria though for example.

Oddly enough Indonesia being the largest Muslim nation incorporates neither green nor the star and crescent in its flag.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I really like flags. I dunno why: maybe it's the history behind them, or maybe I just find visual symbols inspiring (I have also a thing for Star Trek insignias, for example). As for design, call me old-school but I think a flag must be striking enough to be identified from afar, and simple enough to be produced with cloth and the blood of your dead enemies.
Thus, I guess my favourites are Japan and Canada. Not a sovereign nation, but I like the simplicity of England, too.

I'm also a fan of the good ol' Tricolour, especially with white as the middle field (France, Italy, and their horizontal variations: Netherlands, Hungary). Sudan is pretty cool, too.

I'm sure it's partly for familiarity and exposure, but will also say that the UK and the US are pretty cool, too: the white-red-blue is very pleasing to the eyes. The USSR was wicked too: as far as communist flags go, it was more elegant than the Chinese counterpart.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Oddly enough Indonesia being the largest Muslim nation incorporates neither green nor the star and crescent in its flag.

For some reason, they decided to imitate Monaco's flag a bit.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

And Macedonia's is pretty cool too:

Totally ripped off the Imperial Japanese Navy.

That's exactly why I like it, because that's one of my favorites too. I have an Imperial Navy flag hanging on my wall.

 

[Count Zero]

And Macedonia's is pretty cool too:

Totally ripped off the Imperial Japanese Navy.

They had to change their old design which was way cooler, I think, to appease the Greeks. The star on that flag was the ancient Macedonian one.

My favourite flag is that of Angola. I like the colours of red and black and the symbol in the middle looks awesome.

 

[Shaytan]

I like the flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands but I think I only like the concept of a flag for an empty land

I'm also a fan of the good ol' Tricolour, especially with white as the middle field (France, Italy, and their horizontal variations: Netherlands, Hungary).

In our case, I like the symbolism of the white in the middle : the white was the color of the king and blue and red are the colors of Paris so it's the people of Paris surrounding the king and it's quite a dangerous position

 

[6079SmithW]

Go Bavaria!

 

[auntiehill]

I like the Seychelles; it's very festive!

 

[Thor Damar]

Yeah, our flag is okay but what it really needs is a bloody great Dragon in the middle. Not only is it awesome, but then the Welsh get represented on the Union flag, which is nice.

And to those who may scoff I should point out that one of our national symbols is the Lion ,so we have a bit of past history on this sort of thing