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What are different types of flags called?

Flags of various forms and purpose are known as colours, standards, banners, ensigns, pendants (or pennants), pennons, guidons, and burgees.

britannica.com - Flag | Origins, Forms, & Functions - Encyclopedia Britannica

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Summary

flag, a piece of cloth, bunting, or similar material displaying the insignia of a sovereign state, a community, an organization, an armed force, an office, or an individual. A flag is usually, but not always, oblong and is attached by one edge to a staff or halyard. flag parts The part nearest the staff is called the hoist, and the outer part is called the fly. A flag’s length (also called the fly) usually exceeds its width (hoist). The main portion of the flag, constituting all or most of its area, is called the field or ground. In addition, flags often have a design element in the upper corner of the hoist, called the canton, which is distinct from the field. Flags of various forms and purpose are known as colours, standards, banners, ensigns, pendants (or pennants), pennons, guidons, and burgees. flag of Vatican City Flags originally were used mainly in warfare, and to some extent they have remained insignia of leadership, serving for the identification of friend or foe and as rallying points. They are now also extensively employed for signaling, for decoration, and for display. Because the usefulness of a flag for purposes of identification depends on its blowing out freely in the wind, the material that is preferred is usually light and bears a device or pattern identical on both sides. Wording therefore tends to be excluded, and the simpler patterns are favoured. Any colours or devices may be used, but European usage normally follows the practice of heraldry in discouraging the juxtaposition of “metal” and “metal” (i.e., of yellow and white) or of colour and colour without “metal” interposed. The flag of the Vatican city-state constitutes an exception to that rule. Origins Flags recognizable as such were almost certainly the invention of the ancient peoples of the Indian subcontinent or what is now China. It is said that the founder of the Zhou dynasty in China (1046–256 bce) had a white flag carried before him, and it is known that in 660 ce a minor prince was punished for failing to lower his standard before his superior. Chinese flags had devices such as a red bird, a white tiger, or a blue dragon. They were carried on chariots and planted upon the walls of captured cities. The royal flag, however, had all the attributes of kingship, being identified with the ruler himself and treated with a similar respect. It was thus a crime even to touch the flag-bearer. The fall of the flag meant defeat, and the king would rarely expose his flag and his person together, the flag being normally entrusted to a general. Britannica Quiz Name That World Flag! Flags had equal importance in ancient India, being carried on chariots and elephants. The flag was the first object of attack in battle, and its fall would mean confusion if not defeat. Indian flags were often triangular in shape and scarlet or green in colour, with a figure embroidered in gold and a gold fringe. If those and the Chinese flags had a common origin in the standards of ancient Egypt and Assyria (standards, in that sense, meaning solid objects, such as metal animals, attached atop poles), then they might have developed from the streamers often attached to the pole. That possibility gains some likelihood from the fact that some Indian flagstaffs were surmounted by a figure similar to that displayed on the flag itself. Mughal royal insignia included, however, other things besides the flag, more especially yaks’ tails and the state umbrella. Flags seem also to have been used, in India as in China, for signaling, and there is an instance of a white flag being used as a signal for a truce as early as 1542 ce. Indian and Chinese usage spread to Myanmar (Burma), Siam (now Thailand), and other parts of southeastern Asia. Flags with a background of white, yellow, or black silk are mentioned, with devices (an elephant, a bull, or a water hen, for example) embroidered on them in gold. A Siamese treatise on war gives the impression that the flags were unfurled as the march began. Pakistan Flags were probably transmitted to Europe by the Saracens, and the prohibition in Islam against using any identifiable image as idolatrous influenced their design. They are often mentioned in the early history of Islam and may have been copied from India, but Islamic flags are greatly simplified and appear to have been plain black or white or red. Black was supposed to have been the colour of the Prophet Muhammad’s banner—the colour of vengeance. A black flag was used by the ʿAbbāsids in 746 ce (ah 129), the Umayyads choosing white by contrast and the Khārijites red. Green was the colour of the Fāṭimid dynasty and eventually became the colour of Islam. In adopting the crescent sign, however, about 1250, the Ottoman Turks apparently were reverting to an Assyrian sacred symbol of the 9th century bce and probably of greater antiquity than that. The crescent moon, with or without an additional star or stars, has since become the accepted official symbol of Islam. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now In Europe the first “national” flags were adopted in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Many of the leaders of that time adopted the flag of their patron saint to represent their country. In England, for example, the Cross of St. George was adopted in the 13th century. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, flags had become accepted symbols of countries, kings, organizations, cities, and guilds. Guild flags bore obvious devices. For example, a black flag with three white candles represented the candle makers of Bayeux, France.

britannica.com - Flag | Origins, Forms, & Functions - Encyclopedia Britannica

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