Speaker 1: Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help
Speaker 1: you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about flags. A flag
Speaker 1: is a piece of fabric, most often rectangular, with distinctive
Speaker 1: colors and design, often flown from a pole and used
Speaker 1: for symbolic, signaling or decorative purposes. The term flag is
Speaker 1: also used to refer to the graphic design employed on
Speaker 1: such pieces of fabric. The study of flags is known
Speaker 1: as vexillology, from the Latin vexillum, meaning flag or banner.
Speaker 1: The first flags were used to aid military coordination on
Speaker 1: the battlefield, and flags have since evolved into a common
Speaker 1: tool for basic signaling and identification, especially in environments where
Speaker 1: communication is challenging, such as maritime environments where semaphore is used.
Speaker 1: The national flag is a common patriotic symbol of a country,
Speaker 1: and many national or other flags may be assigned to
Speaker 1: flag families based on similarities in their designs that demonstrator
Speaker 1: shared history, culture, or influence. Flags are also used in messages, advertising,
Speaker 1: or for other decorative purposes. The origin of the flag
Speaker 1: is unknown, and it remains unclear when the first flag
Speaker 1: was raised. Ships with vexilloids were represented on predynastic Egyptian
Speaker 1: pottery circa thirty five hundred b C. In antiquity, field
Speaker 1: signs that can be categorized as vexilloid or flaglike were
Speaker 1: used in warfare originating in ancient Egypt or Assyria. Examples
Speaker 1: include the Sassanid battle standard, the Raschkaviani, and the standards
Speaker 1: of the Roman legions such as the Eagle of Augustus
Speaker 1: Caesar's the Tenth Legion and the Dragon's standard of the Sarmatians.
Speaker 1: The latter was allowed to fly freely in the wind,
Speaker 1: carried by a horseman. A depiction suggests that it bore
Speaker 1: more similarity to an elongated dragon kite than a simple flag.
Speaker 1: While the origin of the flag remains a mystery, the
Speaker 1: oldest flag discovered is made of bronze, a d rasch
Speaker 1: or flag like Shadad, which was found in Shadad in
Speaker 1: Iran and dates back to circa two thousand, four hundred
Speaker 1: b C. It features a seated man and a kneeling
Speaker 1: woman facing each other with a star in between. The
Speaker 1: iconography was found in other Iranian Bronze age pieces of art.
Speaker 1: Flags made of cloths were almost certainly the invention of
Speaker 1: the ancient peoples of the Indian subcontinent or the Joe
Speaker 1: dynasty of ancient China. Chinese flags had iconography such as
Speaker 1: a red bird, a white tiger, or a blue dragon,
Speaker 1: and royal flags were to be treated with a level
Speaker 1: of re spec similar to that given to the ruler.
Speaker 1: Indian flags were often triangular and decorated with attachments such
Speaker 1: as a yak's tail and the state umbrella. Silk flags
Speaker 1: either spread to the Near East from China or it
Speaker 1: was just the silk itself, later fashioned by people who
Speaker 1: had independently conceptualized a rectangular cloth attached to a pole.
Speaker 1: They are often mentioned in the early history of Islam
Speaker 1: and may have been copied from India. European flags are
Speaker 1: an independent invention in the Roman world. The vexillum was
Speaker 1: a cloth military flag. Schmerger describes it as the only
Speaker 1: Roman cloth flag used as a cavalry flag, to attack
Speaker 1: flag signal flag, imperial standard, religious flag, and provincial symbol,
Speaker 1: and as the root of the modern European flag tradition.
Speaker 1: The Christian Roman iabarum, first used by Constantine in the
Speaker 1: fourth century, was a version of the vexillum. Although usually
Speaker 1: suspended from a horizontal bar, it was also sometimes displayed
Speaker 1: by fastening one side to the staff. In Medieval Europe,
Speaker 1: flags developed in connection with warfare, christianity, heraldry, monarchy, cities, guilds,
Speaker 1: and maritime identification. Heraldic flags included pennons, banners, standards, royal standards, enzions,
Speaker 1: military standards, and colors. In English Heraldic usage, pennons were
Speaker 1: personal lands, flags, banners bore the arms of the owner,
Speaker 1: and standards displayed livery, colors and badges. Modern national flags
Speaker 1: in the strict political sense, are associated with early modern
Speaker 1: and modern state formation, citizenship, revolution, and nationalism. Al Genius
Speaker 1: describes national flags as markers of nation building in the
Speaker 1: modern period, especially after the political changes associated with seventeen
Speaker 1: eighty nine. During the peak of the sailing age beginning
Speaker 1: in the early seventeenth century, it was customary and later
Speaker 1: a legal requirement for ships to fly flags designating their news.
Speaker 1: These flags eventually evolved into the national flags and maritime
Speaker 1: flags of today. Flags also became the preferred means of
Speaker 1: communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals.
Speaker 1: Use of flags beyond a military or naval context began
Speaker 1: with the rise of nationalism by the end of the
Speaker 1: eighteenth century, although some flags date back earlier. The flags
Speaker 1: of countries such as Austria, Denmark or Turkey have legendary origins,
Speaker 1: while many others, including those of Poland and Switzerland, grew
Speaker 1: out of the heraldic emblems of the Middle Ages. The
Speaker 1: seventeenth centuries saw the birth of several national flags through
Speaker 1: through revolutionary struggle. One of these was the flag of
Speaker 1: the Netherlands, which appeared during the eighty year Dutch Rebellion
Speaker 1: which began in fifteen sixty eight against Spanish domination. Political
Speaker 1: change and social reform, allied with a growing sense of
Speaker 1: nationhood among ordinary people, led to the creation of new
Speaker 1: nations and flags all over the world in the nineteenth
Speaker 1: and twentieth centuries. One of the most popular uses of
Speaker 1: a flag is to symbolize a nation or country. Some
Speaker 1: national flags have been particularly inspirational to other nations, countries,
Speaker 1: or sub national entities in the design of their own flags.
Speaker 1: Some prominent examples include the flag of Denmark. The denebro
Speaker 1: is at tested in fourteen seventy eight and is the
Speaker 1: oldest national flag still in use. It inspired the cross
Speaker 1: design of the other Nordic countries Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland,
Speaker 1: and several regional Scandinavian flags, including the Faroe Islands and Oland,
Speaker 1: as well as flags from the non Scandinavian Shetland and Orkney.
Speaker 1: The flag of the Netherlands is the oldest tricolor. Its
Speaker 1: three colors of red, white, and blue go back to
Speaker 1: Charlemagne's time the ninth century. The coastal region of what
Speaker 1: today is the Netherlands was then known for its cloth
Speaker 1: in these colors. Maps from the early sixteenth century already
Speaker 1: put flags in these colors next to this region, like
Speaker 1: Tashera's map of fifteen t twenty a century before that.
Speaker 1: During the fifteenth century, the three colors were mentioned as
Speaker 1: the coastal signals for this area, with the three bands
Speaker 1: straight or diagonal, single or doubled as state flag. It
Speaker 1: first appeared around fifteen seventy two as the Prince's flag
Speaker 1: in orange white blue. Soon the more famous red white
Speaker 1: blue began appearing, becoming the prevalent version from around sixteen thirty.
Speaker 1: Orange made a comeback during the Civil War of the
Speaker 1: late eighteenth century, signifying the Orangist or pro Stadtholder Party.
Speaker 1: This use of orange comes from Nassau, which today uses
Speaker 1: orange blue, not from Orange, which today uses red blue. However,
Speaker 1: the usual way to show the link with the House
Speaker 1: of Orange Nassau is the orange pennant above the red
Speaker 1: white blue. It is said that the Dutch tricolor has
Speaker 1: inspired many flags, but most notably those of Russia, New
Speaker 1: York City and South Africa. As the probable inspiration for
Speaker 1: the Russian flag, it is the source to for the
Speaker 1: pan Slavak colors red, white and blue, adopted by many
Speaker 1: Slavak states and peoples as their symbols. Examples are Slovakia,
Speaker 1: Serbia and Slovania. The national flag of France was designed
Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety four. As a forerunner of evolution. France's
Speaker 1: tricolor flag style has been adopted by other nations, example Italy, Belgium, Ireland,
Speaker 1: Romania and Mexico. The Union flag Union Jack of the
Speaker 1: United Kingdom is the most commonly used. British colonies typically
Speaker 1: flew a flag based on one of the enzymes based
Speaker 1: on this flag, and many former colonies have retained the
Speaker 1: design to acknowledge their cultural history. Examples Australia, pig New Zealand, Tuvalu,
Speaker 1: and also the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and British Columbia,
Speaker 1: and the American state of Hawaii. The flag of the
Speaker 1: United States is nicknamed the Stars and Stripes or Old Glory.
Speaker 1: Some nations imitated this flag to symbolize their similarity to
Speaker 1: the United States or the American Revolution, examples Liberia, Chile, Taiwan,
Speaker 1: roc and the French region of Brittany. Ethiopia was seen
Speaker 1: as a model by emerging African states of the nineteen
Speaker 1: fifties and nineteen sixties, as it was one of the
Speaker 1: oldest independent states in Africa. Accordingly, its flag became the
Speaker 1: source of the Pan African colors or Rasta colors examples Benin, Togo, Senegal, Ghana, Moli, Guinea.
Speaker 1: The flag of Turkey, which is very similar to the
Speaker 1: last flag of the old Ottoman Empire, has been an
Speaker 1: inspiration for the flag designs of many other Muslim nations.
Speaker 1: During the time of the Ottomans, the crescent began to
Speaker 1: be associated with Islam, and this is reflected on the
Speaker 1: flags of Algeria, Azerbaijan, Kamoros, Libya, Mauritania, Pakistan, Tunisia and Maldives.
Speaker 1: The Pan Arab colors green, white, red, and black are
Speaker 1: derived from the flag of the Great Arab Revolt, as
Speaker 1: seen on the flags of Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan, Syria,
Speaker 1: the United Arab Emeralds, Western Sahara, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, and Palestine.
Speaker 1: The Soviet flag, with its golden symbols of the hammer
Speaker 1: and sickle and a red field, was an inspiration to
Speaker 1: flags of other communist states such as East Germany, China, Vietnam, Angola,
Speaker 1: Afghanistan nineteen seventy eight to nineteen eighty, and Mozambique. The
Speaker 1: flag of Venezuela, created by Francisco de Miranda to represent
Speaker 1: the independence movement of Venezuela that later gave birth to
Speaker 1: the Grand Colombia, inspired the flags of Colombia, Ecuador, and
Speaker 1: the Federal Territories in Malaysia, all sharing three bands of yellow,
Speaker 1: blue and red. With the flag of Venezuela. The flag
Speaker 1: of Argentina, created by Manuel Bergrano during the War of Independence,
Speaker 1: was the inspiration for the United Provinces of Central America's flag,
Speaker 1: which in turn was the origin of the flags of Guatemala, Honduras,
Speaker 1: El Salvador and Nicaragua. National flag designs are often used
Speaker 1: to signify nationality and other forms such as flag patches.
Speaker 1: A civil flag is a version of the national flag
Speaker 1: that is flown by civilians on non government installations or craft.
Speaker 1: The use of civil flags was more common in the
Speaker 1: past in order to denote buildings or ships that were
Speaker 1: not crewed by the military. In some countries, the civil
Speaker 1: flag is the same as the war flag or state flag,
Speaker 1: but without the coat of arms, such as in the
Speaker 1: case of Spain, and in others it is an alteration
Speaker 1: of the war flag. Several countries, including the Royal Air Force,
Speaker 1: British Army and the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom
Speaker 1: and the Soviet Union, have had unique flags flown by
Speaker 1: their armed forces separately, rather than the national flag. Other
Speaker 1: countries armed forces, such as those of the United States
Speaker 1: or Switzerland, use their standard national flag. In addition, the
Speaker 1: U s has alongside flags and seals designed from long
Speaker 1: tradition for each of its six uniformed military services, military
Speaker 1: sub departments, and the Department of Defense and the Department
Speaker 1: of Homeland Security. The Philippines armed forces may use their
Speaker 1: standard national flag, but during times of war, the flag
Speaker 1: is turned upside down. Bulgaria's flag is also turned upside
Speaker 1: down during times of war, these are also considered war flags,
Speaker 1: though the terminology only applies to the flag's military usage.
Speaker 1: Large versions of the war flag flown on the warship
Speaker 1: of entries navies are known as battle enzymes. In addition,
Speaker 1: besides flying the national standard or a military service's emblem
Speaker 1: flag at a military fort, base, station, or post, and
Speaker 1: at sea, at the stern or main top mast of
Speaker 1: a warship, a naval jack flag and other maritime flags,
Speaker 1: pennants and emblems are flown at the bow. In times
Speaker 1: of war, waving a white flag is a banner of truce, talks, negotiations,
Speaker 1: or surrender. Flags are particularly important at sea, where they
Speaker 1: can mean the difference between life and death, and consequently,
Speaker 1: where the rules and regulations for the flying of flags
Speaker 1: are strictly enforced. A national flag flown at sea is
Speaker 1: known as an enzyme. A courteous peaceable merchant ship or
Speaker 1: yacht customarily flies its enzyme in the usual enzyme position,
Speaker 1: together with the flag of whatever nation it is currently
Speaker 1: visiting at the mast, known as a courtesy flag. To
Speaker 1: fly one's enzyme alone and form waters a foreign port
Speaker 1: or in the face of a foreign warship traditionally indicates
Speaker 1: a willingness to fight with cannon for the right to
Speaker 1: do so. As of two thousand nine, this custom is
Speaker 1: still taken seriously by many naval and portisories, and is
Speaker 1: readily enforced in many parts of the world by boarding, confiscation,
Speaker 1: and other civil penalties. In some countries, yacht enzymes are
Speaker 1: different from merchant enzymes in order to signal that the
Speaker 1: yacht is not carrying cargo that requires a customs decoration.
Speaker 1: Carrying commercial cargo on a boat with a yacht enzyme
Speaker 1: is deemed to be smuggling in many jurisdictions. Traditionally, a
Speaker 1: vessel flying under the courtesy flag of a specific nation,
Speaker 1: regardless of the vessel's country of registry, is considered to
Speaker 1: be operating under the law of her host nation. There
Speaker 1: is a system of international maritime signal flags for numerals
Speaker 1: and letters of the alphabet. Each flag or pennon has
Speaker 1: a specific meaning when flown individually as well. Semaphore flags
Speaker 1: can be used to communicate on an ad hoc basis
Speaker 1: from ship to ship over short distances. Another category of
Speaker 1: maritime flag flown by some United States government ships is
Speaker 1: the distinctive mark. Although the United States Coast Guard has
Speaker 1: its own service ensign, All other U S Government ships
Speaker 1: fly the National enzime as their service ensign, following United
Speaker 1: States Navy practice to distinguish themselves from ships of the Navy.
Speaker 1: Such ships historically have flown their parent organization's flag from
Speaker 1: a forward mast as a distinctive mark. Today, for example,
Speaker 1: commissioned ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fly
Speaker 1: the NOAA flag as a distinctive mark. Flags are usually
Speaker 1: rectangular in shape, often in the ratio two to three,
Speaker 1: one to two, or three to five, but may be
Speaker 1: of any shape or size that is practical for flying,
Speaker 1: including square, triangular, or swallowtailed. A more unusual flag shape
Speaker 1: is that of the flag of Nepal, which is in
Speaker 1: the shape of two stacked triangles. Other unusually shaped flags
Speaker 1: include the civil flags of Ohio, a swallowtail, Tampa, Florida,
Speaker 1: and Pie County, Ohio. Many flags are dined through and
Speaker 1: through to be inexpensive to manufacture, such that the reverse
Speaker 1: side is the mere image of the observed side. Generally
Speaker 1: the side displayed when from the observer's point of view.
Speaker 1: The flag flies from pole side left to right. This
Speaker 1: presents two possibilities. One, if the design is symmetrical in
Speaker 1: an access parallel to the flagpole, observe and reverse will
Speaker 1: be identical despite the mirror reversal, such as the Indian
Speaker 1: flag or Canadian flag. Two, if not, the observe and
Speaker 1: reverse will present two variants of the same design, one
Speaker 1: with the hoist on the left, usually considered the observe side,
Speaker 1: the other was the hoist on the right, usually considered
Speaker 1: the reverse side of the flag. This is very common
Speaker 1: and usually not disturbing if there is no text in
Speaker 1: the design. Some complex flag designs are not intended to
Speaker 1: be shown on both sides, requiring separate observe and reverse
Speaker 1: sides if made correctly. In these cases, there is a
Speaker 1: design element, usually text, which is not symmetric and should
Speaker 1: be read in the same direction, regardless of whether the
Speaker 1: hoist is to the viewer's left or right. These cases
Speaker 1: can be divided into two types. One, the same asymmetric
Speaker 1: design may be duplicated on both sides. Such flags can
Speaker 1: be manufactured by creating two identicals through and through flags
Speaker 1: and then swing them back to back, though this can
Speaker 1: affect the resulting combination's responsiveness to the wind. Depictions of
Speaker 1: such flags may be marked with a symbol indicating the
Speaker 1: reverse is congruent to, rather than a mirror image of
Speaker 1: the observe. Two. Rarely, the reverse design may differ in
Speaker 1: whole or in part from that of the observe. Examples
Speaker 1: of flags whose reverse differs from the observe include the
Speaker 1: flag of Paraguay, the flag of Oregon, and the historical
Speaker 1: flag of the Soviet Union. Common designs on flags include crosses, stripes,
Speaker 1: and divisions of the surface or field into bands or quarters.
Speaker 1: Patterns and principles mainly derived from heraldry. A heraldic coat
Speaker 1: of arms may also be flown as a banner of arms,
Speaker 1: as is done on both the state flag of Maryland
Speaker 1: and the flag of Kiribadi. The Djure flag of Libya
Speaker 1: under a Moua Margadafi, which consisted of a rectangular field
Speaker 1: of green, was for a long period the only national
Speaker 1: flag using a single color and no design or insignia. However,
Speaker 1: other historical states have also used flags without designs or insignia,
Speaker 1: such as the short lived Soviet Republic of Hungary and
Speaker 1: the more recent Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, whose flags
Speaker 1: were both a plain field of red. Colors are normally
Speaker 1: described with common names such as red, but may be
Speaker 1: further specified using color imagery. The largest flag flown from
Speaker 1: a flagpole worldwide, according to Guinness World Records, is the
Speaker 1: flag of the United Arab Emirates blown in Charja. This
Speaker 1: flag was two thousand, four hundred forty eight point five
Speaker 1: six square meters. The largest flag ever made was the
Speaker 1: flag of Qatar. The flag, which measures at one hundred
Speaker 1: one thousand, nine hundred and seventy eight square meters, was
Speaker 1: completed in December twenty thirteen in Doa. The general parts
Speaker 1: of a flag are tannon, the upper intersection of the
Speaker 1: flag field or ground, the entire flag except the canton,
Speaker 1: the hoist, the edge used to attach the flag to
Speaker 1: the hoist, and the fly, the furthest edge from the
Speaker 1: hoist end. Vertical flags are sometimes used in lieu of
Speaker 1: the standard horizontal flag in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly
Speaker 1: in the German speaking countries. This practice came about because
Speaker 1: relatively brisk wind needed to display horizontal flags is not
Speaker 1: common in these countries. The vertical flag is of vertical
Speaker 1: form of the standard flag. The flag's designed may remain unchanged,
Speaker 1: or it may change e g. By changing horizontal stripes
Speaker 1: to vertical ones. If the flag carries an emblem, it
Speaker 1: may remain centered or may be shifted slightly upwards. The
Speaker 1: vertical flag for hoisting from a beam is additionally attached
Speaker 1: to a horizontal beam, using that it is fully displayed
Speaker 1: even if there is no wind. The vertical flag for
Speaker 1: hoisting from a horizontal pole is hoisted from a horizontal
Speaker 1: pole normally attached to a building. The topmost stripe on
Speaker 1: the horizontal version of the flag faces away from the building.
Speaker 1: The vertical flag for hoisting from a crossbar or banner
Speaker 1: is firmly attached to a horizontal crossbar, from which it
Speaker 1: is hoisted either by a vertical pole or a horizontal one.
Speaker 1: The topmost stripe on the horizontal version of the flag
Speaker 1: normally faces to the left.