What does your flag mean?

[Rossiya]

We have a red cross because this shows to everybody around like the Irish, Scots, Welsh, and French that they will die because of us. The white is there to say that it is ok for us to do this.

 

[Verbose]

until the 16th century the swiss confederation was still part of the HRE. The emperor granted the right to bear the red banner as well as a white cross as a special honour, often to show immediacity (direct subordination to the emperor). For example the city of vienna or Savoy both show a similar white cross on red ground (plus, of course, denmark, though in that case I'm not sure if the origin is the same).

Nope, the story of the Danish flag, the "Dannebrogen", is different. For starters Denmark was never part of the HRE.
The flag is also one of the older in Europe. It appeared as a miracle, fluttering down from heaven as a sign from God that they would be victorious in an upcoming battle.
This occurred in what is modern Esthonia, where the Danes had gone crusading to convert the heathens (and occupy they lands) in the 13th c. Apparently the very holy, but leprous, Danish archbishop prayed to God and was rewarded with the flag before the battle, and since they won, the flag stuck around.
Why white cross on red? Not sure. Could be an inversion of the Cross of St. George the English use, that dragon slaying saint, whom I believe is also the particular patron of crusaders.

Indirectly it also explains the shape of all other Scandinavian flags, the Finnish included, being based on the Danish flag. The Swedish flag appears in the 16th c., as a naval flag, but the blue and yellow colour scheme is likely older. It's been attributed all the way back to the house of the "Folkungar", one of the royal houses of Sweden from back in the 12th c.

 

[The Yankee]

Used to be Orange white blue, but in WWII the NSB used that, so it got a bad rep and it was decided to use Red from then on.

The colours originated from the coat of arms of the "Oranjes".

We New Yorkers can keep the orange, white, and blue going!

New York City's flag:

Explanation:

link

Many have asked about the origins of our City's flag, and the meaning of the colors of the flag and symbols in the City Seal.

The flag combines orange, white and blue perpendicular bars of equal dimensions (the blue being nearest to the flagstaff) with the standard design of the seal of the city in blue upon the middle white bar, bearing the number 1625. These are the colors of the Netherlands flag, the country which provided the first European settlers to our area in the year sixteen hundred twenty-five.

Interpretation of the Symbols of the City Seal

Eagle - - Symbol of New York State
Indian - - Represents Native Americans that were already here
Sailor with navigational tools - - Represents settlement
Beaver - - Symbol of the Dutch East India Company (This was the first company to come to New York City)
Windmill, Barrel and Flower - - Represents early industry

It seems America's already been done.

 

[aaglo]

White represents snow and white nights of the Finnish summer, blue represents lakes and the sky. The cross represents christianity(is it spelled Christianity or christianity?).

I think that the more accurate description would be:
We want to stand out from the Russians, and we want to be part of Scandinavia.

Nope, the story of the Danish flag, the "Dannebrogen", is different. For starters Denmark was never part of the HRE.
The flag is also one of the older in Europe.

Slight correction - it's the oldest national flag still in use in the world.

 

[Godwynn]

(is it spelled Christianity or christianity?).

Christinsanity.

 

[Imrahil91]

The Norwegian flag is like the Danish with a blue cross in the middle. Adopted in 1821, but it was only in the corner of the Swedish flag until 1898...
The colors don't have an official explanation, but they said that red, white and blue are the colors of freedom, and it has red from the union with Denmark and blue for the union with Sweden. The cross is because we wanted to follow the Nordic tradition that Denmark started.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Irish flag: Green for Catholic rolleyes Ireland, Orange for the Northern Loyalists, and white for the peace between them.

Isn't green the color of Islam?

 

[Imrahil91]

Isn't green the color of Islam?

It's the color of Irish Catholic, Islamistic environmentalists.

 

[lutzj]

(is it spelled Christianity or christianity?).

Depends on whether you care.

My flag stands for America, whatever that means at any given moment.

 

[BirraImperial]

Flag of Costa Rica:

Officially adopted on November 27th, 1906. The white, blue and red horizontal design has been used since 1848, when Costa Rica left the failed Central American Federation.

The blue color stands for the sky, opportunities, idealism and perseverance. The white color stands for peace, wisdom and happiness. The red color stands for the blood spilt by martyrs for independence (In which ironically, no one died) some say it stands for the warmth and generosity of the people.

The flag was designed by Pacifica Fernandez, wife of former President Jose Maria Castro Madriz. She was inspired by the flag of France, and the ideals of the French Revolution.

 

[luiz]

There is actually quite some misunderstanding when it comes to the meaning of the brazilian flag. Ask a brazilian in the street and he'll probably tell you that the green symbolises our forests, the yellow our gold and the blue our seas or sky.

In reality, green is the colour of the House of Bragança, to which the Emperor belonged; yellow is the colour of the House of Habsburg to which the Empress belonged. The blue circle is where the old imperial coat of arms was, now it represents the sky over Rio de Janeiro on November 15 of 1889 (at 8 hours and 30 minutes precisely) - the day of the proclamation of the Republic. It is interesting to note that unlike the flag of the USA, in our flag each star represents a specific state.

As with other brazilian republican symbols, the flag is full of positivist meanings of which most people, me included, know little to nothing about. The only well known one is the motto on the center, "ORDEM E PROGRESSO" (Order and Progress), inspired by Comte's motto of "L’amour pour principe et l’ordre pour base; le progrès pour but"

 

[aaglo]

Oh yeah, our flag also works as a warning sign

 

[Rik Meleet]

Used to be Orange white blue, but in WWII the NSB used that, so it got a bad rep and it was decided to use Red from then on.

The colours originated from the coat of arms of the "Oranjes".

Around 1800 the Red-white-blue flag was already the flag. You're 1,5 century late.

 

[Tee Kay]

Original flag:

The Australian flag was the result of a worldwide competition. Each entry was required to include the Union Jack and the Southern Cross. There was a 200 pound prize money for the winner.

In the end a winning design was chosen. Five people made similar designs and they shared the prize money. As per wiki, they were: Ivor Evans, a fourteen-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne; Leslie John Hawkins, a teenager apprenticed to an optician from Sydney; Egbert John Nuttall, an architect from Melbourne; Annie Dorrington, an artist from Perth; and William Stevens, a ship’s officer from Auckland, New Zealand.

The first official raising of the flag was on September 3, 1901, at the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building. King Edward VII approved the flag on February 20, 1903. The flag was given the same status as the "same status as the Union Jack in Britain." in 1904. The Flag Act (1954) finalised the design and officially proclaim the Blue Ensign to the Australia's national flag.

The Union Jack recalled the fact that Australia was colonised by the British. Originally the Commonwealth Star (below the Union Jack) had six points, to represent the six states. A seventh point was added in 1908 to represent Australian territories. The Southern Cross has an important symbolic meaning in Australia - a constellation that can be seen from all of Australia's states and territories, and was used as navigational aid by the indigenous inhabitants of Oceania and also by European explorers and settlers.

 

[TheLastOne36]

Hasnt been doing a great job so far, has it?

so far?

Recently would be a better word.

Cause historically we always pawned them

 

[Gooblah]

Flag of India.

Saffron- Renunciation of material desires by the leaders of India in order to better lead the new nation.
White - Path of truth and light to guide conduct
Green - link to the land of India, from which all of Indian culture, etc comes from
Asoka Chakra- represents law of dharma, or truth and virtue, as well as the need for the nation to always be advancing, never stagnant.

 

[Marla_Singer]

France's flag has the most amazing, original colors ever to be on a flag:
blue, white and red.

Blue and red were the colors of Paris, white the color of France/the king.

Dude! Haven't they explained you the History of the French flag at primary school ?

Well, to those who didn't know, the French kings were located in the suburbs because basically they needed a big garden and you can't find that in downtown anymore. So they've built that big house in Versailles which is only at about 20 minutes from the city center through the RER C.

Anyway, it's true that blue and red are the colors of Paris, but what Paris represents in this flag is actually the people. Those who were working hard in order to pay taxes funding the well-living of lazy sexually-obsessed aristocrats in Versailles.

All this to say that it was quite unfair. So on a warm afternoon of the summer of 1789, the tax-paying people decided to blast the Bastille and get some powder to form a revolutionary milicia. And naturally, that milicia decided to wear roundels with the colors of Paris as their symbol... somehow the symbol of the people. Do you still follow me ?

Anyway in the following days, Lafayette (you know the guy who freed the US in a way) decided to incorporate the royal white in the middle of those colors to symbolize the fact that the power was now to the people. And that's how we got that as a symbol of the Revolutioneers :

Out of this, the French Republicans (those supporting democracy) decided to make a flag/banner which finally looked like this :

 

[Thorbal]

so far?

Recently would be a better word.

Cause historically we always pawned them

Bah... you and your anorexic, albinotic mini-eagle - it sucks! Ours is so much better !!111

Just kidding...peace! Na zdrowie!

By the way... why IS it white anyway?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I don't fly a flag. I respect the Canadian and Philippine flags, but I am not attached to both. I don't think there's much symbolism in the Canadian flag. The Philippine flag, on the other hand...

The white is for equality, the blue is for peacetime virtues, the red for wartime virtues, the three stars for the three main island groups, the rays on the sun represent the first eight provinces that revolted against Spanish rule. The color on the top represents whether the nation is at war or not.

 

[Alpine Trooper]

As early as 1700, the maple leaf served as a symbol celebrating the nature and environment of what is now Canada. In 1921, King George V proclaimed the official colours of Canada as red, from Saint George's Cross, and white, from the French royal emblem since King Charles VII.

The current flag of Canada was approved by the House of Commons on December 15, 1964, and by the Senate two days later. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George F.G. Stanley was chosen as the winner. The flag made its first appearance on February 15, 1965, which is now celebrated annually as Flag Day.

In Quebec, the provincial flag (a blue cross with four fleurs-de-lis) is often considered a national flag along with the Maple Leaf flag, as is the Acadian flag in the Acadian regions of the Maritime provinces.

Wikipedia: Canadian Flag