What does your flag mean?

[Abaddon]

Whats the point of this thread? Can't you just post a wiki link.. im lost what the discussion is?

 

[Tee Kay]

I reckon, to give information without referring to a Wikipedia link (for once).

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Yep, I'm in favour of it- thanks to the weeks of my life I've lost to wikipedia, those damned links!

I would talk about the Union Flag (it's only the Union Jack on a ship, apparently) but it'd be long and rambling with the dates 1603, 1702 and 1801 in it; and the real clincher- it wouldn't explain anything

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

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

New York City's flag:

Explanation:

Cool, I didn't know that.

I guess there weren't enough NSBers in New York during the war to change it. Good to see the Orange still prevails

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

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

What?! I've been lied to?

This is what a bit of googling got me:

#

The History of the Netherlands Flag

* The first Dutch flag, the Cross of Burgundy, was used in the 15th century and united all of the Netherlands provinces under the banner of the Lord of Burgundy on joint expeditions. The flag consisted of a white background with an emblem consisting of two bundles of red laurel branches in the shape of an 'X' with flames from the intersection

* The Prince's Flag, a tricolour of Orange, White and Blue - The Prince of Orange led a revolt against King Philip II of Spain and the Prince's Flag was used during the Dutch war of independence (the Eighty Years War)

# A Royal Decree was issued on February 19 1937, by Queen Wilhelmina, and the Red, White and Blue colors of the Dutch National flag were adopted. An orange pennant, together with the national flag, is still flown as a sign of allegiance of the Dutch people to the House of Orange

and

Short history
The Dutch tricolour was first used in the second half of the 16th century when the Dutch provinces revolted against Spain. Their leader was Prince William of Orange. The flag was named "Prinsenvlag" ("Princeflag") after him. At first the flag was orange-white-blue, but later the orange stripe became red.
The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was established in 1581, but did not include the Southern Netherlands (nowadays Belgium and Luxembourg, which were united with the Netherlands 1815-1830). After the Eighty Years' War independence was recognised by Spain in 1648.
Mark Sensen, 28 February 1996

Most of the time under French occupation (1795-1813) Holland, called the Batavian Republic, had the same flag as during the Dutch Republic (end 16th c. -1795), and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1813-1940 and 1945-now): horizontal red-white-blue. Even Louis Napoleon, King of Holland 1806-1810, maintained this flag, and Dutch history says he did a good job and tried his best.
Only in the early days of French occupation (when Holland was the Batavian Republic, 1795-1806) a horizontal red-white-blue flag existed with a canton showing the "Virgin of Holland", and during incorporation in France (1810-1813) the French tricolore (vertical blue-white-red) predominated.
Gerard van der Vaart, 26 January 1996

During the Second World War the red-white-blue was still the national flag, but its use was restricted by the German occupiers.

and

The revolution in the Netherlands, in the last decade of the 18th century, and the conquest by the French also resulted in another flag. The name " Prince's Flag" was banned. No change was made to the red-white-blue (colours to which the French liberators were kindly disposed, as they were similar to their own tricolour), but in 1796 the red part of the flag was embellished with a female figure personifying the Netherlands, with a lion at her feet. In one hand she bore a shield with the Roman fasces and in the other a lance crowned with the cap of liberty. This flag had a life as short as that of the Batavian Re public for which it was created. Louis Napoleon, made king of Holland by his brother, wished to pursue a purely Dutch policy and to respect national susceptibilities as much as possible. He removed the maiden of freedom from the flag and restored the old tricolour. His pro-Dutch stance led to conflicts with his brother the Emperor, however, and the Netherlands was incorporated into the French Empire. Its flag was replaced by the imperial emblems.

In 1813, the Netherlands regained its independence and the Prince of Orange returned to the country from England. The tricolour reappeared from the attics and cellars where it had remained hidden for three years, waiting for better times. To demonstrate the attachment of the people to the House of Orange, the orange-white-blue and the red-white-blue fluttered together from the rooftops. Which of them should be the national flag was left undecided. Until recently, both had had the same rights, although the red-white-blue was generally given precedence. This is apparent from the fact that it was not only hoisted on public buildings but also chosen by the first King as his personal standard, showing the national coat of arms on the white stripe. From the same period dates the custom, deriving spontaneously from the popular will, of flying an orange pennon together with the national flag as a sign of allegiance to the House of Orange.

In 1937 a Royal Decree laid down the red, white and blue colours as the national flag (heraldic colours of bright vermilion, white and cobalt blue).

Now I'm utterly confused

edit: Just found the last quote. Both were used for a period of time, that'd explain a few thing.

Learn something every day

 

[Yoda Power]

Denmarks flag depicks a torture instrument.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I want to hear about Monaco, Poland, and Indonesia's flags.

 

[GeorgeOP]

[joke]They realized that the Poles would be confused by more than 2 colors and by shapes.[/joke]

 

[zxcvbnm]

The indonesians decided to imitate Poland

And nobody noticed that Monaco had already taken that flag

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

13 Red and White stripes signifying the 13 Original Colonies. 50 Stars, one for each state of the Union.

-----------------------------------------------

And the Eagle protects us from the Russians and the Germans.

Picked the wrong eagle. The American Eagle has done so successfully I am 3/4 Polish myself, just an FYI.

Christinsanity.

Quoted for hilarity.

 

[Pokurcz]

Poland

White and read after the Banner of the kingdom of Poland wich was a white eagle on red cloth.

Sweden

I read something about a golden cross apearing in the blue sky above the capital during the middle ages, not sure about it.

 

[raen]

Country: Portuguese Republic

National Flag of Portugal
Proportions: 2:3 Portuguese Flag Description:
The flag of Portugal consists of two vertical stripes - the left stripe is green and the right one is a shade of red. The stripes are uneven as the green stripe takes up two fifths of the flag's length and the red stripe takes up the remaining three fifths. A coat of arms with the country's traditional shield is centered on the Portuguese flag where the two colors meet.

Portuguese Flag Meaning:
The red section represents the Portuguese revolution of 1910 and the green represents hope. The white shield consists of five blue shields with five white dots. The blue shields represent the first king of Portugal, Alfonso Henriques I, victory over five Moorish kings and the divine assistance he received to do so is represented by the five dots, which symbolize the five wounds of Christ. Arranged in a cross the shields represent Christianity. The red border featuring seven castles symbolizes the extension of Portugal's territory to include the Algarve. Behind the arms there is a navigational instrument, an armillary sphere. It celebrates Prince Henry the Navigator, who initiated the maritime exploration that led to Portugal's one time colonial empire.