World Flags

Flags are an emblem normally consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth with a distinctive design that flies from a flagpole or mast. There are flags from around the world associated with nations, countries, and geographical regions. In addition to flags of the world, other flags around the world symbolize many things such as pirate flags, provincial flags, political flags, racing flags, and army flags. It would be almost impossible to list all the flags in the world.

When looking at the history of the flags of the world, the flags historical origin dates back at least one thousand BC. Egyptians made primitive flag versions out of cloth, wood and even metal and used them to signal others or identify themselves. On the sea, ships started using world flags or other flags to identify themselves, signal each other, and warn others of diseases or infectious crewmembers aboard. One example of a well-known world flag is the dreaded skull and crossbones emblem used by the ancient pirates. They used military flags to rally their troops and when they captured their enemies flag, they considered that a victory.

It was not until the eighteenth century that flags of world or national flags became commonplace. They now use national flags to identify all the world countries and their symbolism. The oldest national or world flag still used today is Scotland’s national flag. Both the government and Scotland’s citizens fly this flag. In many countries, both private and public buildings, such as courthouses and schools, fly their countries world or national flag while some other countries only allow non-military buildings to fly their national flag on specific days. For using the national flag on land, there are three types, which are state flags, military or war flags, and civil flags. The military, such as armies, use war flags while they allow any citizen to fly the civil flag. Government agencies officially use the state flags. Some countries use one flag for all three while other countries, such as many Latin American countries have very distinct differences between state and civil flags.

For people interested in world flags, there are world flag shop and flags of the world templates available on the internet. There are also flags of the world download articles, free world flag icons, coloring pages of world flags, and pictures of world flags. Many teachers use flags of the world coloring pages to teach their students about national flags and their history.