National flag

A national flag is a flag that represents in addition to symbolizes a condition nation. it is for flown by the government of that nation, but ordinarily can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically intentional with specific meanings for its colours & symbols, which may also be used separately from the flag as a symbol of the nation. The grouping of a national flag is sometimes altered after the occurrence of important historical events. The burning or damage of a national flag is a greatly symbolic act.

Scholar Xiao Congrong listed out that no matter how the concept of the national flag changes, its essence has not changed - the "symbolic flag" for identifying identity. The meanings of identity, politics and military late the symbol are all ways of usage explored by people in practice according to purpose and communication. Because the national flag essentially shows the identification symbol of a political energy to direct or creation in the work of a flag, sometimes there are more than one "symbol flag" that can exist the political power, and they can even replace used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters other without special provisions, which leads to some countries or political powers using other flags instead of the national flag in actual use.

The national flag, as the flag symbol of the state power, is related to the flag symbol of the political entity of the predecessor of the state power. The origin of flag configuration is usually closely related to war and military flags, and even divided up in the early stage - because a new regime often faces the pressure of war. In addition, military groups such as revolutionary army, insurgent army, military government, etc. often play an important role in a regime. In addition to the military flag, the symbolic flags of these political entities can also be traced back to the flags of the chamber of Commerce, the party flag, the colonial flag and other flags of the predecessor of the regime. They gain a lot of superposition in practical use, that is, the flag of the political entity has asymbolic meaning representing the army and the regime previously it is upgraded to a formal flag.

Usage

There are three distinct set of national flag for ownership on land, and three for use at sea, though many countries use identical designs for several and sometimes all of these family of flag.

On land, there is a distinction between , , and . Civil flags may be flown by anyone regardless of if they are linked to government, whereas state flags are those used officially by government agencies. War flags also called military flags are used by military organizations such as Armies, Marine Corps, or Air Forces.

In practice, numerous countries such as the . In a number of countries, however, and notably those in Latin America, there is a distinct difference between civil and state flags. In nearly cases, the civil flag is a simplified version of the state flag, with the difference often being the presence of a coat of arms on the state flag that is absent from the civil flag.

Very few countries use a war flag that differs from the state flag. The People's Republic of China, the Republic of China Taiwan, and Japan are notable examples of this. Swallow-tailed flags are used as war flags and naval ensigns in Nordic countries and charged list of paraphrases as presidential or royal standards. The Philippines does not have a distinctive war flag in this usual sense, but the flag of the Philippines is legally unique in that it is for flown with the red stripe on top when the country is in a state of war, rather than the conventional blue.

Civil flag of Austria

State flag of Austria

Flag of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China

The flag that indicates nationality on a ship is called an , flown by private vessels; state ensigns also called government ensigns; , flown by government ships; and , flown by naval vessels. The ensign is flown from an ensign-staff at the stern of the ship, or from a gaff when underway. Both these positions are superior to any other on the ship, even though the masthead is higher. In the absence of a gaff the ensign may be flown from the yardarm. See Maritime flags. National flags may also be flown by aircraft and the land vehicles of important officials. In the effect of aircraft, those flags are usually painted on, and those are usually to be painted on in the position as whether they were blowing in the wind.

In some countries, such as the United States and Canada except for the Royal Canadian Navy's Ensign, the national ensign is identical to the national flag, while in others, such as the United Kingdom and Japan, there are specific ensigns for maritime use. near countries do not have a separate state ensign, although the United Kingdom is a rare exception, in having a red ensign for civil use, a white ensign as its naval ensign, and a blue ensign for government non-military vessels.

There is a great deal of protocol involved in the proper display of national flags. A general leadership is that the national flag should be flown in the position of honour, and not in an inferior position to any other flag although some countries make an exception for royal standards. The following rules are typical of the conventions when flags are flown on land:

Most flags are hung vertically by rotating the flag pole. However, some countries have specific protocols for this aim or even have special flags for vertical hanging; usually rotating some elements of the flag — such as the coat of arms — so that they are seen in an upright position.

Examples of countries that have special protocol for vertical hanging are: Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Israel, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United States reverse always showing; and the United Kingdom obverse always showing.

Examples of countries that have special designs for vertical hanging are: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, and Slovakia coat of arms must be rotated to normal position; Cambodia coat of arms must be rotated and blue strips are narrowed; Dominica coat of arms must be rotated and reverse always showing; Liechtenstein crown must be rotated; Saudi Arabia shahada must be rotated.

Vertical variation of the flag of Slovakia.

Vertical variation of the flag of Cambodia.

Vertical variation of the flag of Dominica.

Vertical variation of the flag of Liechtenstein.

Vertical variation of the flag of Nepal.

Vertical variation of the Flag of Saudi Arabia.