One of the most recognisable national flags has to be the iconic Australian flag which displays the Union Jack along with the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross on a blue field. So, when was the Union Jack first seen on Australian soil? Lieutenant James Cook (a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy) landed at Botany...
In Ancient times, the Armenian’s would enter battle displaying carvings such as dragons, lions or eagles mounted on poles. With the introduction of Christianity, the Armenian’s adopted a number of different flags which represented the various dynasties – the flags again incorporated images such as eagles and lions. In the 19th century, Armenia was split between the Persian and the...
On 22nd May 1990, Yemen (Republic of Yemen) became one country after the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen. The Flag of Yemen was adopted on 22nd May 1990. The flag is the same as the Arab Liberation Flag of 1952. This flag was the inspiration for the flags of North and South Yemen prior to unification. The design...
The flag of Argentina was first used by Manuel Belgrano (an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician and military leader) with the original design based on the Cockade of Argentina which Belgrano had created during the Argentine War of Independence after noticing both the royalist and patriotic forces were using the same colours - Spain's yellow and red. The flag used the...
Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) gained independence from the United Kingdom on 24th October 1964. It is a landlocked country in Southern Africa and its capital is Lusaka. The flag of Zambia was adopted on 24th October 1964. The flag is used both as the national flag and ensign (ensign is a flag flown on a vessel to indicate its nationality...
Antigua and Barbuda was ruled by the British from around 1632 until 1871 when they joined the British colony - the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands (other countries in the colony were Montserrat, Saint Christopher, Nevis, Virgin Islands and Dominica). The flag used at this time was a blue ensign comprising of a Union Jack in the top left...
On the 18th April 1980 Zimbabwe was granted independence from the United Kingdom and a new national flag was adopted. The flag of Zimbabwe carries political, cultural and regional meanings. The Zimbabwe flag consists of five different colours – green, gold, red, black and white. Green represents the agricultural and rural landscape of Zimbabwe. Yellow stands for the wealth of...
Angola was one of the last African countries to gain independence from their colonisers (the Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575) and finally gaining their independence in 1975. The current Angola flag is heavily designed around the MPLA flag (popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola). The MPLA fought Portuguese colonial rule and are now the ruling party...
The Andorra flag has seen a number of changes over the last 150 years, with its history being a little vague as to the exact design and length of time certain flags were in use. Andorra was originally part of Catalonia, and as such used the Catalan flag until 1806 when a red and yellow vertical striped flag was used...
After a century of occupation by France, Algeria gained independence in 1962, and adopted the flag of Algeria we see today. The flag is very similar to the one used by the Algerian government in exile (1958–1962) with two main differences – the current flag displays a red crescent and star placed centrally, with equally spaced vertical green and red...
