Last modified: 2021-10-23 by pete loeser
Keywords: ufe | unidentified flags | 2021 |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
Please note our Policy for Submissions and Enquiries.
Below is a series of images of flags that have been provided to FOTW; some we have recognized, and some we have been unable to recognize. If you can help us identify any of these flags, please let us know! Contact the: UFE Editor.
Identification Key:
Image from William Garrison, 10 August 2021
The caption read: "U.S. and Italian military officials, partisan and veteran associations, local officials, and hundreds of spectators attended a ceremony for Italy's 'Liberation Day' celebration, April 25, 2018 in Pordenone, Italy. The ceremony started at Piazza Ellero dei Mille and marked the 73rd anniversary of the Allied and Italian Resistance forces releasing Italy from Nazi occupation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Cary Smith)" - It did not identify the flags.
Sources: here, here, and here.
William Garrison, 10 August 2021
The front flag is a gonfalone of Pordenone.
The middle flag is Citta de Porcia (name listed, but no page yet).
The rear flag is Pasiano de Pordenone.
Rob Raeside, 10 August 2021
Image from Dave Martucci, 10 August 2021
A photo that appears in several news feeds of the Taliban flag flying at the Kunduz border crossing on 8 August 2021 appears to have the Shahada much larger than the flag shown on FOTW plus there appears to be an additional inscription below. Alas, I know no Arabic. I tilted the photo and reversed it from the news item. Can anybody translate the text?
Dave Martucci, 10 August 2021
Image located by Esteban Rivera, 3 September 2021
Click to Enlarge
[This chart was a late post by Esteban for the Afghanistan page, but it certainly provides the translation that Dave was asking for. More to follow. - Ed.]
#43a
#43b
Images from William Garrison, 17 August 2021 - Split and enlarged from this photo.
The flag at left (#43a) appears to be a political-party flag, while the one shown on the right (#43b) may be of some government agency (maybe that of the "Chief Executive"). The caption reads: "Foreign empires have fought over the South Asian country; reformers and Islamists battle to remake it". The text reads: "Two unidentified flags regarding Afghanistan. These flags were displayed in 2019 as Afghans attend a campaign rally for Mr. Abdullah Abdullah, who then held the now-defunct extra-constitutional office of 'Chief Executive' of Afghanistan, in Bamyan (also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian), the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan.
The flag shown on the right may be of some government agency (maybe that of the "Chief Executive"), or possibly another political-party flag of "The Coalition for Change and Hope" that was broadened and later transformed into the "National Coalition of Afghanistan".
Source: National Geographic website.
William Garrison, 17 August 2021
The first flag (#43a) is an electoral-flag of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami - حزب وحدت اسلامی افغانستان) usually shortened to the Unity Party (Hezb-e Wahdat - حزب وحدت).
The second flag (#43b) blue with the logo is the Unity Party Flag and can also be seen on their Facebook page. Also can be seen on the English Wikipedia page.
Anonymous, 12 September 2021
Image from Ted Kaye, 17 August 2021
Any thoughts on this simple flag? It was seen recently hanging over several overpasses of the Long Island Expressway (I-495) in Queens, New York. It appears to have the constellation Pleiades in the upper hoist and a Latin Cross in brush-stroke style in the fly.
Ted Kaye, 17 August 2021
That of "The Rock Churches Worldwide". See photos here, here, and here.
Ivan Sache, 17 August 2021
Image from William Garrison, 19 August 2021
I do not know whether or not FOTW already has this maroon-colored pride flag. The picture caption reads: "Jerusalem Pride Parade 2021, (photo credit: TZVI JOFFRE)" in an article about a teen being released after being forcibly hospitalized for being gay. I could not identify the flag itself. (source)
William Garrison, 19 August 2021
I am not sure if these are flags or banners bearing a slogan. They appear to say "MY FREEDOM IS YOUR FREEDOM".
Rob Raeside, 19 August 2021
#46a
#46b
Images from Randy Young, 24 August 2021
There is no intent to start a political discussion here; simply relaying a flag sighting from earlier today.
While driving my daughter to her doctor appointment this afternoon, we found ourselves stopped behind a school bus and in front of a house with some interesting flag display choices. Three flags were displayed on a flagpole, with a blue Trump 2020 campaign flag at the top above an upside-down American flag, itself above an upside-down Virginia flag. There were two additional flag poles attached to the house and flanking the front door. The pole to the right of the door held a tattered and barely recognizable white Trump 2020 flag. The pole to the left carried a black and white "III percenter" flag that I hadn't seen before. We talk about the III percent movement on FOTW showing an American flag with the Roman numeral III in white within the ring of 13 stars. The flag seen today, however, had that same Roman numeral III in white above the year "1776," all within a ring of 13 white stars and centered on a black field.
Please let me know if you have any questions or additional information. Thanks, and enjoy!
Randy Young, 24 August 2021
I wonder: What is the meaning of a upside-down flag that is not top-most? Our whole ship is burning, but a pirate has taken over the top of our flag mast?
Well, Frisians, of course, still sometimes hoist wefts as a sign of mourning. But other than that, I don't think anyone hoists wefts of any sort any more, except hoisting a flag upside down as a form of protest. That in itself makes sense, in a way, in that you indicate there's something wrong.
That would mean that hoisting a weft in any position or direction different from the regular, would indicate your ship (or house, as the case may be) is in distress.
So, hoisting a flag that has to always be in top, but hoist it lower, would make the entire hoist suspect. That then would be read as: Ruler trying to place himself above the nation. But then if the flag of the country itself is reversed, do we get "Idiot is trying to place himself above the nation?" Or is it merely "Guy trying to place himself above the nation and as a result we're a sinking ship?"
Even more puzzling: Hoisting a third flag. Does it inverse the flag of the second, or does it reverse that again, making it an upright flag again, even if upside down?
Puzzling,
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 25 August 2021
Image from Pete Buss, 28 August 2021
I've recently had to clear my elderly parents house after they both passed away and discovered that my dad had kept a pennant that was gifted to me as a child by our next door neighbour at the time. I have a vague recollection that he had served in the navy during World War II, which would be about right time wise as I know his wife was born in 1907 and she outlived him by a good 20 years before passing away in 1996 (my mum was very good with her diary and birthdays).
Here's the pennant but I have absolutely no idea what it was used for. Was it displayed on HMS Renown? Would there only have been one or many? Would the crew have been given them as mementoes of their service? Any information of interest would be greatly appreciated.
Pete Buss, 28 August 2021
Your pennant obviously is associated with the HMS Renown, which has a substantial page on Wikipedia that mentions its
role in the Norwegian campaign.
As far as this pennant is concerned, it looks like it might be screen-printed and possibly on felt - can you confirm that? If so, I doubt it was aboard the battle cruiser during the campaign. It looks to me as if it was something that was made later, perhaps at the decommissioning.
Rob Raeside, 28 August 2021
Image from William Garrison, 3 Ocober 2021
Regarding flags of the Hazara tribe in Afghanistan, this is a unidentified flag is a possible addition. (source)
The progressive media whitewashes the misdeeds of the Taliban, even as the good jihadis put a bullet in someone's head, splattering blood all over. To say, however, that all their hate is targeted at non-Muslims would be wrong: the Taliban have slaughtered Muslims also, that is, the Muslims who were not Muslim enough for them. (jihadwatch.org)
The caption reads: " This photo was purportedly taken at some demonstration of Hazara tribe members; c. Aug. 2021." In the bottom right there is what appears to be a flag, but the photo source does not clearly state that the flag pertains to the Hazara - but one might infer that there is some correlation. (On the left, there appears to be a poster of some guy attached to a pole that at first glance might appear to be a flag, but most likely is just a poster. Hey, just call me "Sherlock".)
William Garrison, 3 Ocober 2021
Image from Hans-Joachim Lincke, 5 September 2021
Some years ago, I've bought an oil painting that depicts a British paddle steamer. The painting is dated 1853 and the steamer's name is "Superb". There are several signal flags hoisted. At first, I thought them to be merely decorative. Later I found out that these flags refer to the Marryat code of signals. I studied the Marryat's manual, but could not make sense of the flags in their order. Maybe the painter used them just as a decorative element, but as far as I know portraits of ships in that time were done as realistic as possible. Thus, there may be a meaning that I do not understand as an amateur.
So my question is: Could you perhaps be so kind and help me with your expert knowledge, or could you help me by sending my request to someone who is well experienced into deciphering Marryat code?
Hans-Joachim Lincke, 5 September 2021
The use of Codes at sea in the early-to-mid 19th century was different than the codes used later. Both Marryat's and Rodgers' codes refer more to the flags than a specific code and the meanings could be a bit different from place to place although certain elements were fixed. For example, each vessel had its own code number and each port had a code as well.
This painting shows the following Marryat's Code Flags: 2-4-0-8-6-Distinguishing 2-Telegraph-9-Numeral-8-5. The Distinguishing and Telegraph and Numeral flags indicate some changes in the signal.
Various ports had different signal requirements as well. For example in 1839, the Port of Glascow required ships to display which port they were coming from, their Ship number, The number of days passage, and "All Well" if that is the case. I am not certain of what the signal for "All Well" was.
Other ports required similar but not necessarily the same kinds of hoists. Liverpool, for example only required a ship make its number while London required a ship number and the port of departure.
My take on this display is that we are looking at the ship number (anywhere from 2 to 4 digits) and Port of Departure (1-3 digits) in the first part of the hoist separated by the Distinguishing pennant and then Telegraph-9, whose meaning I am uncertain (maybe "All Well"?) and then the number of days passage. But I am just guessing.
Dave Martucci, 17 October 2021
Image located by William Garrison, 12 September 2021
The caption on this photo read: "al left, Behrouz Kamalvandi, Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (Sept. 2-21)" alongside an unknown white flag with a blue agency identification that I cannot read, but possibly associated with Iran Atomic Energy Organization. (Source and full image)
William Garrison, 12 September 2021
That is the flag of Imam Khomeini Airport City (IKAC), which manages the Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, also known as Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA). IKAC is owned and operated by Imam Khomeini Airport City Company. IKAC Co. which was established in 2015 and it is a government owned company. Its flag is a horizontal white background with the logo in the middle and one blue horizontal stripe on top and one on the bottom. (source #1) and (source #2)
#50a
#50b
Images located by Esteban Rivera, 13 October 2021, 12 September 2021
Images attached:
- #50a Logo copied image from this original photo. (source)
- Flag #50b cropped image from the original here. The picture caption reads: "Three Iranian fishermen, who, according to a maritime security official, were released by Somali pirates after being held for five years, pose for a photo at VIP hall in Imam Khomeini airport, in Tehran, Iran August 21, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS."
For additional information go to IKAC/IKAC Co and IKIA (official websites)
Esteban Rivera, 13 October 2021
Image located by Pete Loeser, 14 September 2021
While searching through old and dusty files I re-discovered this strange drawing of an apparent Texas or perhaps Chilean flag. Looks designed to hang vertically. I have no idea whose work it is, or what flag it represents, so hopefully one of you will have an "Ah-Ha" moment and enlighten me.
Pete Loeser, 14 September 2021
That's the 1817 New Fatherland flag of Chile.
Rob Raeside, 16 October 2021
Image located by William Garrison, 14 September 2021
The caption on this photo reads: "unidentified Serbia/Srpska flag with embroidered image of General Ratko Mladic, c. Jan. 2019." (source)
William Garrison, 14 September 2021
This flag, featuring a portrait of Ratko Mladic surmounted by his name written in Cyrillic letters, has no particular vexillological merit.
[Although reportably]
"The caption on this photo reads: 'unidentified Serbia/Srpska flag with embroidered image of General Ratko Mladic, c. Jan. 2019.'", there is no such a caption in the source. The very same photos was used as an illustration in different media between 2019 and 2020, all without providing any context.
Ivan Sache, 10 October 2021
Image from Kent Venish, 14 September 2021
Modified by Rob Raeside, 14 September 2021
I know this is not a flag, but just maybe you folks would know what the emblem is on the right rear of this Peugeot 202...
Kent Venish, 14 September 2021
Not really for FOTW - but a request for identification we may be able to help. I have reduced the image, but copied the emblem at original size in the lower left corner.
Rob Raeside, 14 September 2021
I don't know what the emblem is, but I can help steer you in the right direction. The photo is WW2 northern France, thus 1944: a US Army medic is helping a wounded German Luftwaffe officer (identifiable from his hat on the ground). The German was probably in the Peugeot staff car when he was hit. The license plate (WH) identifies it as a Wehrmacht Heer (Army) vehicle. (A Luftwaffe vehicle would be WL.) The emblem is most probably a German army unit. (I have no expertise in those, sorry.) The men in the background are US Army.
T.F. Mills, 14 September 2021
Wouldn't the NW letters stand for Nordwest (air group/squadron or whatever)?
Corentin Chamboredon, 15 September 2021
I have inherited the following flag from a friend and thought it would be of interesting for FOTW. [Perhaps some additional background information could be discovered?]
Andreas Neschki via Martina Koomen, 16 September 2021
Image from Nancy Byers, 16 September 2021
I have a ship model of the Tusitala that was displayed at India House NYC. James A. Farrell was my husband's Great Grandfather. I am in the process of writing the histories for these family heirlooms to leave to the next generation of collectors and I'm having a hard time identifying a flag.
The flag has a blue background and a man, it is not the Farrell Lines flag, Isthmian Lines flag, or the Robert Steele (shipbuilder) flag. Could it be the house flag for when the ship was a training vessel in the late 30's?
Nancy Byers, 16 September 2021
I don't recognise this flag - it almost reminds of some of the pirate flags.
Rob Raeside, 16 September 2021
It is interesting you mention how the Tusitala flag resembles a pirate flag. This sends us down an interesting rabbit hole indeed. The Ship Tusitala was the last full-rigged merchant ship to fly American flag. It was built in 1883. In 1899, the author Robert Louis Stevenson sailed with his family from San Francisco on an almost three year voyage across the eastern and central Pacific. In 1890, they settled in the village of Vailima on Upolu, one of the Samoan islands. There he took the Samoan name Tusitala, meaning "Teller of Tales" and would live out his life. In 1923, the before mentioned merchant ship Tusitala became the private yacht of James A. Farrell, the president of U.S. Steel. After that it went on to became a training ship for merchant seamen in 1939.
You can probably see where I'm heading with all this. Stevenson wrote the book "Treasure Island" which introduced the world to his infamous Long John Silver, a fictional pirate. All these small threads of history seem to tie together in an interesting bit of speculation, don't they? In 1986, there was released a three-part mini-series for television based on the last years in the life of Robert Louis Stevenson named "Tusitala," which I haven't seen, but will be looking for now. I wonder if it has a pirate flag in it? Welcome to my latest flag Rabbit Hole.
Pete Loeser, 10 October 2021
#55a
#55b
Photo located by Pete Loeser, 16 September 2021
The Argonaut Line Flag the work of Joe McMillan.
OK, I'm going to get serious now. As I said, the Ship Tusitala was the last full-rigged merchant ship to fly the American flag. It was iron sided and built in 1883. When it became the private yacht of James A. Farrell, the president of U.S. Steel, he also purchased a shipping company named the Argonaut Line. Farrell's son began the Farrell Shipping Company, incorporated the earlier shipping company with it. After his father's death, he kept the Tusitala in service sailing from New York to Hawaii via the Panama Canal until in 1939. After that, as mentioned, the Tusitala went on to became a training ship for merchant seamen operated by the United States Maritime Services Training Center at Bayboro Harbor in St. Petersburg, Florida. The ship was finally scrapped in Mobile, Alabama in 1947.
Further information:
- #55: a picture of the Tusitala model that Nancy Byers mentions (#55a), sold last at auction in August of 2021.
- #55b: The House Flag of the Argonaut Line.
and also direct your attention to UFE14-5 which speculates on the Signal Flags used on the Tusitala.
Pete Loeser, 10 October 2021
Images located by William Garrison, 17 September 2021
These are two photos of same flag, taken from slightly different angels - both showing some additional details of white slogans.
Their captions read:
- "pro-Muslim black-field flag with unidentified white slogans & white fringe, at demonstration in Sydney, Australia, c. Sept. 2012." (source)
-"On 15 September 2012, a protest against perceived anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims was held in Sydney, New South Wales. While the protest started peacefully, violent confrontations between police and protesters began when protesters reached the United States Consulate General. In resulting clashes, six police officers and 19 protesters were injured. The violence was condemned by Australian political leaders, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Police arrested nine protesters in connection with the violence." (source)
William Garrison, 17 September 2021
Image located by William Garrison, 24 September 2021
The caption on this photo reads: "unidentified white-field flag regarding Palestine Authority, c. Sept. 2021. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and President Mahmud Abbas attend a session of the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah. (PHOTO CREDIT: MAJDI MOHAMMED/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)." (Full image)
William Garrison, 24 September 2021
That is the flag of the Chairmanship of Palestine of the G77 which was announced in the official communiqué on October 16, 2018.
The flag is a light blue horizontal flag, displaying the logo in the middle, the logo incorporating the G77 loco and adding an outer golden ring split into four equal parts, each one including relevant information, clockwise: The State of Palestine (in black capitals)/Palestine flag (image)/G77 Chairmanship (in black capitals)/2019
Images attached:
- #57a cropped image from the original located here. (source)
- #57b cropped image from the original located
here. (source)
- #57c cropped image from the original located here. (source)
Esteban Rivera, 24 September 2021
Image located by William Garrison, 24 September 2021
On the fly of this unknown red-fielded flag the emblem looks like the "lion of Megiddo" and the flag is of a similar design to this blue-fielded flag of the Central Command flag, but may be something else entirely. (photo source)
According to a prepared message sheet in the Israel News article: "The IDF is strong, and its power was proved in the last operation in Gaza; the attacks on the army over the death of the sniper Barel Hadaria Shmueli on the Gazan border are unjust; and the public criticism over the pension hikes in the military will detract from cohesiveness and undermine the..." (source)
William Garrison, 24 September 2021
#58a
#58b
#58c
#58d
#58e
images located by Esteban Rivera, 24 September 2021
That is the current flag of the "פיקוד המרכז" (Central
Command) (source) The new flag with red background, seems to have been in use since 2015, as this image shows. (source). It seems that all Israeli Army flags have adopted the red background in order to standardize with the worldwide trend to adopt red as the color representing Army/Ground/Land Forces.
Explanation of attached images:
- #58a "פיקודים מרחביים" (Spatial Commands) Spatial is in reference to the "space" or jurisdiction in which they operate, often referred to as Regional Commands and/or Military Districts (image used is cropped from the original photo located here). (source) The same happens with all other Commands, each one in detail as follows:
- #58b "פיקוד הצפון" (Northern Command) This current flag image is cropped from the original image located here. (source)
- #58c "פיקוד המרכז" (English: Central Command) This current flag is cropped image from the original image located here. (source).
- #58d "פיקוד הדרום" (Southern Command) The current flag is cropped from the original image located here. (source)
- #58e "פיקוד העורף" (HFC, Home Front Command) The current flag flag is cropped from the original image located here. (source)
Esteban Rivera, 24 September 2021
Image located by William Garrison, 28 September 2021
Oh, my! So many flags shown in FOTW for Israel. Might anyone identify this white-field flag?
The text with it read: "Israel, unknown white-field flag; From left: Mayor of Efrat Oded Revivi, Head of the Civil Administration of COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), Raasan Aliyan, Nachman Shai, Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Chief Rabbi of Efrat Shlomo Riskin. (source)
"Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai, the highest-ranking Israeli official to attend, stated that the event highlights the reality that Arabs and Jews must live together. There is no other alternative." (source)
William Garrison, 28 September 2021
This is the flag of Efrata. It has black text instead of green, when Dov Gutterman located it, and more text below now.
Rob Raeside, 28 September 2021
I'm a producer for historical documentaries. I'm going to colorize older b/w-films with swastika-flags. I couldn't find any specific color codes for the red. I guess in older times there was just a remark, that the colors are black, white and red without any references to further details. So, what is red? From a historical point I would say the swastika-flag was meant to use the same red as the former Reichskriegsflagge. But what was the red of this flag? Nevertheless, I often get the impression that nowadays in print and TV the red of the swastika-flag is darker than a "normal" red. Do you have any information? Which red do you use? Is it just the standard RGB red (255/0/0 resp #ff0000 in hexadecimal)?
Thorsten Pollfuß, 30 September 2021
As far as I'm aware there is not (nor ever has been) an official standard for the swastika flag, and the only suggestion I can make is the compare illustration in the 1939 Edition of the Flaggenbuch with a Pantone chart. Unfortunately, whilst I have the book I don't have an up-to-date chart so cannot help further.
Christopher Southworth, 17 October 2021
The text of the Organisationsbuch distinguishes red (rot) as bright red (hellrot) or dark red (dunkelrot). They didn't use anything like our modern Pantone© color charts. With this in mind, the color of the main field of Nazi flags seems to be the shade they called "bright red." Bright red and red didn't seem far apart, but the bright red may have had more yellow mixed into it. Dark red is clearly darker, maybe Pantone 186C BU Red? An inconclusive discussion of all this can be found on our Shade of Red in the Swastika Flag page.
Pete Loeser, 17 October 2021
Images from Ron Compton, 4 October 2021
A few years ago I inherited some yard-long photos that my grandfather had. He was in the Navy 1918-1944.
One photo it appears to be US and British sailors & marines with pints of beer at an outdoor event.
My educated guess in sometime in the 1930's. I attached the section of the photo I am curious about. (It has been stored in a tube and very curled so difficult to get the whole picture)
In the background there is the Union Jack and the 48-star US flag, but between them appears a one or two banners and one has one white star.
I never have seen one like this. There is no note of date or location in photograph.
My grandfather served ships in both the Atlantic or Pacific so I have no guesses where or when this was taken. My best guess in sometime in the 1930s.
Ron Compton, 4 October 2021