1897 - World Flag Chart

Oceania
◀︎ ▶︎

Samoa

Tonga

Rurutu

red, white maltese cross, French flag outlined in white

Wallis and Futuna ^{1¹ The flag of the kingdom of ʻUvea, used as an unofficial symbol for the entire territory.}

red-white-red, red maltese cross, French flag

Rimatara

Cook Islands

white-red-blue-white-red-blue-white-red, union jack

Hawaiʻi

white British ensign, blue cross with 5 white 8-pointed stars

Australia

blue British ensign, red southern cross outlined in white

New Zealand

blue ensign ^{2² Officially only flown on government ships, but often used as a national flag.}

white, red cross, blue canton, white-outlined red cross, four white eight-pointed stars

New Zealand

unofficial flag ^{3³ The former flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, which remained in use as an unofficial symbol of the country.}

Canada ^{4⁴ Officially only to be flown by civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. The badge was only supposed to have the arms of the original four provinces, but the seven-province version was much more common. It was also often placed on a white disc, or adorned with wreath of maple leaves and a crown.}

white-red, thick blue stripe, white star

Texas

Acadia

Newfoundland

Native flag ^{5⁵ An unofficial local flag. The British colony of Newfoundland had no distinctive local symbols. Note that "Native" here means "born in the colony" and has nothing to do with the First Nations.}

Latin America
◀︎ ▶︎

green, yellow diamond, blue and white celestial sphere

Brazil

Mexico

Peru

national ensign ^{6⁶ Flown by the government, the navy, the national police, and national sports teams. Raised at major ceremonies. The army uses a similar flag with a different coat of arms.}

Peru

national flag ^{7⁷ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Guatemala

Argentina

Nicaragua

Honduras

Paraguay

front side

Paraguay

back side

Costa Rica

national flag ^{8⁸ The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too.}

Costa Rica

national ensign ^{9⁹ Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens.}

5 red-white stripes, blue triangle, white star

Puerto Rico ^{10¹⁰ Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists and revolutionaries who sought independence from Spain.}

5 blue-white stripes, red triangle, white star

Cuba ^{11¹¹ Flown by Cuban nationalists and revolutionaries who sought independence from Spain.}

9 blue-white stripes, red canton, 14 white stars

Salvador

9 white-blue stripes, white canton, yellow sun

Uruguay

blue-red, white square containing a coat of arms

Haiti

blue-red quarters, white cross, coat of arms

Dominican Republic

Chile

Bolivia

state flag ^{12¹² Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms.}

Bolivia

national flag ^{13¹³ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

yellow-blue-red, cluster of 7 white stars, coat of arms

Venezuela

national ensign ^{14¹⁴ Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens.}

yellow-blue-red, cluster of 7 white stars

Venezuela

national flag ^{15¹⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Colombia

Ecuador

Middle East and North Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Turkey

Tunisia

Egypt

red, yellow crescent, 8-pointed yellow star

Jebel Shammar

Tripoli ^{16¹⁶ The most commonly reported flag from the period. Flags with green, white and red stripes also seem to have been used. Probably flown exclusively on ships. The Turkish flag was the official national flag.}

Morocco ^{17¹⁷ Flown over the palace in Rabat and on ships. Military flags on land were often dectorated with a yellow or green octagram.}

Muscat and Oman · Bahrain ^{18¹⁸ Arab monarchies, especially those in and around the Gulf, flew plain red flags from their ships. These weren't quite "national flags" in the modern sense, but European powers tended to view them that way.}

Ras al-Khaimah · Sharjah ^{19¹⁹ Officially all of the Trucial States were supposed to fly a square red flag with a thick white border. In practice this flag became exclusively associated with the Al Qasimi dynasty. The other states mostly flew plain red flags.}

white, yellow lion and sun, green border

Persia

Mount Lebanon

Sub-Saharan Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Ethiopia

South African Republic (Transvaal)

Orange Free State

11 red-white stripes, blue canton, white star

Liberia

11 blue-azure stripes, black and white shield

Swaziland

Congo Free State

Zanzibar

Sokoto Caliphate

green flag of Islam ^{20²⁰ Flown by exclusively by the sultan as a symbol of religious authority. Not really a "national flag" as we'd understand it in modern terms. The sultan also gave white flags to his vassal emirs within the Caliphate.}

white pennant, green inscription, French flag

Futa Jallon

Western Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

France

Italy

national flag ^{21²¹ Flown by private citizens and merchant ships. The "Italian Social Republic", the Nazi puppet regime in the north, flew the plain tricolour as a national flag and had a war flag with an eagle gripping a fasces. The anti-fascist Italian partisans flew either plain tricolours or tricolours with a white or red star on the middle stripe.}

Italy

state flag ^{22²² Flown by the government and navy.}

Belgium

Austria

Imperial colours ^{23²³ The dynastic colours of the Hapsburg monarchy, often used as a flag on land.}

Austria

naval flag ^{24²⁴ Flown by navy ships. Direct predecessor of the modern Austrian flag.}

Netherlands

Luxembourg

Germany

Spain

Andorra

Switzerland

Denmark

national flag ^{25²⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

red, white nordic cross, swallowtail cut

Denmark

sovereign flag ^{26²⁶ Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies.}

Norway

merchant flag ^{27²⁷ Allowed to be flown by anyone. The union mark in the top-left corner of the flag was flown on its own as a joint diplomatic flag for Sweden and Norway.}

Norway

state flag ^{28²⁸ Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships.}

Sweden

merchant flag ^{29²⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. The union mark in the top-left corner of the flag was flown on its own as a joint diplomatic flag for Sweden and Norway.}

Sweden

state flag ^{30³⁰ Flown on government buildings. The military continued flying the old three-tailed war flag.}

Iceland

Greece

land flag ^{31³¹ Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross.}

9 blue-white stripes, blue canton containing a white cross

Greece

sea flag ^{32³² Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross.}

Samos

blue, red-white pinwheel saltire outlined in white, red cross outlined in white

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

Jersey

San Marino

Liechtenstein

princely flag ^{33³³ Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use.}

Monaco

national flag ^{34³⁴ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Monaco

princely flag ^{35³⁵ Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings.}

Portugal

Malta

traditional flag ^{36³⁶ Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it.}

Catalonia

Basque Country

Cornwall

Galicia

Corsica

Wales

Ireland

Flanders

Eastern Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

Russia

Carniola

national colours ^{37³⁷ Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Carniola. Regarded as the unofficial national flag of Slovenia.}

Slovakia ^{38³⁸ Flown by advocates of Slovakian independence. The "Upper Hungary" region did not have an official flag.}

Croatia and Slavonia

Serbia

national flag ^{39³⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Serbia

state flag ^{40⁴⁰ Flown the government and armed forces.}

Montenegro

merchant flag ^{41⁴¹ Flown by the merchant fleet. The plain Serbian tricolour was also widely flown within in the country.}

red, white two-headed eagle, yellow lion

Montenegro

batallion flag ^{42⁴² Flown by the prince and the military.}

Hungary

Bulgaria

Estonia

Romania

Ukraine ^{43⁴³ Flown by Ukrainian nationalists. The order of colours wasn't fixed.}

Bohemia

state colours ^{44⁴⁴ Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Bohemia. Not an official flag, but informally regarded as a Czech national symbol. A white flag with the Bohemian coat of arms was also sometimes used.}

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Poland

banner ^{45⁴⁵ The former royal banner of Poland, no longer official but still used as an informal national symbol.}

Albania ^{46⁴⁶ A typical flag flown by Albanian nationalists. The exact design of the eagle was not fixed.}

South Asia and the Indian Ocean
◀︎ ▶︎

orange, two sets of green-white-green-green-white stripes, coat of arms, Urdu inscriptions

Hyderabad

Jammu and Kashmir ^{47⁴⁷ The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom.}

red double-tailed pennant outlined in green, white moon, white sun

Nepal

red swallowtail with white feet in the top left

Jhabua ^{48⁴⁸ The raja's flag was rectangular}

Dewas

Kota

princely flag ^{49⁴⁹ Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer.}

Maldive Islands

Sailana ^{50⁵⁰ The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag.}

two purple triangular pennants, white Hanuman, yellow sun

Ajaigarh ^{51⁵¹ The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower.}

purple triangular pennant, yellow sun moon and building

Mewar ^{52⁵² Mewar had a number of reported princely banners which were also sometimes used as state flags. The most common one had a large yellow sun and a blue katar dagger.}

orange triangular pennant, thick purple border

Porbandar

Kolhapur ^{53⁵³ Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag.}

orange-yellow striped swallowtail pennant

Dhar

Jaipur

Alwar

Idar

Sirohi

Jodhpur

orange, yellow sun between two white snakes

Gwalior

princely flag ^{54⁵⁴ Flag of the maharaja, also used as a state flag. Plain saffron flags were also sometimes flown.}

Jaisalmer

Nabha

Bikaner

Mysore

Wankaner

Banswara

Dholpur

Chhatarpur

Cambay

Bharatpur

Kochin

Rajpipla

princely flag ^{55⁵⁵ Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag.}

Rajpipla

national flag ^{56⁵⁶ Allowed to be flown by civilians.}

Indore ^{57⁵⁷ Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours.}

Bhavnagar ^{58⁵⁸ There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it.}

Tonk ^{59⁵⁹ The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand.}

Garhwal ^{60⁶⁰ The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes.}

Suket ^{61⁶¹ The raja's flag had a gold tiger head in the middle. The war flag was a red flag with the state coat of arms on it.}

green-red striped pennant, white crescent and star, white swords

Kalat

red-yellow-green, black crescent and star

Bahawalpur

Baroda

princely flag ^{62⁶² Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown.}

Kutch

Travancore

Manipur

red, white image of Hanuman between two gold weapons

Rajgarh

Pratapgarh ^{63⁶³ The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white.}

Cooch Behar

Barwani

Sitamau ^{64⁶⁴ The Raja's flag had a red sun}

Faridkot

Rewa

princely flag ^{65⁶⁵ Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag.}

Bundi

Karauli

Alirajpur

Khairpur

Baoni

Mandi ^{66⁶⁶ The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it.}

Kishangarh

Bhopal ^{67⁶⁷ The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it.}

green, black saltire, yellow coat of arms

Jaora

Rampur

Bilaspur

white, yellow wheel surrounded by colourful decorations, ornate border

Sikkim

East and Southeast Asia
◀︎ ▶︎

Japan

white, red-blue taeguk, four blue trigrams

Korea

China ^{68⁶⁸ Flown by the government and by naval ships. The merchant flag was red with a yellow circle.}

Cambodia

Siam

red, white and gold elephant emblem, French flag

Laos

Champassak

Jambi

sultan's flag ^{69⁶⁹ Flown by the sultan and by naval ships.}

Jambi

nobles' flag ^{70⁷⁰ Flown by nobles at sea.}

Jambi

merchant flag ^{71⁷¹ Flown by commoner merchants at sea.}

white-yellow-red-black, white oval, tiger

Federated Malay States

Brunei

sultan's flag ^{72⁷² Flown by the sultan and also used as an unofficial state flag.}

yellow, vertically divided black-red cross, yellow crown

Sarawak

Perlis

black, red canton, white crescent and star

Johor

state flag ^{73⁷³ Flown by the sultan and on naval ships.}

blue, red canton, white crescent and star

Johor

merchant flag ^{74⁷⁴ Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag.}

purple, ornate white gate, two thin blue-white stripes

Sulu ^{75⁷⁵ Reported flag from this era. It's exact use isn't known.}

Kedah

Philippines

Kelantan · Terengganu ^{76⁷⁶ Malay monarchs often flew plain white flags. These standards eventually evolved into individual state flags as more colours and symbols were added.}

Burma ^{77⁷⁷ Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag.}

Other International and Cultural Flags
◀︎ ▶︎

blue-yellow-red-white-orange-multicolour

Buddhist Flag

white, two thin blue stripes, blue star of David

Zionist Movement

Red Cross

Red Crescent

Events of 1897
◀︎ ▶︎

ETHIOPIA • On October 6, the first Ethiopian tricolour flag was created. Its stripes were based on the triangular red, yellow and green pennants that were often flown to represent the monarch during the reign of Yohannes IV. The order of the colours wasn't wasn't firmly fixed until around 1914. Before then, the red stripe was sometimes on top.

ICELAND • An unofficial blue and white Nordic Cross flag was designed on March 13 by the poet Einar Benediktsson.

PHILIPPINES • The revolutionary government of Emilio Aguinaldo adopted the first official national flag at an assembly in Naic on March 17.

SWEDEN • A two-tailed state flag, distinct from the three-tailed war flag, was adopted on May 7.

ZIONIST MOVEMENT • The modern flag of Israel was designed and adopted at the first Zionist Congress, which ran from August 29–31. The design is based on a tallit, a blue and white striped Jewish prayer shawl.

Notes

¹ The flag of the kingdom of ʻUvea, used as an unofficial symbol for the entire territory. ↩

² Officially only flown on government ships, but often used as a national flag. ↩

³ The former flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, which remained in use as an unofficial symbol of the country. ↩

⁴ Officially only to be flown by civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. The badge was only supposed to have the arms of the original four provinces, but the seven-province version was much more common. It was also often placed on a white disc, or adorned with wreath of maple leaves and a crown. ↩

⁵ An unofficial local flag. The British colony of Newfoundland had no distinctive local symbols. Note that "Native" here means "born in the colony" and has nothing to do with the First Nations. ↩

⁶ Flown by the government, the navy, the national police, and national sports teams. Raised at major ceremonies. The army uses a similar flag with a different coat of arms. ↩

⁷ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

⁸ The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too. ↩

⁹ Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens. ↩

¹⁰ Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists and revolutionaries who sought independence from Spain. ↩

¹¹ Flown by Cuban nationalists and revolutionaries who sought independence from Spain. ↩

¹² Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms. ↩

¹³ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹⁴ Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens. ↩

¹⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹⁶ The most commonly reported flag from the period. Flags with green, white and red stripes also seem to have been used. Probably flown exclusively on ships. The Turkish flag was the official national flag. ↩

¹⁷ Flown over the palace in Rabat and on ships. Military flags on land were often dectorated with a yellow or green octagram. ↩

¹⁸ Arab monarchies, especially those in and around the Gulf, flew plain red flags from their ships. These weren't quite "national flags" in the modern sense, but European powers tended to view them that way. ↩

¹⁹ Officially all of the Trucial States were supposed to fly a square red flag with a thick white border. In practice this flag became exclusively associated with the Al Qasimi dynasty. The other states mostly flew plain red flags. ↩

²⁰ Flown by exclusively by the sultan as a symbol of religious authority. Not really a "national flag" as we'd understand it in modern terms. The sultan also gave white flags to his vassal emirs within the Caliphate. ↩

²¹ Flown by private citizens and merchant ships. The "Italian Social Republic", the Nazi puppet regime in the north, flew the plain tricolour as a national flag and had a war flag with an eagle gripping a fasces. The anti-fascist Italian partisans flew either plain tricolours or tricolours with a white or red star on the middle stripe. ↩

²² Flown by the government and navy. ↩

²³ The dynastic colours of the Hapsburg monarchy, often used as a flag on land. ↩

²⁴ Flown by navy ships. Direct predecessor of the modern Austrian flag. ↩

²⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

²⁶ Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies. ↩

²⁷ Allowed to be flown by anyone. The union mark in the top-left corner of the flag was flown on its own as a joint diplomatic flag for Sweden and Norway. ↩

²⁸ Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships. ↩

²⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. The union mark in the top-left corner of the flag was flown on its own as a joint diplomatic flag for Sweden and Norway. ↩

³⁰ Flown on government buildings. The military continued flying the old three-tailed war flag. ↩

³¹ Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩

³² Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩

³³ Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use. ↩

³⁴ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

³⁵ Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings. ↩

³⁶ Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it. ↩

³⁷ Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Carniola. Regarded as the unofficial national flag of Slovenia. ↩

³⁸ Flown by advocates of Slovakian independence. The "Upper Hungary" region did not have an official flag. ↩

³⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

⁴⁰ Flown the government and armed forces. ↩

⁴¹ Flown by the merchant fleet. The plain Serbian tricolour was also widely flown within in the country. ↩

⁴² Flown by the prince and the military. ↩

⁴³ Flown by Ukrainian nationalists. The order of colours wasn't fixed. ↩

⁴⁴ Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Bohemia. Not an official flag, but informally regarded as a Czech national symbol. A white flag with the Bohemian coat of arms was also sometimes used. ↩

⁴⁵ The former royal banner of Poland, no longer official but still used as an informal national symbol. ↩

⁴⁶ A typical flag flown by Albanian nationalists. The exact design of the eagle was not fixed. ↩

⁴⁷ The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom. ↩

⁴⁸ The raja's flag was rectangular ↩

⁴⁹ Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer. ↩

⁵⁰ The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag. ↩

⁵¹ The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower. ↩

⁵² Mewar had a number of reported princely banners which were also sometimes used as state flags. The most common one had a large yellow sun and a blue katar dagger. ↩

⁵³ Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag. ↩

⁵⁴ Flag of the maharaja, also used as a state flag. Plain saffron flags were also sometimes flown. ↩

⁵⁵ Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. ↩

⁵⁶ Allowed to be flown by civilians. ↩

⁵⁷ Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours. ↩

⁵⁸ There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it. ↩

⁵⁹ The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand. ↩

⁶⁰ The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes. ↩

⁶¹ The raja's flag had a gold tiger head in the middle. The war flag was a red flag with the state coat of arms on it. ↩

⁶² Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown. ↩

⁶³ The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white. ↩

⁶⁴ The Raja's flag had a red sun ↩

⁶⁵ Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag. ↩

⁶⁶ The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it. ↩

⁶⁷ The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it. ↩

⁶⁸ Flown by the government and by naval ships. The merchant flag was red with a yellow circle. ↩

⁶⁹ Flown by the sultan and by naval ships. ↩

⁷⁰ Flown by nobles at sea. ↩

⁷¹ Flown by commoner merchants at sea. ↩

⁷² Flown by the sultan and also used as an unofficial state flag. ↩

⁷³ Flown by the sultan and on naval ships. ↩

⁷⁴ Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag. ↩

⁷⁵ Reported flag from this era. It's exact use isn't known. ↩

⁷⁶ Malay monarchs often flew plain white flags. These standards eventually evolved into individual state flags as more colours and symbols were added. ↩

⁷⁷ Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag. ↩

The World Flag Chart

◀︎ Flags of 1897 ▶︎

Oceania
◀︎ ▶︎

North America
◀︎ ▶︎

Latin America
◀︎ ▶︎

Middle East and North Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Sub-Saharan Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Western Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

Eastern Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

South Asia and the Indian Ocean
◀︎ ▶︎

East and Southeast Asia
◀︎ ▶︎

Other International and Cultural Flags
◀︎ ▶︎

Events of 1897
◀︎ ▶︎

Notes

Events of 1897◀︎ ▶︎

Notes

Events of 1897
◀︎ ▶︎