1909 - World Flag Chart

Sub-Saharan Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Ethiopia

11 red-white stripes, blue canton, white star

Liberia

Congo

Zanzibar

white pennant, green inscription, French flag

Futa Jallon

Middle East and North Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Turkey

Tunisia

Egypt

red, yellow crescent, 8-pointed yellow star

Jebel Shammar

Morocco ^{1¹ 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 ^{2² 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 ^{3³ 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.}

Persia

state flag ^{4⁴ Flown by the government, and often by private citizens.}

Persia

national flag ^{5⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Mount Lebanon

green, white shahadah above a white sword

Nejd

Tripoli

Western Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

France

Italy

national flag ^{6⁶ 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 ^{7⁷ Flown by the government and navy.}

Belgium

Austria

Imperial colours ^{8⁸ The dynastic colours of the Hapsburg monarchy, often used as a flag on land.}

Austria

naval flag ^{9⁹ Flown by navy ships. Direct predecessor of the modern Austrian flag.}

Netherlands

Luxembourg

Germany

Spain

Andorra

Switzerland

Denmark

national flag ^{10¹⁰ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

red, white nordic cross, swallowtail cut

Denmark

sovereign flag ^{11¹¹ 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 ^{12¹² Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

red, white-blue nordic cross, swallowtail cut

Norway

state flag ^{13¹³ Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships.}

Sweden ^{14¹⁴ Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military.}

Iceland

Greece

land flag ^{15¹⁵ 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 ^{16¹⁶ 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 ^{17¹⁷ Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use.}

Monaco

national flag ^{18¹⁸ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Monaco

princely flag ^{19¹⁹ Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings.}

Portugal

Malta

traditional flag ^{20²⁰ 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 ^{21²¹ Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Carniola. Regarded as the unofficial national flag of Slovenia.}

Slovakia ^{22²² Flown by advocates of Slovakian independence. The "Upper Hungary" region did not have an official flag.}

Croatia and Slavonia

Serbia

national flag ^{23²³ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Serbia

state flag ^{24²⁴ Flown the government and armed forces.}

Montenegro

merchant flag ^{25²⁵ Flown by the merchant fleet. The plain Serbian tricolour was also widely flown within in the country.}

Montenegro

royal flag ^{26²⁶ Flown by the king and the government.}

Hungary

Bulgaria

Estonia

Romania

Ukraine ^{27²⁷ Flown by Ukrainian nationalists. The order of colours wasn't fixed.}

Bohemia

state colours ^{28²⁸ 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 ^{29²⁹ The former royal banner of Poland, no longer official but still used as an informal national symbol.}

Albania ^{30³⁰ A typical flag flown by Albanian nationalists. The exact design of the eagle was not fixed.}

South Asia and the Indian Ocean
◀︎ ▶︎

green-yellow-red, 8 white flowers, blue Hindi writing, white sun and moon

India ^{31³¹ The "Calcutta flag" flown by independence activists. British India had several colonial flags. A red civil ensign with the Star of India medal on it was used to represent India at international sporting events.}

Afghanistan

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

Hyderabad

Jammu and Kashmir ^{32³² 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 ^{33³³ The raja's flag was rectangular}

Dewas

Kota

princely flag ^{34³⁴ Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer.}

Sailana ^{35³⁵ The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag.}

two purple triangular pennants, white Hanuman, yellow sun

Ajaigarh ^{36³⁶ The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower.}

purple triangular pennant, yellow sun moon and building

Mewar ^{37³⁷ 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.}

Kolhapur ^{38³⁸ 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, red diagonal band, a yellow sun between two white snakes

Gwalior

Jaisalmer

Nabha

Bikaner

Mysore

Wankaner

Manipur

Charkhari

Banswara

Dholpur

Chhatarpur

Kapurthala

Cambay

Bharatpur

Kochin

Rajpipla

princely flag ^{39³⁹ Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag.}

Rajpipla

national flag ^{40⁴⁰ Allowed to be flown by civilians.}

Indore ^{41⁴¹ Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours.}

Bhavnagar ^{42⁴² There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it.}

Tonk ^{43⁴³ The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand.}

Garhwal ^{44⁴⁴ The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes.}

Suket ^{45⁴⁵ 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 ^{46⁴⁶ Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown.}

Kutch

Travancore

red, white image of Hanuman between two gold weapons

Rajgarh

Pratapgarh ^{47⁴⁷ The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white.}

Cooch Behar

Barwani

Porbandar

Sitamau ^{48⁴⁸ The Raja's flag had a red sun}

Faridkot

Rewa

princely flag ^{49⁴⁹ Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag.}

Bundi

Karauli

Orchha

Alirajpur

Khairpur

purple-blue-azure-green-yellow-orange-red, coat of arms

Dungarpur

Baoni

Mandi ^{50⁵⁰ The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it.}

Kishangarh

Bhopal ^{51⁵¹ 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

red, black-white barberpole-striped edge

Maldive Islands

Muslim League ^{52⁵² Flag of the All-India Muslim League, which advocated for Muslim interests within British India. The direct predecessor of the flag of Pakistan.}

East and Southeast Asia
◀︎ ▶︎

Japan

white, red-blue taeguk, four blue trigrams

Korea ^{53⁵³ Flown by the Korean independence movement. Banned under Japanese occupation.}

China ^{54⁵⁴ Flown by the government and by naval ships. The merchant flag was red with a yellow circle containing a blue dragon.}

Cambodia

Siam

red, white and gold elephant emblem, French flag

Laos

blue-red, white triangle, yellow sun, three yellow stars

Philippines ^{55⁵⁵ Banned by the American colonial government. The Insular Government of the Philippine Islands had no official flag at this time.}

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

Federated Malay States

Brunei

yellow, vertically divided black-red cross, yellow crown

Sarawak

Perlis

black, red canton, white crescent and star

Johor

state flag ^{56⁵⁶ Flown by the sultan and on naval ships.}

blue, red canton, white crescent and star

Johor

merchant flag ^{57⁵⁷ Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag.}

red, white crescent and star, swords, and 5 white stars in a blue canton

Moro ^{58⁵⁸ A typical example of a Moro battle flag. No two were exactly alike, but they all looked roughly like this. Sometimes the daggers were crossed, or the crescent and star was replaced by a white and blue emblem.}

Kedah

Kelantan · Terengganu ^{59⁵⁹ Malay monarchs often flew plain white flags. These standards eventually evolved into individual state flags as more colours and symbols were added.}

Burma ^{60⁶⁰ Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag.}

Oceania
◀︎ ▶︎

blue British ensign, white 7-pointed star and southern cross

Australia

blue British ensign, red southern cross outlined in white

New Zealand

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

Hawaiʻi

Tonga

red, white maltese cross, French flag outlined in white

Wallis and Futuna

North America
◀︎ ▶︎

13 red-white stripes, blue canton, 46 white stars

United States

Canada ^{61⁶¹ Officially only to be flown 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 nine-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.}

Newfoundland ^{62⁶² Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag.}

white-red, thick blue stripe, white star

Texas

Acadia

blue, white cross, four white fleurs-de-lis, sacred heart

Québec

Métis

Latin America
◀︎ ▶︎

green, yellow diamond, blue and white celestial sphere

Brazil

Mexico

Peru

national ensign ^{63⁶³ 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 ^{64⁶⁴ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Guatemala

Argentina

Nicaragua

Honduras

Costa Rica

national flag ^{65⁶⁵ 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 ^{66⁶⁶ 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 ^{67⁶⁷ Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists. Display of the flag was initially banned under American rule.}

5 blue-white stripes, red triangle, white star

Cuba

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

white-red-white-blue quarters, blue star, red star

Panama

Paraguay

front side

Paraguay

back side

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

Venezuela

national ensign ^{68⁶⁸ Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens.}

Venezuela

national flag ^{69⁶⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Colombia

Ecuador

Bolivia

state flag ^{70⁷⁰ Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms.}

Bolivia

national flag ^{71⁷¹ Allowed to be flown by anyone.}

Other International and Cultural Flags
◀︎ ▶︎

blue-yellow-red-white-orange-multicolour

Buddhist Flag

white, two thin blue stripes, blue star of David

Zionist Movement

Arab Nationalist Flag

Esperanto

Red Cross

Red Crescent

Events of 1909
◀︎ ▶︎

ARAB NATIONALIST FLAG • The Literary Club (al-Muntada al-Adabi), a clandestine Arab nationalist organization based in Constantinople with thousands of members throughout Syria and Iraq, adopted the first flag to use the pan-Arab colours in 1909. The four stripes came from a poem by the 14th-century Iraqi poet Safi al-Din al-Hilli: "White are our acts, black our battles, green our fields, and red our swords."

Notes

¹ Flown over the palace in Rabat and on ships. Military flags on land were often dectorated with a yellow or green octagram. ↩

² 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. ↩

³ 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. ↩

⁴ Flown by the government, and often by private citizens. ↩

⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

⁶ 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. ↩

⁷ Flown by the government and navy. ↩

⁸ The dynastic colours of the Hapsburg monarchy, often used as a flag on land. ↩

⁹ Flown by navy ships. Direct predecessor of the modern Austrian flag. ↩

¹⁰ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹¹ Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies. ↩

¹² Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹³ Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships. ↩

¹⁴ Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military. ↩

¹⁵ Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩

¹⁶ Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩

¹⁷ Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use. ↩

¹⁸ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹⁹ Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings. ↩

²⁰ Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it. ↩

²¹ Designated as the official colours of the Austrian crown land of Carniola. Regarded as the unofficial national flag of Slovenia. ↩

²² Flown by advocates of Slovakian independence. The "Upper Hungary" region did not have an official flag. ↩

²³ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

²⁴ Flown the government and armed forces. ↩

²⁵ Flown by the merchant fleet. The plain Serbian tricolour was also widely flown within in the country. ↩

²⁶ Flown by the king and the government. ↩

²⁷ Flown by Ukrainian nationalists. The order of colours wasn't fixed. ↩

²⁸ 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. ↩

²⁹ The former royal banner of Poland, no longer official but still used as an informal national symbol. ↩

³⁰ A typical flag flown by Albanian nationalists. The exact design of the eagle was not fixed. ↩

³¹ The "Calcutta flag" flown by independence activists. British India had several colonial flags. A red civil ensign with the Star of India medal on it was used to represent India at international sporting events. ↩

³² The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom. ↩

³³ The raja's flag was rectangular ↩

³⁴ Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer. ↩

³⁵ The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag. ↩

³⁶ The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower. ↩

³⁷ 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. ↩

³⁸ Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag. ↩

³⁹ Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. ↩

⁴⁰ Allowed to be flown by civilians. ↩

⁴¹ Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours. ↩

⁴² There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it. ↩

⁴³ The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand. ↩

⁴⁴ The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes. ↩

⁴⁵ 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. ↩

⁴⁶ Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown. ↩

⁴⁷ The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white. ↩

⁴⁸ The Raja's flag had a red sun ↩

⁴⁹ Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag. ↩

⁵⁰ The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it. ↩

⁵¹ The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it. ↩

⁵² Flag of the All-India Muslim League, which advocated for Muslim interests within British India. The direct predecessor of the flag of Pakistan. ↩

⁵³ Flown by the Korean independence movement. Banned under Japanese occupation. ↩

⁵⁴ Flown by the government and by naval ships. The merchant flag was red with a yellow circle containing a blue dragon. ↩

⁵⁵ Banned by the American colonial government. The Insular Government of the Philippine Islands had no official flag at this time. ↩

⁵⁶ Flown by the sultan and on naval ships. ↩

⁵⁷ Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag. ↩

⁵⁸ A typical example of a Moro battle flag. No two were exactly alike, but they all looked roughly like this. Sometimes the daggers were crossed, or the crescent and star was replaced by a white and blue emblem. ↩

⁵⁹ Malay monarchs often flew plain white flags. These standards eventually evolved into individual state flags as more colours and symbols were added. ↩

⁶⁰ Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag. ↩

⁶¹ Officially only to be flown 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 nine-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. ↩

⁶² Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. ↩

⁶³ 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. ↩

⁶⁴ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

⁶⁵ The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too. ↩

⁶⁶ Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens. ↩

⁶⁷ Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists. Display of the flag was initially banned under American rule. ↩

⁶⁸ Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens. ↩

⁶⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

⁷⁰ Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms. ↩

⁷¹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

The World Flag Chart

◀︎ Flags of 1909 ▶︎

Sub-Saharan Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Middle East and North Africa
◀︎ ▶︎

Western Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

Eastern Europe
◀︎ ▶︎

South Asia and the Indian Ocean
◀︎ ▶︎

East and Southeast Asia
◀︎ ▶︎

Oceania
◀︎ ▶︎

North America
◀︎ ▶︎

Latin America
◀︎ ▶︎

Other International and Cultural Flags
◀︎ ▶︎

Events of 1909
◀︎ ▶︎

Notes

Events of 1909◀︎ ▶︎

Notes

Events of 1909
◀︎ ▶︎