Sub-Saharan Africa
Ethiopia
Liberia
Congo
Zanzibar
South Africa
Middle East and North Africa
Turkey
Tunisia
Egypt
Jebel Shammar
Morocco 11 Moroccan merchant ships in the French zone flew what was called the "Arab ensign", the national flag with a French tricolour added to the top-left corner.
Muscat and Oman
Persia
state flag 22 Flown by the government, and often by private citizens.
Persia
national flag 33 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Hejaz · Palestine 44 In Palestine, flown unofficially by the Arab community. Merchant ships flew a red British ensign with a badge that said "PALESTINE". The Jewish community flew the modern flag of Israel.
Syria
Nejd
ʿAsir
Kuwait 55 There were many variations of this flag, depending on who was flying it and when. Some versions would have added inscriptions, decorations or royal symbols. The flag could also be triangular.
Yemen
Bahrain 66 The number of points could vary. Some flags even had a completely straight-edged stripe.
Qatar
Ras al-Khaimah · Sharjah 77 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.
Kurdistan
Eretz-Israel 88 Flown by the Jewish community in the British mandate of Palestine. Direct ancestor of the flag of Israel.
Greater Lebanon
Assyrians
Western Europe
France
Italy
national flag 99 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 1010 Flown by the government and navy.
Ireland
Belgium
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Austria
national flag 1111 Flown by private citizens and municipalities.
Austria
state flag 1212 Flown by the federal government and the armed forces.
Spain
Andorra
Germany
Denmark
national flag 1313 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Denmark
sovereign flag 1414 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 1515 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Norway
state flag 1616 Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships.
Iceland
national flag 1717 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Iceland
state flag 1818 Flown on government buildings and coast guard ships.
Sweden 1919 Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military.
Finland
national flag 2020 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Finland
state flag 2121 Flown by the government, border guard, and public universities. The armed forces fly a version with a swallowtail cut.
Faroe Islands
Greece
land flag 2222 Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross.
Greece
sea flag 2323 Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross.
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Jersey
Switzerland
San Marino
Liechtenstein
princely flag 2424 Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use.
Monaco
national flag 2525 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Monaco
princely flag 2626 Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings.
Malta
traditional flag 2727 Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it.
Portugal
Catalonia
senyera 2828 The traditional Catalan flag.
Catalonia
estelada 2929 The flag preferred by supporters of Catalan independence.
Basque Country
Cornwall
Saar Territory
Galicia
Corsica
Wales
Flanders
Wallonia
Eastern Europe and Western Turkestan
Russia (Soviet) 3030 Flown by the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic during the Russian Civil War.
Byelorussia
Ukraine (Soviet) 3131 Flown by the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, the government of the Bolshevik-occupied areas of Ukraine during the Russian Civil War.
Armenia (Soviet) 3232 Flown by the Armenian Socialist Soviet Republic, the governmnet of the Bolshevik-occupied areas in Armenia during the Russian Civil War.
Azerbaijan
Khorezm
Bukhara
Far Eastern Republic
Yugoslavia
merchant flag 3434 Unofficial flag of the merchant fleet.
Czechoslovakia
Poland
Hungary
Bulgaria
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Georgia
Romania
Albania
Danzig
Mountain Republic
Karelia 3636 Flown by East Karelian rebels.
South Asia and the Indian Ocean
India 3737 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 and in the League of Nations.
Afghanistan
Hyderabad
Jammu and Kashmir 3838 The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom.
Nepal
Jhabua 3939 The raja's flag was rectangular
Dewas
Kota
princely flag 4040 Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer.
Benares
Sailana 4141 The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag.
Ajaigarh 4242 The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower.
Mewar 4343 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 4444 Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag.
Dhar
Jaipur
Alwar
Idar
Sirohi
Jodhpur
Gwalior
Jaisalmer
Nabha
Bikaner
Mysore
Wankaner
Manipur
Charkhari
Banswara
Dholpur
Chhatarpur
Kapurthala
Cambay
Bharatpur
Kochin
Dhrangadhra
Rajpipla
princely flag 4545 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag.
Rajpipla
national flag 4646 Allowed to be flown by civilians.
Indore 4747 Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours.
Bhavnagar 4848 There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it.
Tonk 4949 The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand.
Garhwal 5050 The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes.
Suket 5151 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.
Kalat
Bahawalpur
Baroda
princely flag 5252 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown.
Kutch
Travancore
Rajgarh
Pratapgarh 5353 The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white.
Cooch Behar
Barwani
Porbandar
Sitamau 5454 The Raja's flag had a red sun
Faridkot
Rewa
princely flag 5555 Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag.
Bundi
Jhalawar
Karauli
Orchha
Alirajpur
Khairpur
Dungarpur
Baoni
Mandi 5656 The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it.
Kishangarh
Bhopal 5757 The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it.
Jaora
Rampur
Bilaspur
Sikkim
Sinhalese Flag 5858 Flown by Sinhalese nationalists in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. There was also an infrequently-used blue British colonial ensign with an elephant badge.
Maldive Islands
Muslim League 5959 Flag of the All-India Muslim League, which advocated for Muslim interests within British India. The direct predecessor of the flag of Pakistan.
East, Central and Southeast Asia
Japan
Korea 6060 Flown by the Korean independence movement and the unrecognized government-in-exile based in China. Banned under Japanese occupation.
China
Tibet
Uriankhai
Cambodia
Laos
Siam
Philippines
Federated Malay States
Brunei
Terengganu
Sarawak
Perlis
Johor
state flag 6161 Flown by the sultan and on naval ships.
Johor
merchant flag 6262 Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag.
Kedah
state flag 6363 Flown over the sultan's palace and the military.
Kedah
merchant flag 6464 Flown by merchant ships.
Annam 6565 There was also a colonial "protectorate flag" which was plain yellow with a French tricolour in the top left corner.
Kelantan
Burma 6666 Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag.
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
Hawaiʻi
Tonga
Wallis and Futuna
Guam
North America
United States
Canada 6767 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 6868 Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag.
Texas
Acadia
Québec
California
Métis
Latin America
Brazil
Mexico
Peru
national ensign 6969 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 7070 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Guatemala
Argentina
Nicaragua
El Salvador
national flag 7171 The most common flag, flown over most government buildings, at ceremonies, by diplomatic missions and often by public citizens.
El Salvador
inscribed flag 7272 An alternative government flag, most commonly flown by the armed forces but also on some public buildings and offices.
El Salvador
plain flag 7373 The simplest version of the national flag, flown by some private citizens.
Honduras
Paraguay
front side
Paraguay
back side
Costa Rica
national flag 7474 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 7575 Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens.
Puerto Rico 7676 Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists. Display of the flag was initially banned under American rule.
Cuba
Uruguay
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Chile
Panama
Venezuela
national ensign 7777 Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens.
Venezuela
national flag 7878 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Colombia
Ecuador
Bolivia
state flag 7979 Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms.
Bolivia
national flag 8080 Allowed to be flown by anyone.
Other International and Cultural Flags
Buddhist Flag
Pan-African Flag
Esperanto
Red Cross
Red Crescent
Olympic Games
Events of 1920
ALBANIA • After years of partition and foreign occupation, a newly-reconstituted Albanian govenrment adopted the Statute of Lushnjë on January 31. The new constitution officially specified the national flag for the first time since 1914.
ANNAM • The "Dragon Flag of Annam" was adopted as a national flag sometime around this year.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA • A blue triangle was added to the red and white Bohemian flag on March 30.
DANZIG • The Free City of Danzig was established on November 15.
FINLAND • Finland removed the crown from its coat of arms on February 12.
MONGOLIA • Mongolia relinquished its independence to China on January 1.
PAN-AFRICAN FLAG • On August 13, Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association adopted a red-black-green tricolour as "the colors of the African race". The flag is mainly used by the African-American community, but the influence of its colour scheme has been felt well outside of the United States. Many African and Caribbean nations adopted flags with red black and green stripes, and the Pan-African flag is the earliest ancestor of that design tradition.
PHILIPPINES • The flag of the Philippines was officially adopted by the territorial legislature on March 26, after 13 years of it being officially banned.
RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR • The Soviet Republic in Latvia was defeated on January 13.
Byelorussia was re-established as a Soviet Republic on July 31.
The breakaway Karelian government adopted a new flag on March 22.
Finland returned North Ingria to Russia in the October 14 Treaty of Tartu.
The Don Cossacks fell to the Red Army on January 8 and the Kuban Cossacks fell on March 17.
The North Caucasian Emirate was suppressed in March.
The Red Army invaded Transcaucasia, establishing Soviet Republics in Azerbaijan on April 28 and Armenia on December 2.
Revolutionaries backed by the Red Army overthrew the Central Asian monarchies of Bukhara and Khiva. The Bukharan People's Soviet Republic was established on September 2 and Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was established on April 26.
The Far Eastern Republic was established as a buffer state in eastern Russia on April 6.
SAAR • The Saar Basin was separated from Germany as a neutral territory under League of Nations administration. Its flag combined the blue and white of Bavaria with the black and white of Prussia.
SYRIA • On March 7, Emir Faisal unilaterally declared the independence of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, including all of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, with himself as King. The country was not recognized by British or the French, who met at the San Remo Conference to divide the region up amongst themselves. On July 25 the French took Damascus and established their mandate over Syria and Lebanon, leaving Palestine and Iraq for the British. Arab nationalists and guerrillas in Syria continued flying the Kingdom's flag throughout the 1920s.
The French colonial administrators got to work dividing the country into tiny statelets: Damascus, Aleppo, the Alawite Territory, Jebel Druze, and Greater Lebanon. Of these, only Lebanon adopted a flag at first, a combination of the old Cedar flag with the French tricolour.
In Palestine, nationalists in the Arab community continued flying the Arab Revolt flag, as they had since 1918. It was around this time that the order of the stripes was swapped, both there and in Hejaz.
Meanwhile, the Jewish Community in Mandatory Palestine continued flying the Zionist flag. It would eventually become the national flag of Israel.
TIBET • The earliest reported Tibetan flag dates from around this time.
Notes
1 Moroccan merchant ships in the French zone flew what was called the "Arab ensign", the national flag with a French tricolour added to the top-left corner. ↩
2 Flown by the government, and often by private citizens. ↩
3 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
4 In Palestine, flown unofficially by the Arab community. Merchant ships flew a red British ensign with a badge that said "PALESTINE". The Jewish community flew the modern flag of Israel. ↩
5 There were many variations of this flag, depending on who was flying it and when. Some versions would have added inscriptions, decorations or royal symbols. The flag could also be triangular. ↩
6 The number of points could vary. Some flags even had a completely straight-edged stripe. ↩
7 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. ↩
8 Flown by the Jewish community in the British mandate of Palestine. Direct ancestor of the flag of Israel. ↩
9 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. ↩
10 Flown by the government and navy. ↩
11 Flown by private citizens and municipalities. ↩
12 Flown by the federal government and the armed forces. ↩
13 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
14 Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies. ↩
15 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
16 Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships. ↩
17 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
18 Flown on government buildings and coast guard ships. ↩
19 Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military. ↩
20 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
21 Flown by the government, border guard, and public universities. The armed forces fly a version with a swallowtail cut. ↩
22 Flown on land within Greece. The military flag had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩
23 Flown at sea and abroad. The naval ensign had a crown in the centre of the cross. ↩
24 Flown by the prince, and unofficially as a national flag. Blue and red flags were also in use. ↩
25 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
26 Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings. ↩
27 Flown unofficially, mostly by civilian ships. There was also a blue colonial ensign with the Maltese coat of arms on it. ↩
28 The traditional Catalan flag. ↩
29 The flag preferred by supporters of Catalan independence. ↩
30 Flown by the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic during the Russian Civil War. ↩
31 Flown by the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, the government of the Bolshevik-occupied areas of Ukraine during the Russian Civil War. ↩
32 Flown by the Armenian Socialist Soviet Republic, the governmnet of the Bolshevik-occupied areas in Armenia during the Russian Civil War. ↩
33 Flown in territories under control of the anti-Soviet White Army. ↩
34 Unofficial flag of the merchant fleet. ↩
35 Flown by the Ukrainian National Republic based out of Kyiv. ↩
36 Flown by East Karelian rebels. ↩
37 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 and in the League of Nations. ↩
38 The maharaja's flag had yellow stripes at the top and bottom. ↩
39 The raja's flag was rectangular ↩
40 Flown by the Maharao and also used as a state flag. The flag was sometimes much longer. ↩
41 The previous plain red flag was sometimes flown as an alternate state flag. ↩
42 The reverse side of the flag showed a moon and a flower. ↩
43 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. ↩
44 Kolhapur flew the Maratha saffron banner as a state flag. The maharaja had a diagonally-divided red and orange flag. ↩
45 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. ↩
46 Allowed to be flown by civilians. ↩
47 Inland river boats flew a triangular pennant in the same colours. ↩
48 There was also a red British colonial ensign with the coat of arms on it. ↩
49 The nawab's flag, which was sometimes used as an alternate state flag, was white with a green hand. ↩
50 The maharaja's flag had a gold eagle on it. The armed forces used a flag with white and purple stripes. ↩
51 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. ↩
52 Flown by the maharaja and often used as a state flag. The swallowtailed saffron Maratha banner was also sometimes flown. ↩
53 The maharawat's flag had the same design but in yellow instead of white. ↩
54 The Raja's flag had a red sun ↩
55 Flag of the maharaja's dynasty, used as a state flag. ↩
56 The flag flown at the palace had the state coat of arms on it. ↩
57 The begum's standard had a crown and inscription on it. ↩
58 Flown by Sinhalese nationalists in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. There was also an infrequently-used blue British colonial ensign with an elephant badge. ↩
59 Flag of the All-India Muslim League, which advocated for Muslim interests within British India. The direct predecessor of the flag of Pakistan. ↩
60 Flown by the Korean independence movement and the unrecognized government-in-exile based in China. Banned under Japanese occupation. ↩
61 Flown by the sultan and on naval ships. ↩
62 Flown by merchant ships and sometimes used by civilians as an alternate national flag. ↩
63 Flown over the sultan's palace and the military. ↩
64 Flown by merchant ships. ↩
65 There was also a colonial "protectorate flag" which was plain yellow with a French tricolour in the top left corner. ↩
66 Flown by Burmese nationalists. The British colonial government did not have a distinct flag. ↩
67 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. ↩
68 Officially only to be flown civilian ships, but in practice flown widely on land as the national flag. ↩
69 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. ↩
70 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
71 The most common flag, flown over most government buildings, at ceremonies, by diplomatic missions and often by public citizens. ↩
72 An alternative government flag, most commonly flown by the armed forces but also on some public buildings and offices. ↩
73 The simplest version of the national flag, flown by some private citizens. ↩
74 The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too. ↩
75 Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens. ↩
76 Flown by Puerto Rican nationalists. Display of the flag was initially banned under American rule. ↩
77 Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens. ↩
78 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩
79 Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms. ↩
80 Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩