Flags of the world

The flag of Portugal is the national flag of the Portuguese Republic. It is a rectangular bicolour with a field unevenly divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. On 30 June 1911, less than a year after the downfall of the constitutional monarchy, this design was officially adopted for the new national flag, after selection by a special commission whose members included Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, João Chagas and Abel Botelho.

The conjugation of the new field colours, especially the use of green, was not traditional in the Portuguese national flag's composition and represented a radical republican-inspired change that broke the bond with the former religious monarchical flag. Since a failed republican insurrection on 31 January 1891, red and green had been established as the colours of the Portuguese Republican Party and its associated movements, whose political prominence kept growing until it reached a culmination period following the Republican revolution of 5 October 1910. In the ensuing decades, these colours were popularly propagandized as representing the hope of the nation (green) and the blood (red) of those who died defending it, as a means to endow them with a more patriotic and dignified, therefore less political, sentiment.

The flag of Qatar is in the ratio of 11:28. It is maroon with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side. It was adopted shortly before the country's declaration of independence from Britain on 3 September 1971.

The flag is very similar to the flag of the neighbouring country Bahrain, which has fewer points, a 3:5 proportion, and a red colour instead of maroon. Qatar's flag is the only national flag having a width more than twice its height.

The flag of Senegal is a tricolour consisting of three vertical green, yellow and red bands charged with a five-pointed green star at the centre. Adopted in 1960 to replace the flag of the Mali Federation, it has been the flag of the Republic of Senegal since the country gained independence that year. The present and previous flags were inspired by French Tricolour, which flew over Senegal until 1960

South African flag.  1500mm x 900mm.  100% polyester, suitable for a flagpole.
The current flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of the 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The new national flag, designed by State Herald Frederick Brownell, was chosen to represent the new democracy.

Three of the colours — black, green and yellow — are found in the flag of the African National Congress. The other three — red, white and blue — are used in the old Flag of Transvaal, the modern flag of the Netherlands and the flag of the United Kingdom; the colours white and blue were also found in the old flag of South Africa. Former South African President F.W. de Klerk, who proclaimed the new flag on 20 April 1994,[1] stated in his autobiography, The Last Trek: a New Beginning, that chilli red was chosen instead of plain red (which Anglo-Africans would have preferred) or orange (as Afrikaners would have preferred).

The flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi is the national flag of South Korea. It has three parts: a white background, a red and blue Taeguk in the centre, and four black trigrams, which are selected from the original eight, on each corner of the flag.

The flag's background is white, which is a traditional Korean colour, common to the daily attire of 19th century Koreans. It represents peace and purity. The circle in the middle is derived from the philosophy of yin and yang and represents the balance of the universe. The blue section represents the negative cosmic forces, and the red section represents the opposing positive cosmic forces. The trigrams together represent the principle of movement and harmony.

The flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag, consists of a gold lion, holding a kastane sword in its right fore paw, in front of a dark red background with four golden Bo leaves, one in each corner. Around the background is a yellow border, and to its left are 2 vertical stripes of equal size in green and saffron, with the saffron stripe closest to the lion. The lion represents the Sinhalese ethnicity and the bravery of the Sri Lankan nation while the four Bo leaves represent Mettā, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha. The orange stripe represents the Sri Lankan Tamils, the green stripe represents Sri Lankan Moors, and the maroon background represents the majority Sinhalese, like the lion.

It was adopted in 1950 following the recommendations of a committee appointed by the 1st Prime Minister of Ceylon, The Rt Hon D.S. Senanayake.

National flag of the kingdom of Tonga.  100% polyester and suitable for a flagpole.  Size 5ft x 3 ft (1500mm x 900mm).

The flag of Tonga was adopted on 4 November 1875.

The flag looks similar to the flag of the Red Cross and was originally identical to that flag, but to avoid confusion, it was changed so that the red cross appeared as a canton of a red ensign, making it similar to the 17th-century English Red Ensign.

The flag has been in use since 1864 but it was officially adopted only in 1875. Clause 47 of the Tongan Constitution states: "The Flag of Tonga shall never be altered but shall always be the flag of the Kingdom."

Flag of the United Kingdom - Union Jack.  5ft x 3ft (1500mm x 900mm).  100% polyester, suitable for a flagpole.
The origins of the flag date back to 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones (as James I), thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland in a personal union (which remained separate states). On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (a red cross on a white background, known as St George's Cross), and the flag of Scotland (a white saltire on a blue background, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross), would be joined together, forming the flag of Great Britain and first union flag.

The current design dates from the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. The flag combines aspects of three national flags: the red cross of Saint George, the red saltire of Saint Patrick's Flag, and the Flag of Scotland. Wales remains the only country not represented on the union flag.

Flag of USA.  100% polyester, suitable for a flagpole.  5ft x 3ft (1500mm x 900mm)

The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that were settled by the British Empire.

In 1776, the colonies achieved independence, and came together to form United States of America. Over the history of the United States, the country expanded across the continent to the west coast and beyond, increasing the total number of states to fifty.

The fifty states are represented by the fifty stars in the canton.

Designed by Joaquín Suárez the first head of state of Uruguay in December 1828 and President of Uruguay 1843-1852.

The national flag of Uruguay has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on 16 December 1828, and had 19 stripes until 11 July 1830, when a new law reduced the number of stripes to nine.

The flag of Uzbekistan consists of three horizontal blue, white and green bands separated by two thin red fimbriations, with a crescent moon and twelve stars at the canton. Adopted in 1991 to replace the flag of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), it has been the flag of the Republic of Uzbekistan since the country gained independence in that same year.