this is a flag and this is a flag and
this is a flag but what exactly makes a
flag a flag is defined as this a piece
of cloth or similar material typically
long or square attachable by one age to
a polar rope and uses a symbol or emblem
of a country or institution or as a
decoration during public festivals
basically the purpose of flags has
always been identification historically
flags originated as military standards
using the battlefield as field signs
armies since ancient times have used
flags in order to recognize allies and
enemy forces as in ancient times
most countries levied soldiers instead
of having a standing army and so man did
not have similar equipment or uniforms
so in a battle things could get very
confusing very quickly it was not until
the age of seal around the 15th century
the most nations began adopting national
flags and this was to help identify who
ships and ports etc belong to you
believe it or not there's a study flags
and the study of flags is called
vexillology this comes from the Latin
word for exilim which means flags plus
the ending ology flags are usually made
up of meaningful symbols for instance in
the Northern Irish flag we have sex
points representing the sex counties on
a red hand which tells the story of an
ancient king of Ulster who cut off his
hand and threw to shore in order to
claim the land before his brother flags
also have meaningful colours for
instance the Ukrainian flag has a yellow
bias and a blue top yellow represent the
fields of corn in the blue representing
the blue sky which both represent the
fertility of the country
but what exactly makes a good flag
according to vexillology so number one
flags should be kept simple flags should
only use basic colors and only contain
around three of them as well that flag
should not be too detailed or have
writing on them the reason for both of
these is that you want your flag to be
identifiable from a long distance not
only that but until recently the vast
amount of people are illiterate and so
couldn't read anyway
so for instance if we take the flag San
Francisco and put it in the distance we
have no hope of reading what it says
especially on the craft unless of course
you have Eagle vision
number two flags should have meaningful
symbolism it's hard to rally around a
flag that is new meaning for the people
it's representing ancient army standards
would often represent the gods
worshipped the bravery of the man their
heritage and so forth and this helped to
form a strong bond and identity number
three flags need to be distinctive it is
for this reason that during the American
Civil War the Confederates gave up using
the Stars and Bars flag and started
using the Confederate flag we knew today
this was because the Stars and Bars was
not distinct enough from the Yankee
stars and stripes so let's recap flag
started it away first of all t identify
armies navies and then nations the study
of flags is called vexillology and to
make a good flag it needs to be simple
meaningful and distinctive