GeezerVison

ANDORRA • The Principality of Andorra was officially constituted as a sovereign state on April 28. It joined the United Nations in July.

ANISHINABEK • The Anishinabek Nation, a political organization representing 39 First Nations in the Canadian province of Ontario, adopted a flag around 1993. Some versions of the flag have the word "ANISHINABEK" in white below the thunderbird emblem, but the wordless version has become more common since the mid-2010s or so.

BELARUS • Future President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko proposed a new national flag but failed to get parliamentary support for a referendum.

CAMBODIA • On June 30, Cambodia's transitional government formally adopted the flag used between 1948 and 1970 as the sole national flag.

CHINA • On March 31, The Chinese government adopted a flag for Macau in advance of the 1999 handover.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA • At the stroke of midnight on New Year's, Czechoslovakia was formally dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech government had at one point agreed to adopt a new flag, but instead it continued flying the old Czechoslovakian flag.

ERITREA • After a thirty year separatist war, Eritrea attained independence from Ethiopia on May 24. The country's new flag was based on the flag of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, with the addition of the emblem from the 1952 flag.

GAGAUZIA • The breakaway region of Gagauzia adopted a new "sky flag" on July 28, replacing the "wolf flag" which was associated with far-right extremism and Pan-Turkic nationalism.

KALMYKIA • Kalmykia adopted a new flag with a lotus flower on June 30, representing the republic's majority Buddhist population.

KARELIA • Karelia adopted a flag using the colour scheme from the flag of the short-lived Karelo-Finnish SSR.

OGONI • The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People raised the Ogoni flag as part of a large public demonstration against the Royal Dutch Shell oil company. The Ogoni are one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria's Rivers State.

RUSSIA • The ratio of the flag was shortened from 1:2 to 2:3 on December 11.

SEMINOLE • The Seminole Tribe of Florida adopted a new flag around 1999.

¹ Flag of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, which sought the independence from France. ↩

² The flag of the kingdom of ʻUvea, used as an unofficial symbol for the entire territory. ↩

³ A popular but unofficial local flag. ↩

⁴ An unofficial flag flown by Guadeloupe nationalists. There is also a rarely used "heraldic banner" based on the coat of arms of Pointe-à-Pitre. ↩

⁵ An unofficial flag flown by Martinican nationalists and occasionally by local municipalities. ↩

⁶ A common cultural flag representing both the French and Dutch halves of the island of Saint Martin. ↩

⁷ The unofficial but popular cultural flag of the island. ↩

⁸ 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. ↩

⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹⁰ The most common flag, flown over most government buildings, at ceremonies, by diplomatic missions and often by public citizens. ↩

¹¹ An alternative government flag, most commonly flown by the armed forces but also on some public buildings and offices. ↩

¹² The simplest version of the national flag, flown by some private citizens. ↩

¹³ The most common Costa Rican flag. Officially designated for private citizens, but in practice often used on government buildings and schools too. ↩

¹⁴ Flown by the government and by diplomatic missions, although also used sometimes by private citizens. ↩

¹⁵ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

¹⁶ A traditional military emblem, ceremonially flown alongside the national flag at government buildings. ↩

¹⁷ A historic flag, ceremonially flown alongside the national flag at government buildings. ↩

¹⁸ Flown by the government and armed forces, and unofficially used by many private citizens. ↩

¹⁹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

²⁰ Flown by the governmnent. The armed forces flew a similar flag with olive and laurel branches around the coat of arms. ↩

²¹ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

²² Flown by the Polisario Front and the unrecognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which claims to be the rightful government of the disputed Western Sahara. Most of the territory is occupied by Morocco. ↩

²³ The plain tricolour has no legal status but is still flown unofficially. ↩

²⁴ Flag of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which sought independence for the southern part of Sudan. Direct predecessor of the modern flag. The region did not have an official flag within Sudan. ↩

²⁵ Some versions of the flag have the ring of stars extending over all three stripes. ↩

²⁶ Flag of the Oromo Liberation Front, a nationalist liberation movement within Ethiopia. Oromia did not have an official flag within Ethiopia at this time. ↩

²⁷ Flag of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a nationalist liberation movement within Ethiopia. Direct predecessor of the modern regional flag. Tigray did not have an official flag within Ethiopia at this time. ↩

²⁸ Flown by private citizens and municipalities. ↩

²⁹ Flown by the federal government and the armed forces. ↩

³⁰ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

³¹ Flown by the royal house, the government, and the armed forces. Also granted to a select list of private institutions and companies. ↩

³² Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

³³ Flown only on state-owned buildings and naval ships. ↩

³⁴ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

³⁵ Flown on government buildings and coast guard ships. ↩

³⁶ Flown for all purposes. A three-tailed version of the national flag is flown by the military. ↩

³⁷ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

³⁸ Flown by the government, border guard, and public universities. The armed forces fly a version with a swallowtail cut. ↩

³⁹ Northen Ireland has not had an official flag since 1973, but the Ulster Banner is still flown by some sporting teams and private citizens. More or less exclusively a unionist symbol. Nationalists tend to fly the Irish tricolour instead. ↩

⁴⁰ Allowed to be flown by anyone. ↩

⁴¹ Flown over the Prince's Palace and government buildings. ↩

⁴² The traditional Catalan flag, and the official flag of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. ↩

⁴³ The flag preferred by supporters of Catalan independence. ↩

⁴⁴ Flown over the Presidential Palace, parliament, provincial legislatures, and other government buildings. Technically only allowed for private use on national holidays, but in practice flown throughout the year by anyone. ↩

⁴⁵ Only supposed to be flown by embassies, airports, and merchant ships. In practice, flown by private citizens as well. ↩

⁴⁶ The back side of the flag was just a plain tricolour. ↩

⁴⁷ Flown by the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia and the Russian republic of North Ossetia. ↩

⁴⁸ Flown by Abdul Rashid Dostum's proto-state in Mazar-i-Sharif. ↩

⁴⁹ The national flag of the Uyghur people, banned within the People's Republic of China. Xinjiang Province does not have an official flag. ↩

⁵⁰ Banned within the People's Republic of China. The Tibet Autonomous Region does not have a flag. ↩

⁵¹ Flown by the departmental council and used as a local flag. ↩

⁵² Flown by the Chagossians, who were forcibly removed from the islands by the British to make way for a military base. The islands are officially administered as the British Indian Ocean Territory, which has a colonial ensign with wavy white and blue stripes and a palm tree badge. ↩

⁵³ Flown in the Indian-controlled parts of the disputed region of Kashmir. ↩

⁵⁴ Flown in the Pakistan-controlled parts of the disputed region of Kashmir. ↩

⁵⁵ Flown by Baloch nationalists seeking independence from Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. The star is sometimes flipped upside down or replaced by a white sun. The provincial government of Balochistan in Pakistan flies a green flag with a white camel emblem. ↩

⁵⁶ Flown by nationalists and separatists. The Indian state of Nagaland does not have an official flag. ↩

⁵⁷ The popular but unofficial flag of the Kannada people. The Indian state of Karnataka does not have an official flag. ↩

⁵⁸ The flag of the Republic of China, which is the government of Taiwan. Banned on the mainland, as the People's Republic of China claims sovereignty over the island. At major international sporting events like the Olympics, Taiwan competes under the name "Chinese Taipei" and flies a neutral flag. ↩

⁵⁹ Flown by nationalists seeking the indpenedence of Timor-Leste. Under Indonesian occupation, flying the flag was illegal. The rarely-used official flag of "Timor Timur" was orange with the provincial seal in the middle. ↩

⁶⁰ Flown by Karen nationalists seeking independence and separation from Myanmar. Kayin State has its own flag, a blue-white-red tricolour with a white star in the top left. ↩