The Coolest Flags Around the World, 2024
Raise a mast and a glass for Flag Day, the one time of year that us flag aficionados can make those disinterested masses pay attention to not just the beauty of the banner, but their intriguing histories as well.
This year I’ll be leading you on another world tour, spanning ten national flags I’ve come across in the various Wikipedia rabbit holes I found myself in since 2023. Apparently, in my studies I’ve developed a penchant for certain light blue tones, which you’ll see throughout this list.
But you’re not here to read me talk about my life. You’re here to gawk at some gorgeous flags. Shall we?
Jamaica
The Jamaican flag, hoisted following independence from the Brits in 1962, is one of many that makes use of the “saltire” — the “X” commonly referred to as the St. Andrew’s Cross (and likely a wink to that which is featured in the Union Jack) — but it is quite unique beyond that. It’s the only national flag that doesn’t feature any shade of red, white, or blue. Instead, the “Black, Green, and Gold” honors the people’s strength facing down hardships in the black, the green for the island’s lush landscape, and the gold cross for the shining sun above the nation. Doesn’t sound too crazy to me.
Switzerland
Simple, elegant. So simple, in fact, that the Swiss said, “to hell with that whole plebeian ‘2:3 ratio’ thing the rest of the rabble do, we only need a 1:1 to get the damn job done.”* The federal cross is one of only two square national flags (alongside previously featured Vatican City) in the world. This beauty has been banging around since the Old Swiss Confederacy — unfortunately not a cheese company — in the late-13th or early 14th century. Contrary to the Swiss’s contemporary neutrality, it was first flown upon the battlefield: the white cross, while ostensibly Christian, was used as a “field sign,” or a way of identifying friendlies in combat. So, presumably the red represents the blood of the Swiss’s countless felled enemies. (It actually is unclear, though many historians suggest it’s the blood of Christ.) It may also look familiar to you as it’s the inverse of the Red Cross emblem, itself founded and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
*Author’s paraphrasing likely
Latvia
These bad boys are back-to-back because while I’ve conjectured that the crimson red in the Swiss flag probably symbolizes all the people they brutally killed, this time we can definitively say that the red in this one does symbolize just that — the blood of Latvians who were and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sovereignty of their country. Specifically, this version of the flag was adopted in 1990, after Latvia regained independence from the Soviet Union. However, iterations of it have existed since the 13th century, as it’s based on a legend that, if true, would make it one of the oldest flags in the world. That legend tells of a Latgalian tribal chieftain who fought valiantly in battle, but ultimately was struck down and laid to rest upon a white sheet. As he bled out, only the center of the sheet remained a stark white. In the subsequent battles fought to avenge him, his compatriots adopted a “red flag with a white stripe.” I like to think it was the pennant version, which looks both classically medieval and also something you might see emblazoned on the side of a badass capital ship in a scifi flick.
Somalia
The white five-pointed star here pays tribute to the five main regions where the Somali people came together from: Somaliland (back when it was a British protectorate), Somalia (formerly Italian Somaliland), Ethiopia’s Somali region, Djibouti, and Kenya’s North Eastern Province. You might recognize this specific shade of blue, as it is the same hue in the Flag of the United Nations. That’s because, during WWII British and South Africans occupied Italian Somaliland, and in 1950 it was “returned” (read: never should have been theirs in the first place) to Italy in partnership with the UN. While the Somalian flag grounds itself in the “Star of Unity,” the colonial powers of Italy and Britain played a part in causing the continuing issues with achieving that desired unity. The flag serves as a reminder of both a higher goal, and yet one that proves elusive due to the remnants of colonialism. In terms of its inclusion here, the flag serves as a fantastic execution of the principles outlined by the North American Vexillological Association’s “Good Flag, Bad Flag” in that it’s simple, possesses meaningful symbolism, uses less than three colors, and it’s distinctive.
Montenegro
It’s hard to pull off a crest in a flag, and it’s dubious whether it’s even by design standards, an acceptable thing. But I’m the arbiter of tastes here in this list, and I’m saying the Montenegrin flag pulls it off. That’s due to its coat of arms being rad. If you’re in even half as deep as I am (not a euphemism) on flags, you’ll know that the double-headed eagle is a popular hit, and that’s mostly because it was an authoritative symbol in the ancient Roman and Byzantine eras, which all of the countries that had or have it in their coats of arms are tipping their figurative hats to. As for that noble bird, it is clutching a scepter and a “globus cruciger” in each of its talons, the latter being a longstanding avatar of Christianity. The former, I presume, because it looks cool. As for the shield on its chest with a lion, again that’s because it’s really cool.* As for the colors, well — as you might imagine at this point in the list — the red is for the blood of Christ and or bloodshed fighting for independence; the gold for prosperity. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, folks.
*Actually it’s a sign of the importance of piousness, and likely influenced by the fact that Venice also had one in its coat of arms, and had exerted considerable control over Montenegro in its heyday.
Botswana
I don’t like to rank the flags that I honor each year, which is why you’re finding this one halfway through the list, but if you’ve made it this far I’ll let you know that this is the biggest banger on it. It’s clean as hell, and you presumably feel a sense of calm as soon as you see it. The Botswana flag was adopted after freedom from the British Empire’s Bechuanaland protectorate, and the light blue is a tribute to water — rain in this south African country is extremely rare — while the black stripe and surrounding white border make a broader statement. Adopted in 1966, the design was specifically a means of drawing a contrast with South Africa’s flag, which was under Apartheid at the time (and for too long after). Instead, the black and white joined together were to say that Botswana hoped for greater harmony between both African and European peoples.
Aruba
Aruba’s flag shares a few things in common with previously nominated Bonaire: they’re both part of the Dutch Caribbean, they were both designed by our king — not Willem-Alexander but Whitney Smith, who coined “vexillology” — and they’re stunners. Like another flag coming up on the list, the light blue symbolizes the similarly stunning seas surrounding this island country; the yellow color is for its economic prosperity (especially on-the-nose given its gold mining industry), while it’s depicted in lines because it’s just getting richer over time; the star is red is an homage to indigenous Arubans who died fighting the French (there’s that blood thing again) and it is shaped like a compass for the diversity of where Aruba’s people come from. Since we’re several centuries out from that conflict with the French, the white border represents peace.
The United States of America
In the five years I’ve been writing about flags, I’ve been avoiding it to make sure I don’t get accused of some heavy-handed American exceptionalism, but it’s now become unavoidable: the Stars and Stripes is an exemplar of the form — even if the USA isn’t always super exemplary. The flag’s design was adopted in 1777, a year after the country’s founding, and while the number of stars have fluctuated as the American Empire* expanded, its contours remained the same. Thirteen stripes for the thirteen original colonies, and stars for them and all the rest that came after that. As for the colors, there have been other interpretations, but I tend to like the secular definition proposed by Secretary of the Continental Congress Charles Thomson: “The colours of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valor, and Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.” Just give us a couple hundred more years and I’m sure we’ll get that all figured out.
*It is an empire and I’ll be taking no comments on this.
Palau
Palau is a small island country (340 islands, to be exact) in the South Pacific, southeast of The Philippines. Had to get that out of the way if you didn’t already know about the place, because I’ll just cut to the chase: its underutilized hues of blue and yellow look fantastic. And they symbolize relatively obvious things, given its location. The light blue being the Pacific Ocean, and the yellow both its position in the world’s largest ocean as well as the moon. They don’t always have to be that complicated, as long as they look good!
The Philippines
While we’re in the neighborhood, let’s talk about The Philippines. It’s got the classic triangle hoist, complemented by two of the classic colors Jamaica’s doesn’t use, blue and red. Let’s talk about what it all means. The white triangle symbolizes liberty, equality, and fraternity (also pretty classic). The sun within it, aside from the obvious, whose eight rays represent the original eight provinces that rose up against the Spaniards in 1896; the three stars for its three main island groups. The blue stands for peace, truth, and justice, while the red stands for patriotism and valor. And, when the flag is flown upside down, with the red on top, this means they’re in a state of war. So I guess we all know which way Martha-Ann Alito would be flying it.*
*This joke and flag partly included in tribute to my dear, late-friend, Anthony Brian Smith. Wish you were here to critique what I said about it, but I did save the best for last. RIP.
See you next year, where I might be going deeper down the Wikipedia rabbit hole and turning my gaze toward regional flags.
Till then, may your flags fly at full-mast.
