Badposter rates every country flag

[badposter]

Flag of Russia

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 11 May 1696 at sea, 7 May 1883. Readopted on 22 August 1991. Current shade of blue and ratio adopted on 11 December 1993.
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor.
Rule 2: There has been at least one state in what is now Russia since around the 7th century, but the Tsardom of Russia, founded in 1547, was the first state to call itself "Russia", which from its founding to 1700 expanded heavily: it originally only included what is now northwestern Russia, and in 1700 it included almost all of Russia, plus parts of eastern Ukraine and Belarus, along with a small part of Kazakhstan. It was in the late 17th century that Russia adopted its tricolor for use at sea. There are two stories about the origin of the flag, and both have it be based on the Dutch flag:

The earliest mention of the flag occurs during the reign of Alexis I, in 1668, and is related to the construction of the first Russian naval ship, the frigate Oryol. According to one source, the ship's Dutch lead engineer Butler faced the need for the flag, and issued a request to the Boyar Duma, to "...ask His Royal Majesty as to which (as is the custom among other nations) flag shall be raised on the ship." The official response merely indicated that, as such issue is as yet unprecedented, even though the land forces do use (apparently different) flags, the tsar ordered that his (Butler's) opinion be sought about the matter, asking specifically as to the custom existing in his country.[8]

A different account traces the origins of the Russian flag to tsar Peter the Great's visits to Arkhangelsk in 1693 and 1694. Peter was keenly interested in shipbuilding in the European style, different from the barges ordinarily used in Russia at the time. In 1693, Peter had ordered a Dutch-built frigate from Amsterdam. In 1694 when it arrived, the Dutch red-white-and-blue banner flew from its stern.[9] Peter decided to model Russia's naval flag after this banner by changing the sequence of colors.

A 1695 Dutch flag book shows Russia's flag with a crowned double-headed eagle with a shield on its breast.
In 1703, the tricolor was adopted for use by merchant vessels in rivers.
After Russia beat Sweden in the Great Northern War, tsar Peter I (known as "the Great") was proclaimed Emperor of All Russia in 1721, and the Russian Empire was founded. At its height, it included what is now Russia, Finland, the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, eastern Poland, Moldova, Georgia (the country, not the US state), Armenia, Azerbaijan, the countries of Central Asia (minus Afghanistan, if you count it as Central Asia), and Alaska (sold in 1867 to the United States).
In 1858, Russia adopted a new flag for use on land. It was an horizontal tricolor. The top two stripes were black and yellow, and came from the imperial coat of arms, which featured a crowned double-headed black eagle on a yellow field. In the bottom was a white stripe, which existed to make the flag different from Austria's.
The 1858 flag was unpopular. Russia's sea flag was allowed to be used on land. By the time Nicholas II was crowned emperor, the tricolor was Russia's only national flag.
There was a revolution in Russia in 1905, after which Russia adopted a constitution and the State Duma was established.
Russia was part of the Triple Entente in WWI. The various flaws of the Empire, along with the fact that the war was very unpopular, led to two revolutions in 1917: the first revolution was the February Revolution (which in the current Gregorian calendar actually happened in March: Russia used the Julian calendar at the time), which overthrew the monarchy and established the Russian Provisional Government. The second revolution was the October Revolution (which actually happened in November in the Gregorian calendar), in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian Provisional Government, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which had a red flag with the letters РСФСР (RSFSR, an initialism for the name of the country) in gold, and a yellow border separating the canton from the rest of the flag, was established. Afterwards the Russian Civil War began. The two main sides in the war were the Reds (which supported Communism) and the Whites (which opposed it), but there were loads of other factions. It was a complex war.
After the October Revolution, there were democratic elections. The Socialist Revolutionaries won 380 out of the 703, while the Bolsheviks won only 168. This led to the meeting of theassembly being delayed until January 1918, when it was dissolved.
During the Russian Civil War, many countries declared independence from Russia. By the early 1920s, Russia had managed to reconquer most of the Empire's territory after the sale of Alaska, excluding Finland, the Baltic States, Poland, what is now western Belarus and Ukraine, and Moldova (all of those were later annexed by the Soviet Union in WWII, excluding Finland, whic lost parts of its east to the Soviet Union after the Winter War and the Continuation War . In 1922, the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, which created the Soviet Union, was signed. The Russian SFSR had most of the territory and population of the union, and thus was the dominant republic.
In 1937 the flag of the Russian SFSR was changed so that the text, previously in Vyaz script, was changed to be written in a plainer script. The border was also removed. The flag was changed again in 1954 so that the text would be removed and replaced with a hammer and sicle and a red star (with a gold border), and a vertical blue stripe would be added to the hoist side. The hammer symbolized industrial workers, the sicle symbolized peasant, the red star symbolized communism and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the red symbolized revolution, and the blue symbolized Russian skies, seas, and rivers.
The Russian SFSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignity on 12 June 1990. Exactly one year, a democratic presidential election was held in Russia. On 22 August 1991, the Russian SFSR adopted the tricolor, although with a lighter shade of blue and a 1:2 ratio.
On 8 Decmber 1991 the Belavesha Accords were signed by the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. They declared the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Russian Parliament ratified the accords on 12 December, leaving Kazakhstan as the only republic of the Soviet Union (they left on 16 December). The name of the Russian SFSR was changed to "Russian Federation" on 25 December 1991. The next day, the Soviet of Nationalities, the upper house of the Supreme Soviet, declared itself and the Soviet Union dissolved.
Russia's current flag was adopted its current flag and constitution on 12 December 1993.
Rule 3: White, blue, and red. It's not a bad color combination, but I think it's overused.
Rule 4: This flag has no text or emblems.
Rule 5: This flag led to the establishment of red, white, and blue as the Pan-Slavic colors, which is why some Slavic countries (such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia) use those colors. I believe that this flag, despite having colors used a lot, is distinctive, if only because Russia is powerful and well known.
Part 2
Russian Empire (1858-1883)

Spoiler

Now that Austria no longer uses this flag, I think this flag would be distinctive. However:

The flag is currently being used by Russian ultra-nationalists and monarchists

So I don't like it much.
Russian SFSR (1918-1937)

Spoiler

It was text, but I do like how it looks like.
Russian SFSR (1937-1954)

Spoiler

The previous looked much better. This text is bad.
Russian SFSR (1954-1991)

Spoiler

Like most of the other flags adopted by the SSRs in the 1950s, it's not very distinctive.
1991-1993

Spoiler

The light blue makes the flag more distinctive than the current imo.
Part 3
A boring red, white, and blue tricolor. I don't like it much.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Rwanda

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 25 October 2001
Part 1
Rule 1: A child may not be able to draw the exact number of rays in the sun, but as I have written many times, recognizabilty is more important than perfection.
Rule 2: In the 11th century, a kingdom was founded in Rwanda. Its rulers were mostly Tutsi, while the majority of the population was Hutu.
In 1884 the Rwanda became part of the German colony of German East Africa. The monarchy was kept. German East Africa was at first administered by the German East Africa Company, which had a white flag with a black cross, whose canton was red with the Southern Cross (which was diagonal, and with white stars) (German East Africa also included Burundi and Tanganyika, all of which were in the Southern Hemisphere). After the company failed to put down a rebellion in Tanganyika without German and British help, German East Africa began to be administired directly by Germany in 1891. The colony began to use the flag of the German Empire afterwards.
In 1916, during WWI, Belgium occupied Rwanda (and Burundi). After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the League of Nations territory of Ruanda-Urundi, administered by Belgium, was established. It included both Rwanda and Burundi (which was also a kingdom). Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations Trust Territory in 1946. Rwanda adopted a red, yellow, and green (those are the Pan-African colors) vertical tricolor in 1959.
Both the Germans and Belgians supported the Tutsi over the Hutu, leading to a revolution against the Tutsi fro 1959 to 1962. Many Tutsu fled Rwanda after the revolution.
In 1961 there was a referendum on whether Rwanda should keep its monarchy. The choice to abolish the monarchy won, and Rwanda became a republic. The same the referendum was held, a big black "R" was added to the middle of the flag, to make the flag different from Guinea's (previously, the only difference between the two flags was that Guinea had a different shade of red).
Rwanda gained independence on 1 July 1962 (the same day as Burundi). Simmering tensions between Hutu and Tutsi led to a civil war from 1990 to 1993, and the most well-known historical event in Rwanda: a genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutu-led overnment and paramilitaries, which led to deaths of 20% of Rwanda's population in 1994.
Paul Kagame became Rwanda's president in 2000, and he remains so. In 2001, Rwanda's current flag was adopted, as the previous flag became associated with the genocide.
In Rwanda's flag, the blue symbolizes happines and peace, the yellow symbolizes economic development, the green symbolizes the hope of prosperity, and the sun symbolizes enlightenment.
Rule 3: Blue, yellow, and green. I love the colors of this flag.
Rule 4: This flag has a sun, which is simple.
Rule 5: I don't know of any flag whic can be confused with Rwanda's.
Part 2
1959-1961

Spoiler

It's not a distinctive flag.
1961-2001

Spoiler

Text on flags is bad. The current looks much better.
Part 3
A good-looking, distinctive flag with good colors. I love it.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 19 September 1983 (independence of the country)
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple flag. A child could draw it from memory.
Rule 2: The island have been inhabited since around 2900 BC. The first Europeans to discover the islands were Christopher Columbus and his crew, in 1493. The islands were later fought over by the Spanish, the English, and the French, and there was a genocide of the natives. Nevis finally became an English (later British) colony in 1630, and Saint Kitts followed in 1713, after the Treaty of Utrecht. The economy of the islands was originally based on tobacco, but after Virginia replaced it as the main tobacco-producing region, its economy was based on sugar production. African slaves were brought to the islands, and their descendants remained the majority of the population after the UK abolished slavery in 1834.
From 1833 to 1883 the islands were part of a British colony known as "Leeward Islands", along with other islands in the Caribbean. From to 1883 to 1958 the islands, along with Anguilla formed the British colony of Saint Cristopher and Nevis, known as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla after 1951.
In 1958 all of the British islands in the Caribbean, excluding the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands, joined together to form the West Indies Federation, dissolved in 1962 due to internal problems, and Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla was re-established. It had a flag which was a green (symbolizing Saint Kitts), yellow (symbolizing Nevis), and blue (symboizing Anguilla) tricolor, with a black palm tree with three leaves symbolizing destiny, humility, and pride in the center.
Saint Christopher-Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla gained internal autonomy in 1967. Afterwards, Anguilla, disliking the rule of Saint Kitts over it, declared independence and expelled Saint Kitts' police. This led to Anguilla becoming a separate British overseas territory in 1980.
Saint Kitts (Kitts is a shirtened form of Christopher) and Nevis became fully independent, and adopted its current flag, on 19 September 1983.
In the flag, the green symbolizes the country's fertile land, the red symbolizes the fight against slavery and colonialism, the yellow symbolizes the sunshine enjoyed by the islands, the black symbolizes the African majority in the country (90.4% of the country's population is black, and the two white stars symbolizes the islands themeselves, along with hope and liberty.
The flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis uses the colors of the Pan-African flag. Despite not being an African country, its population is mostly descended from African slaves.
Rule 3: Green, yellow, black, white, and green. I really like the colors of this flags.
Rule 4: This flag has two stars, which are simple.
Rule 5: I don't know of any flag whic can be confused with this one.
Part 2
Saint-Cristopher-Nevis-Anguilla (1967-1980), Saint Cristopher and Nevis (1980-1983)

Spoiler

A nice flag, but I prefer the current, and besides this flag symbolizes Anguilla, which is not part of the country.
Part 3
A distinctive flag with nice colors. It's good.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Saint Lucia

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 1 March 1967 (current version adopted in 2002)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw triangles from memory.
Rule 2: After the island was discovred by Europeans (late 15th or early 16th centuries), the English (later British) began fighting over it a lot, to the point that the island was known as "the Helen of the West Indies", after Helen of Troy. Like the other islands in the Caribbean, the economy was based on sugar production and slavery.
The islands finally became a British colony after the 1814 Treaty of Paris. Saint Lucia became part of a British colony known as Windward Islands in 1833. The next year, slavery was abolished in Saint Lucia and the British Empire. Saint Lucia joined the West Indies Federation in 1958, remaining in it until the federation was dissolved in 1962. Saint Lucia became a separate colony afterwards, and became autonomous in 1967. The day it became autonomus, it adopted a flag similar to the current, but the black triangle was wider and the yellow one was smaller.
Saint Lucia gained independence on 22 February 1979, and changed its flag so that the current triangle would be adopted and the shade of blue made darker. The current shade of blue (cerulean) was adopted in 2002.
The blue symbolizes the sea which surrounds the country. The black and white symbolize black and white people, and harmony between them, the yellow symbolizes sunshine and prosperity, and the two triangles symbolizes the Pitons, two volcanic plugs (the bigger one known as Gros Piton, and the smaller one as Petit Piton) in the island.
Rule 3: Blue, white, black, and yellow. I love the colors of this flag.
Rule 4: This flag has to triangles, which are simple.
Rule 5: This flag is distinctive.
Part 2
1939-1967

Spoiler

As you probably already know, I don't like British colonial flag.
1967-1979

Spoiler

I like both this flag and the current.
1979-2002

Spoiler

I personally prefer the current shade of blue.
Part 3
A good, distinctive flag. I like most Caribbean flags.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Ratio: 2:3 (though some say it has a 7:11 ratio. The flag in this post has a 2:3 ratio).
Adopted: 21 October 1985
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw diamonds from memory.
Rule 2: The islands were discovered by European in the late 15th or early 16th centuries, but settlement was prevented by the native Caribs until 1719 (when the French founded Barrouallie). Before that time, shipwrecked or escaping African slaves would go to the islands and intermarry with the natives, creating a community of "black Caribs", or Garifuna people.
Saint Vincent, like other islands in the Caribbean, was fought over by the English/British and French (along with two wars against the Black Caribs). Also like other islansds in the Caribbean, the economy was based on slavery and sugar production.
The islands finally became British after the 1783 Treaty of Versailles, and slavery was abolised in 1834, like in the rest of the British Empire. A legislative concil was established in 1925 and universal adult suffrage was established in 1951.
Like most other British colonies in the Caribbean, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became part of the West Indies Federation in 1958, before the federation broke up in 1962. The islands became autonomouson internal affairs in 1969, and gained independence on 27 October 1979. The first flag of the islands had stripes of the same color and position as the current, but otherwise it had a lot of difference. The stripes had the same size (in the current, the yellow stripe is biger than the other), and were separated by white fimbriations. In the center, there were no diamonds, but rather the country's coat of arms, with a breadfruit leaf behind it. In March 1985 the flag was slightly changed: the white stripes were removed. The new flag only lasted until 21 October 1985, when the current flag was adopted.
In St Vincent and the Grenadines' flag, the diamonds represent the country's nickname of "gem of the Antilles", and are arranged in a V shape to symbolize St. Vincent. The blue symbolizes the islands' sky and sea, the yellow their sands, and the green their vegetation.
Rule 3: Blue, green, and yellow. There are only two other countries (Rwanda anf Gabon) which use this pretty good color combination.
Rule 4: Diamonds are simple.
Rule 5: This flag is distinctive.
Part 2
1907-1979

Spoiler

A British colonial flag. Also has text and complex people. It's Bad.
1979-1985

Spoiler

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Flag_of_Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines_%281979-1985%29.svg/800px-
Flag_of_Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines_%281979-1985%29.svg.png

The current is muc better. This flag is pretty ugly. I also have the same opinion on the March 1985 flag.
Part 3
Most former British colonies iin the Caribbean have great flags.
Except for Dominica. But its flag at least has purple.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Samoa

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 26 May 1948 (fifth star added on 24 February 1949)
Part 1
Rule 1: I think a child could draw the Southern Cross from memory.
Rule 2: The first inhabitants of the islands came to them about 3,000 years ago. They may have spoken a language in the Austronesian family (Austronesian people may have originated in Taiwan, and were pretty good at sailing: Langauges in their family are spoken in places as far away as Madagascar, New Zealand, and Hawaii).
The first European to see the islands was Jacob Roggeveen (who was Dutch) in 1722, but trading and missionary activities only began picking up in the 1830s. The island's resources (copra and cocoa beans) led to the German Empire, the United Kinggdom, and the United States all havibg interests in the islands, leading them to back sides when Samoa had a civil war from 1886 to 1894. All the powers sent warships to Apia's (Samoa's biggest city, currently Samoa's capital) harbor in 1887, and almost began a war, but the standoff ended when a cyclone destroyed six of the seven ships (the only surving ship, HMS Calliope, which was British and escaped) in 1889.
There was another civil war in Samoa from 1898 to 1899. Once again, each power supported one side. The war led to the Tripartite Covention in 1899, in which Germany gained the larger, western islands, the United States gained the eastern islands (to this day, the islands gained make an unincorporated territory of the United States known as American Samoa). The United Kingdom didn't gain anything in Samoa, but:

By surrendering all rights in Samoa, the United Kingdom "obtained extensive compensation from Germany elsewhere,"[16] in effect, "transfer of all of the German rights in the Tonga group including that of establishing a naval and coaling station, and the right of extraterritoriality; the shifting of the line of demarcation between German and British islands in the Solomon group so as to give to Great Britain all the German islands to the east and southeast of the island of Bougainville; the division of the so-called neutral zone in West Africa by a definite boundary line between British and German possessions; the promise of Germany to take into consideration, as much and as far as possible, the wishes which the Government of Great Britain may express with regard to the development of reciprocal tariffs in the territories of Togo and the Gold Coast; the renouncing by Germany of her rights of extraterritoriality in Zanzibar."[8]

.
In 1914, during WWI, troops from New Zealand occupied western Samoa. After the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 Western Samoa, like all German colonies, became a League of Nations mandate (administered by New Zealand in Western Samoa's case). In 1946, like in all remaining League of Nations mandates except for Namibia, Western Samoa became a UN Trust Territory.
A version of the flag, without the fifth star (Epsilon Crucis) was adopted in 1948. Samoa's current flag was adopted in 1949, and was kept after the New Zealand Western Samoa Act 1961 granted Western Samoa independence on the first day of 1962.
Western Samoa gained UN membership in 1976, and chanhe its name to just Samoa in 1997 (American Samoa did not like the change. By the way, here's a fact that has nothing to do with flags: American Samoans mostly play American football and baseball, while western Samoans play rugby and cricket. Colonial influences).
I wasn't able to find the meaning of the flag on Wikipedia on flagspot, so here's an explanation of the flag, which may or may not be true, from TV Tropes:

The red field stands for courage. The canton is colored blue, representing freedom, containing Crux Australis, a common sight in the southern sky, colored white to represent purity.

(That statement wasn't sourced).
Rule 3: Blue, white, and red. I don't really like the colors of this flag.
Rule 4: Stars. They're simple.
Rule 5: This flag is similar to Taiwan's and Myanmar's (1974-2010), but I think the Southern Cross makes it distinctive.
Part 2
1920-1948

Spoiler

Like British colonial flags, New Zealand colonial flags are also bad.
Part 3
I personally don't think the flag looks good, and I don't like its colors. It's not really a bad flag though.

 

[badposter]

Flag of San Marino

Ratio: 3:4 (an unusual ratio that makes the flag not much wider than it is tall)
Adopted: 6 April 1862 (current coat of arms adopted in 2011)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could not draw the complex coat of arms from memory.
Rule 2: In the year 301, according to legend, Saint Marinus (who the city is named after) went to Monte Titano (the highest peak in San Marino) to flee the persecution of Christians by the Romans, and built a church there. This is the legendary origin of both the city and country (note that San Marino is NOT a city state, it just shares its name with its capital) of San Marino. However, the first historical source for the existence of San Marino comes from the writings of a monk in 511, which say another monk lived there. Writings from the 9th century say the country was ruled by a bishop.
In 1243 the positons of Captain Regent, two heads of state who rule simultaneously for a six-month term, were established.
San Marino's original territory included only Monte Titano, but after it joined an alliance against the duke of Rimini in 1463 various castles and towns around it were given to San Marino by the Pope. That same year, the town of Faetano voluntarily joined San Marino, which got its current borders.
The first known flag of San Marino originates in 1465, and was manufactured in Florence. It was an orange, white, and purple tricolor with San Marino's coat of arms at the time on the white stripe.
The San Marino's first legal documents mentioning institutional organs were written in San Marino. San Marino, however, doesn't quite have the oldest constution in the world, given its constution is made up of multiple documents, one of which was written in 1974.
San Marino managed not to get conquered in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Antonio Onofri, one of the Captain Regents, manged to become Napoleon's friend in 1797. Napoleon then proposed giving San Marino more land, but the country refused due to fear of revenge in the newly annexed territories in the future. France recognized San Marino in the 1797 Treaty of Tolentino. Also that year, due to French influence, San Marino adopted a blue and white cockade (the meaning of the colors is unkown).
The independence of San Marino was recognized in the 1815 Congress of Vienna.
While Italy was being unified in the mid-19th century, San Marino accepted refugees who supported Italian unification. Due to this, Guiseppe Garibaldi (one of the main leaders of Italian unification) accepted Sam Marino's wish to remain independent, making San Marino the only part of the Italian peninsula which has never been part of Italy.
On 6 April 1862, a decree of the Supreme Council established San Marino's flag, which was similar to the current, but with the coat of arms at the time. San Marino's current coat of arms was adopted in 2011, and due to this the flag was changed.
The blue and white come from the cockade. This is what the coat of arms symbolizes:

In the blue shield there are three green mountains with three silver towers, each decorated with a weather vane consisting of a silver ostrich feather. The towers symbolize the three citadels of San Marino (La Guaita, La Cesta and La Montale), while the hills represent the three summits of the Monte Titano.
The motto "LIBERTAS" (Lat. freedom). It possibly refers to the taking in of victims of political persecution in the earlier years of San Marino, and to the amazing maintenance of independence in the midst of many larger states. The motto could also have developed from the alleged last words of the founder Marinu "Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine" (Lat. "I leave you free from both men").[3]
An oak and laurel branch, which surrounds the coat of arms are symbols for the stability of the republic and the defense of the liberty.
A crown, which serves as symbol of sovereignty.

Rule 3: Not counting the many colors in the coat of arms, blue and white. Good colors.
Rule 4: This flag has text and a complex coat of arms. Bad.
Rule 5: This flag is distinctive. If the coat of arms were removed, the flag would be identical to Bavaria's and Krakow's, both of which are older.
Part 2
1465

Spoiler

I don't like the coat of arms, but otherwise the flags looks good and has distinctive colors.
1862-2011

Spoiler

It's pretty similar to the current.
Part 3
It has a complex coat of arms and text. And if the coat of arms were removed, it wouldn't be distinctive. At least it has good colors.

 

[badposter]

I've wrtten about a lot of tiny countries recently. The country after this one definitely isn't tiny, though.
Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: Either 12 July 1975 (the country's independene date) or 5 Novembeer 1975.
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw this flag from memory.
Rule 2: The two islands were uninhabited until the Portuguese discovered them around the year 1470. São Tomé was officially discovered on 21 December 1471 (St. Thomas' Day. This is the origin of São Tomé's name), while Príncipe was discovered on 22 January 1472 (St. Anthony's Day. Príncipe was once known as Santo Antão, but the name was changed in 1502 due ti the fact that duties there were paid to the prince of Portugal). Like in Cape Verde, slaves from mainland Africa were brought to the islands and mixed with the Portuguese. The economy was at first based on sugar production, but after sugar began to be mostly produced in American colonies, the islands became a place for ships to stop over in the transatlantic slave trade. In the 19th century, the economy changed again to be based on the cultivation of coffee and cocoa.
Slavery was abolished in the islands in 1876, being replaced with forced paid labor. There were protest against it, leading to a massacre of Creole workers by Portuguese landowners in 1953.
In 1960 the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), which called for the indpendence of the islands, was founded. Its flag is actually nearly identical to São Tomé and Príncipe's current flag, the only difference being that the party's flag had the stripes be equally-sized, while the country's flag has the yellow stripe be one and a half time larger than the green stripes.
After the Carnation Revolution overthrew Portugal's distatorship in 1974, São Tomé and Príncipe gained independence on 12 July 1975. After independence, it was at first a one-party state ruled by the MLSTP and Manuel Pinto da Costa, its president. Other parties were legalized in 1990, and the country's first presidential elections were held in 1991, being won by Miguel Trovoada of Independent Democratic Action (the MLSTP didn't even field a candidate). Despite the fact that the MLSTP lost power, the country's flag was kept (nowadays, the MLSTP is the second-biggest party in parliament, holding 16 out of 55 seats).
In São Tomé and Príncipe's flag, the green symbolizes the country's vegetation, the yellow symbolizes the sun and cocoa (still the country's biggest export, making 36% of São Tomé and Príncipe's exports), the red symbolizes equality and the strugle for the country's indpendence, and the two blacks stars symbolize the two main islands of the country.
The flag has Pan-African colors.
Rule 3: Green, red, yellow, and black. I like the colors of the flag.
Rule 4: This flag has two simple stars.
Rule 5: The flag has Pan-African colors, but it can't be confused with other Pan-African flags. It's related but distinctive, which is good.
Part 2
Before independence, São Tomé and Príncipe used Portugal's flag.
Part 3
A simple flag with good colors, and which is related but distinctive. Very good flag.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Saudi Arabia

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 1932 (current version adopted on 15 March 1973)
Part 1
Rule 1: I guess a child could if they knew how to write Arabic script. The children that can't do that, could not draw this flag from memory.
Rule 2: In the year 1744 Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the house of al-Saud, joined forces with Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of a strict variant of Islam, and founded the Emirate of Diriyah (which actually had an imam instead of an emir), ruled by bin Saud and his house . The emirate at first only included the area around Diriyah, but later expanded to include almost all of the Arabian Peninsula, excluding most of Oman and almost all of Yemen and Kuwait. The existence of the emirate ended after a war which began in 1811 , in which Muhammad Ali, Ottoman governor of Egypt, launched a campaign against the emirate, mananing to defeat it, destroy the city of Diriyah, and make the territory of the former emirate part of the eyalet of Egypt.
In 1824 an emirate known as the emirate of Nejd, based in Riyadh and ruled by the house of al-Saud, was founded. It included parts of what is now eastern Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the northernmost part of Oman, and almost all of the United Arab Emirates in 1850. The emirate would come into conflict with the emirate of Jabal Shammar, ruled by the house of Rashid and based in Ha'il, which had a red flag with a yellow star and crescent on it.
The existence of the emirate of Nejd ended when Jabal Shammar beat it in the battle of Mulayda in 1891, and the house of al-Saud would go into exile to Kuwait. The exile didn't last too long, however: in 1902, forces led by Abdul Aziz ibn Saud managed to defeat Jabal Shamamr and retake Riyadh for the house of al-Saud. Afterwards, the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa was founded. It had a green flag, which was white on the hoist, and had the shahada ( لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله, there is no god but God: Muhammad is Messenger of God. By the way, Arabic script is red from right to left) in white and with smaller letters and a simpler script than the current.
Meanwhile, in Ottoman-ruled western Arabia, there was a revolt against the Ottomans in 1916, after which the Kingdom of Hejaz was founded. It was ruled by the Hashemites (the same house which ruled Iraq and rules Jordan to this day), and had a plain red flag at first, but in 1917 it changed its flag so that it would be an horizontal black, green and white tricolor with a red chevron in the hoist side (it used the Pan-Arab colors. Hejaz changed its flag slightly in 1920: the postions of the green and white stripes were swapped.That same year, Jabal Shammar changed its flag so that it would become like that of Hejaz from 1917 to 1920, but with a yellow stripe instead of a white one. The next year, Nejd and Hasa adopted a new flag, similar to the current flag, but with a bigger shahada and a curved, rightwards-ponting, sword, and became a sultanate known as the "Sultanate of Nejd", which conquered Jabal Shammar in 1921.
Nejd conquered Hejaz in 1925, and in 1926 the sultan of Nejd was crowned king of Hejaz, though both countries kept being independent. Hejaz adopted a new flag very similar to the last flag of Jabal Shamar, but with a 1:2 ratio instead of a 2:3 one. Nejd also changed its flag in 1926, removing the sword and adding a white border around the flag. Nejd was made a kingdom in 1927.
The two kingdoms united to form the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. The new kingdom annexed
the Emirate of Asir in 1934.
Saudi Arabia's first flag was like the current, but with a white stripe on the hoist side and a curved sword. The stripe was made thinner in 1934, and fully removed in 1938, when the shahada was made bigger. On 15 March 1973 the shahada took its currrent size and the sword was straightened.
In Saudi Arabia's flag, the green symbolizes Islam and the sword symbolizes strictness in applying justice.
The flag with the words split up by color. Read from right to left.
Rule 3: Green and white. I think this flag has good colors.
Rule 4: This flag has a lot of text, which is bad.
Rule 5: This flag is distinctive.
Part 2
Emirate of Nejd and Hasa (1902-1921)

Spoiler

The text is simpler, but it's still text. I like the white stripe, at least.
Hejaz (1916-1917)

Spoiler

I wonder how may countries with red flag's there's been in history.
Hejaz (1917-1920)

Spoiler

I'd call this a generic Pan-Arab flag if it it weren't the oldest flag of a country with those colors.
Hejaz (1920-1926)

Spoiler

There's been quite a few flags with this design in history. I think this the first one, though.
Nejd (1921-1926)

Spoiler

I prefer the current sword. I also don't really like the text, but I prefer the current, smaller one.
Hejaz (1926-1932)

Spoiler

I'd like this flag if it weren't identical to the last flag of Jabal Shammar.
Nejd (1926-1932)

Spoiler

I like the white border. I think it, combined with a sword, could make a textless flag of Saudi Arabia distinctive.
Saudi Arabia (1932-1934)

Spoiler

I like the white stripe. Otherwise, I have the same opinion on this flag and the current.
My opinions on the 1934-1938 and 1938-19973 are about the same. You can look at them on Wikipedia.
Part 3
A flag with pretty complex text. I don't really like it, though I think it has good colors.

 

[Dr. Peach]

Ah, Saudi Arabia. Some of my relatives live there. My grandfather, some of my cousins, and my dad's sisters.

 

[Paper Jorge]

youre a bad poster

you should do U.S. state flags after. arizonas a contender for #1 state flag.

 

[badposter]

youre a bad poster

you should do U.S. state flags after. arizonas a contender for #1 state flag.

I actually prefer New Mexico's (but Arizona's is still pretty good). And honestly, I don't want to do US states, they're mostly terrible seals on a bedsheet. There are bad country flags, but they're mostly not as bad as the worst US country flags (which themeselves aren't as bad as Liberian county flags).
An US state flag map. Check out all the blue (or red in the South). Interestingly, states that border Mexico tend to have good flags.
.
Flag of Senegal

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 20 August 1960 (Senegal leaves the Mali Federation)
Part 1
Rule 1: A chld could draw a star fom memory.
Rule 2: The first Europeans to discover Senegal were the Poruguese in the mid-15th century. The Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French fought over Gorée where slaves were bought (though it wasn't the most important place in the slave trade). The Frnnch would establish a city named St-Louis in 1659 and take Gorée in 1677 (the British would capture the island in the Seven Year's War and the Napoleonic Wars, but return them aftrerwards).
France, however, didn't really begin to colonize most of Senegal untitl the 1850s. By the 1890s, Senegal had been fully conquered. In 1895, Snegal got a Governor-General, and French West Africa, a federation of French colonies in West Africa, was ounded, with Sain-Louis as its capital. After 1902, the capital of hte federation became Dakar (now Senegal's capital).
Like most French colonies, Senegal had a referendum on whether to become independent or join the new French Community in 1958, after which Senegal gained autonomy and adopted a green flag with a yellow star on it. In 1959, Senegal joined Frech Sudan (Mali) to form the Mali Federation, which gained full independence on 20 June 1960. For reasons explained in my Mali writeup, the federation broke up on 20 August 1960, and Senegal adopted itscurrent flag. (Senegal actually entered into a confederation with the Gambia in 1982, but the confederation really only existed on paper and was dissolved in 1989.
In Senegal's flag the green, to Muslims (92% of the population) symbolizes Islam. To Christians (7%), it symbolizes hope, and to animists (1%) it symbolizes fecundity. The yellow symbolizes wealth, arts, literature, and intellect (literature teachers in Senegal wear yellow blouses). Red symbolizes blood, life, sacrifice, and determination to fight against underdevelopment. The five points of the star are said to stand for the human in the flag of the Mali Federation (head, arms, legs). The flag has Pan-African colors.
Rule 3: Green, yellow, red. The Pan-African colors aren't bad, but I think they're somewhat overused.
Rule 4: There are a lot of flags with stars, which are simple emblems.
Rule 5: I think this flag could be confused Mali's or Cameroon's. It's not a distinctive Pan-African.
Part 2
1958-1959

Spoiler

This flag is simple and distinctive, and it has good colors. I prefer it to the current.
Part 3
It's an undistinctive, generic, Pan-African, though at least it looks good.

 

[badposter]

Wow, I fucked up my tags last update. It's all fixed now, though.
.
Flag of Serbia

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 17 August 2004 (current version adopted on 11 November 2010)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could not draw the eagle or the crown from memor.y.
Rule 2: In the year 1217, Stefan Nemanjić, Grand Prince of Serbia (Serbia was a principate to the 8th century to 1069, and had been a grand principality since) was crowned King of Serbia. His second son Sefan Vladislav (reigned 1234-1243) took power after his father died and his elder brother was deposed. During his reign, it is said his son Desa sent delegates to Ragusa (now Dubrovnik) to search for things to add to the king's treasury various things, including a red and blue flag, the first known flag of Serbia.
In 1326 king Stefan (note that for most of Serbia's king, Stefan was not a name, but an honorific. The name Stefan comes from the Greek Stephanos, crown) Dečanski (reigned 1322-1331) sent delegates to the Mamluk Sultanatr asking for a yellow war flag. The Byzantines mention that multiple war flags were used in the 1330 Battle of Velbazhd, in which Serbia bea the Bulgarian Empire. The first Serbian flag to be drawn appeared in a 1339 map made by Angelino Dulcert, in which Serbia's flag appears as a yellow flag with a red double-headed eagle on it.
In 1346 Stefan Dušan, king of Serbia since 1331, was crowned emperor. The new Serbian Empire only lasted two generations: After the death of Stefan Uroš V, Dušan's son, in 1371, the empire disintegrated, and was mostly conquered by the Ottomans by the end of the century.
In 1402, an independent Serbian state known as the Serbian Despotate was founded. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1459, though Vojvodina, which was an Hungarian dependency ruled by exiled Serbian nobles, was only annexed by the Ottomans in 1540.
After the end of the 1716-1718 Austro-Turkish War and the signing of the Treaty of Passarowitz, the Habsburgs gained Northern Serbia, and a somewhat autonomous Kingdom of Serbia. However, after the 1737-1739 Austro-Turkish war ended and the Treaty of Belgrade was signed, Serbia was returned to the Ottomans.
In 1801, renegade jannisaries (dahije) took power in Serbia. They ended Serbian autonomy, introduced high taxes and forced labors. A petition in 1804 by Serbs to the Ottoman sultan, in which the Serbian asked the sultan to end the rule of the dahije led to the slaughter of notable Serbs by the dahije, and the First Serbian Uprising, which at first was aginst the dahije, who were defeated. However, after the dahije were defeated, the uprising began to be against the Ottomans. Many different flags were flown:

During the First Serbian Uprising, various flags were used. Among the early flags, the one described by Mateja Nenadović could be connected with today's flag: it was white-red-blue with three crosses.[11] Regular armies of the uprising usually had light yellow flags with various symbols, while voivode flags were often red-white, and with a superimposed black two-headed eagle. There were also flags of other colors, including red-yellow, red-white-blue and red-blue. This variety of colors was followed by variety of symbols on the flags, most often taken from Hristofor Zhefarovich's book Stemmatographia of 1741. The most common symbol on the flags were the Serbian cross, followed by coat of arms of Tribalia and various other crosses.[12] Most of the flags were made in Sremski Karlovci, designed by Serbian painters Stefan Gavrilović, Ilija Gavrilović and Nikola Apostolović.[12]

The First Serbian Uprising concluded with an Ottoman victory in 1813, and Serbia being reconquered. However, just two years later began a Second Serbian Uprising. When the uprising ended, Serbia was practically independent (although the country's independence wasn't internationally recognized, and there was an Ottoman garrison in Serbia until 1867) as a principality ruled by a prince of either the Obrenović or Karađorđević dynasties, depending on the time period. In 1835, Serbia adopted a constitution in which a red, blue, and white horizontal tricolor was adopted. The flag was like Russia's, but upside down, leading to a (maybe fake) origin story for the flag, which I think is somewhat humorous:

In Karađorđe's time, a delegation from Serbia went to Russia to seek help, and after arrival was at a celebration. When they were asked why don't they participate in the parade, they hastily entered and turned the Russian flag upside down. The citizens have thus noticed that Serbs have their flag too.

After the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War (won by Russia) ended, and the Treaty of Berlin was signed, Serbia's independence was internanionally recognized. Serbia became a kingdom in 1882, and its coat of arms was added to the center of flag.
After the first and second, Serbia expanded in size (geacron is a cool site which shows historical borders. Look at Serbia in 1912 and then in 1914).
WWI began in 1914 after Austria-Humgary declared war on Serbia, after the latter rejected an ultimatum sent by the former after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war was very bloody in Serbia, where about 30% of the population (60% of men) died. After the war ended, Serbia joined with on 28 November 1918. Three days later, it joined with the new and unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs to form the Kingdom of Serb, Croats, and Slovenes (known as Yogalavia after 1929), ruled by the Serbian Karađorđević dynasty.
During WWII Yugoslavia was partitioned and occupied by the Axis. Serbia was mostly occupied by Germany, but parts of it were annexed by Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania (an Italian protecoterate, later a German puppet) and the "Independent State" of Croatia (in reality, an Italian, and later German, puppet). The Axis powers were defeated by the Yugoslav Partisans, led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In 1945 the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (known as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after 1963)was declared, adopting a constitution in 1946. One of the Yugoslavia's six republics was the People's Republicof Serbia (known as the Federal Republic of Serbia after 1963), whose flag featured the old red, blue, and white tricolor with a red star on it.
In 1991 and 1992, every Yugoslav republic except Serbia and Montenegro left the union. Except for Macedonia, they left bloodily. Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution in which it was renamed the "Republic of Yugoslavia" in 1992. Serbia became known as the "Republic of Serbia", and the red stars were removed from both Yugoslavia's and Serbia's flags. In 2003 Serbia and Montenegro, a loose state union(so loose that both states were practically independent), was founded. In 2004, Serbia added its coat of arms at the time to the flag (the coat of arms was in the current position of the coat of arms in the flag). Montenegro gained independence after a 2006 referendum. The coat of arms was slightly changed in 2010, and Serbia's current flag was adopted. Serbia's coat of arms features two symbols of the country: the Serbian eagle and the Serbian cross. Serbia's flag has Pan-Slavic colors.
Rule 3: Not counting the colors in the coat of arms, red, blue, and white. Nice colors, but I think they're overused.
Rule 4: The flag features a complex coat of arms.
Rule 5: This flag could be confused with other red, white and blue flags with coat of arms (like Slovenia's or Slovakia's) from a distance.
Part 2
1835-1882

Spoiler

There are many other red, white, and blue horizontal tricolors. This flag isn't distinctive.
1882-1918

Spoiler

A coat of arms even more complex than the current.
1946-1992

Spoiler

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia were the only Yugoslav republic with distinctive flags.
1992-2004

Spoiler

See what I wrote about the 1835-1882 flag (they're not the same thing, this flag has a 1:2 ratio, while the 1835-1881 flag has a 2:3 ratio)
2004-2010

Spoiler

Pretty similar to the current.
Part 3
It has a complex coat of arms, and it isn't distinctive. I don't like this flag.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Seychelles

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 18 June 1996
Part 1
Rule 1: I think a child could draw the flag from memory. The mistake they're most likely to make is getting the colors wrong, I think.
Rule 2: The islands may have been visisted by Austronesians, Maldivians, and Arabs, but they didn't settle there. The first confirmed discovery of the islands was by Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer. The Portuguese, didn't settle there. Eventually, the islands became a base for pirates. The first people to begin to settle the islands were the French in 1756, who named the islands after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, the French Minster of Finance at the time.
Originally, the islands were administered by the French East India Company, but after France lost the Seven Year's War in 1763, the company lost importance, and the islands began to be durectly ruled by France.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, in 1794, Seychelles surrendered to the British, and the French governor was allowed to keep ruling. After Mauritius surrendered in 1810, the islands came under British rule, which was confirmed in the 1814 Treaty of Paris.
Both the French and British brought slaves from mainland Africa. After slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1835, indentured servants from India and China were brought over. Workers in the islands produced cinnamon, vanilla and copra.
Seychelles was once part of the colony of Mauritius, but the colonies were separated in 1903. Parliametary elections were first held in 1948. The Seychelles Taxpayers and Producers Association, which represented the landowners, dominated the elections until 1967.
In 1976 the Seychelles gained independence as a republic. Its first president was James Mancham, and Seychelles' first flag featured a white saltire, with blue vertical triangles on the top and bottom, and red horizontal triangles on the hoist and fly side.
Mancham was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1977, and Seychelles became an one-party state ruled by France-Albert René and the Seychelles People's Progressive Front. Seychelles' flag was changed so that it would be a red and green horizontal flag, with a wavy white stripe separating the two colors (the red took upmore space than the green). The red symbolized revolution and progress, the green symbolized agriculture and the earth, and the white symbolized the waves in the islands' beaches and the resources in the Indian Ocean. The flag was nearly identical to that of the People's Progressive Front, but the party flag had a sun.
Democratic elections were held in the Seychelles in 1992 and 1993. Although the People's Progressive Front won both elections, the oppositon pressured the ruling party to change the flag, and a law changing the flag passed on 8 January 1996, and came into effect on 18 June 1996.
In Seychelles' flag, the stripes symbolize the Seychelles going into the future. The blue symbolizes the sky and sea, which surround the country, the yellow symbolizes the sun, red symbolizes people and their determination to work for the future, the white symbolizes social justice and harmony, and the green symbolizes land anf the natural environement.
Rule 3: Blue, yellow, red, white, and green. This flag has a lot of colors, which I think look good.
Rule 4: This flag has no text or emblems.
Rule 5: This flag is dustinctive. I don't know if there's any flag which can be confused with it.
Part 2
1976-1977

Spoiler

This flag is simple distinctive, but I think the colors are a bit boring. I prefer the flags that came after it.
1977-1996

Spoiler

Though I prefer the current, this flag is still pretty good.
Part 3
It's a nice flag, and it's definitely distinctive. I like it.
.
By the way, the flag of the Seychelles looks like Romania's and Hungary's fused together.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Sierra Leone

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 27 April 1961
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor.
Rule 2: The first Europeans to come to the area were the Portuguese explorers in 1462. One of the explorers, Pedro de Sintra, named the mountains in the region Serra Leoa (Lioness Mountains). This was later translated into the Spanish Sierra Leona and then misspelled to get the country's name. The area was then used as a trafing post for slaves by the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English (later British).
After the end of the American Revolutionary War, the British brought freed slaves from what were once the Thirteen Colonies, and brought them to Canada, their colonies in the Caribbean, or London. The British also established the Province of Freedom, a crown colony, and founded Granville Town, which was settled by African-Americans and former slaves from the Caribbean. Warfare with the indigenous Africans, along with disease, led to the colonty failing.
Meanwhile, about 3,000 black loyalists had settled in Nova Scotia and founded Birchtown. However, racism and cold winters led to the loyalists to ask the British for relief and aid, leading to the founding of the Sierra Leone Company in 1792, and about 1,200 black loyalists founding Freetown, which was more succesful than Granville, and is Sierra Leone's current capital.
The UK abolished the slave trade in 1807, and slaves in now-illegal ships were brought to Freetown. The next year, Thomas Ludlam, governor of Sierra Leone, surrendered the company's charter to the British crown, which established the African Institution, which was dissolved in the 1820s.
The British annexed the what is now the eastern, inland, part of the country in 1896, and established the Protectorate of Sierra Leone (and imposed high taxes on residences, leading to the Hut Tax War in 1898, which was won by the British. This was the last time there was large and organized resistance against the British in Sierra Leone, though sometimes there were strikes and riots).
In 1951, a new constitution, which united the Protectorate and Colony of Sierra Leone, and also established a path for independence, was adopted. Parliamentary elections were held in 1957, and won by the Sierra Leone People's Party. In 1960, Milton Margai, leader of the party, held a conference with Queen Elizabeth II and British Colonial Secretary Iain MacLeod, after which it was agreed that Sierra Leone would gain independence on 27 April 1961. Anticipating the country's independence, the College of Arms created a coat of arms and flag for the country. The older coat of arms featured the colors green, white, and blue, which became the flag's colors. The flag was hoisted at midnight when Sierra Leone gained independence as a monarchy which had the same monarch as the UK on the scheduled date. Sierra Leone became a republic after adopting a new constitution in 1971.
In Sierra Leone's flag, the green symbolizes the country's agriculture and mountains, the white symbolizes untity ans justice, and the blue symbolizes the harbor of Freetown and the hope of contributing to world peace.
Rule 3: Green, white, and blue. Nice colors.
Rule 4: This flag has no emblems or coats of arms.
Rule 5: Lesotho and Uzbekiztan also have green, white, and blue horizontal tricolors as their flags but those countries have emblems on their flag, so I think this flag is distinctive.
Part 2
1889-1914

Spoiler

British colonial flag. With text.
The 1914-1961 flag is also a British colonial flag with text.
Part 3
A tricolor with pretty nice colors. I like it.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Singapore

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 3 December 1959. Readopted on 9 August 1965.
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw the stars and crescent from memory.
Rule 2: The Malay Kingdom of Singapura was established on the island in 1299. The island became a trading post, before being sacked by the Majapahit in 1398. After sacking the Majapahit left. The kings of Singapura would establish the Kingdom of Malacca, which included Singapore. The sultanate's capital, Malacca, was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511. This led the sultan to escape. Two of his children would form new sultanates: the Sultnate of Perak, and the Sultanate of Johor, which included Singapore.
In 1819 Thomas Stamford Raffles (a British man) signed a treaty with the Sultan of Johor, the southern part of the islands was made a trading post. Another treaty in 1824 made the enire island a British possession. In 1826 Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, which were adminstered by the British East India Company before 1867, after which it became a British Crown Colony.
In 1819, there were only about 1,000 people in the island, but in 1860 it had more than 80,000. The economy was based on trading and the production of rubber, and workers from Malaysia, China, and India were brought to the island.
During WWII, the island was invaded and occupied by the Japanese Empire. The island was bombed by the Allies in 1944 and 1945. After Japan surrendered. the island briefly became administered by the British military along with Malaya, before becoming a separate colony in 1946.
Singapore's first fuly democratic elections were held in 1955. That same year, Singapore gained autonomy. It adopted its current flag in 1959. According to Lee Kuan Yew (Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990), Muslims wanted a crescent moon while the Chinese wanted five starsm as those in the Chinese flag. Both request were granted.
Singapore chose to join Malaysia in a 1962 referendum. Singapore gained full independence on 31 August 1963, before joining Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Hoeever, race riots in 1964 and ideogical conflict led to the Malaysian Parliament voting to expel Singapore, 126 to 0 (Singaporean deputies were not present). Thus, Singapore gained independence against its will.
In Singapore's flag, the crescent symbolizes "a young nation on the ascendant" the stars symbolizes democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality. The red symbolizes universal brotherhood and equality of man, while the white symbolizes purity and virtue.
Rule 3: Red and white. There are many boring flags with these colors, but I don't think this one is boring.
Rule 4: This flag has a crescent and stars, which are simple.
Rule 5: The flag is similar to Monaco's, Indonesia's, and Poland's (and many other red and white bicolors), but I think the stars and crescent make it distinctive.
Part 2
1946-1959

Spoiler

A British colonial flag. At least it doesn't have text.
Part 3
I think the crescent and stars are enough to make this flag not boring compared to other red and white bicolors.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Slovakia

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 3 September 1992
Part 1
Rule 1: I think the coat of arms is simple enough for a child to draw from memory if the child is given enough space to draw it.
Rule 2: Around the 8th century, the Principality of Nitra was founded around Nitra, in what is now Slovakia. Not much is known about the principality, but it is known that Nitra later became a part of the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th century. The Byzantine Saints Cyril and Methodius came to Moravia in 863, bringing the Glagolitic alphabert, which they created, with them. The aplphabet fell out of fashion after thay died (the brothers would also invent the Cyrillic alphabet, which they introduced to Bulgaria).
Moravia fell in 907, and Slovakia was annexed by the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century. Hungary later fell under Habsburg rule in the 16th century. Hungary (and Slovakia) became part of the Austrian Empire after its proclamation in 1804.
In 1848 the Prague Slavic Congress, where the Pan-Slavic colors were defined, was held. That same year, there was an uprising against Hungarians in Slovakia. Slovaks flew a flag similar to the current, but with either no coat of arms (making the flag identical to Russia's) or a different one. After Austria-Hungary was founded in 1867, Slovakia became part of the land of the Crowns of Saint Stephen
Czechoslovakia declared independence on 28 October 1918. On 16 June 1919, the Slovak Soviet Republic, a puppet of the Hungarian Soviet Republic with a plain red flag, was established. The republic was defeated by Czechoslovakia and reincorporated into it on 7 July 1919. Czechoslovakia adopted a constitution in 1920. The blue triangle in Czechoslovakia's flag represented Slovakia. The Czech Republic today uses Czechoslovkia's flag despite the symbolism.
In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the Suedetenland in Czechoslovakia, while Hungary also annexed what is now southern Slovakia in the First Vienna Award, that same year. Afterwards, the Second Czechoslovak Republic, a Nazi puppet, was established. In 1939, it was split. After, what is now the Czech Republic became the Nazi protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, while the Slovak Republic, a Nazi puppet state, was established. Its flag was identical to Russia's current.
The Soviet defeated the Nazis in 1945, and annexed Carpathian Ruthenia. The Third Czechoslovak Republic was established. Czechoslovakia became a Marxist-Leninist one party state after a Communist coup d'état in 1948.
Czechoslovakia became a democracy after the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989 happened. In 1990, Slovakia, within Czechoslovakia, adopted a flag identical to Russia's current. Slovakia added its coat of arms to its flag on 3 September 1992. Czechoslovakia was dissolved on 1 January 1993.
This is the symbolism of the coat of arms:

One of the modern interpretations of the double cross is that it represents Slovakia as an heir and guardian of Christian tradition[clarification needed], brought to the region by St. Cyril and St. Methodius, two missionaries from the Byzantine Empire.

The two-barred cross in the Slovak coat of arms originated in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire in the 9th century. Unlike the Christian cross, the symbolism and meaning of the double cross is not well understood. One interpretation is that the first horizontal line symbolized the secular power and the other horizontal line the ecclesiastic power of Byzantine emperors. Another that the first cross represents the death and the second cross the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Byzantine Empire of the 9th century, the double cross was a political symbol used by Byzantine clerks and missionaries.[citation needed]

The double cross arrived in the territory of current-day Slovakia probably no later than during the 9th century mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia.[citation needed] Though used frequently in Great Moravia, it was not a state symbol at that time, because there were no state symbols in the modern sense in Europe at that time yet. By means of Zwentibold (the ruler of Lorraine, son of the German emperor Arnulf of Carinthia and godchild of the Great Moravian king Svatopluk I), this symbol got to Lorraine and is called the cross of Lorraine there.[citation needed]
The triple peak represents the three mountain ranges Tatra, Matra and Fatra which symbolized the northern mountainous part of the Kingdom of Hungary. (The Tatra and the Fatra ranges are in Slovakia.) This interpretation is probably the oldest and most frequent one – it can be traced back to the 16th century, but stems probably from the 15th century. According to István Werbőczy's "Tripartitum" from 16th century, the heaps represent the mountains in this order.

Rule 3: White, blue, and red. Not a bad color combination, but I think it's overused.
Rule 4: This flag has a coat of arms, but it's a simple one.
Rule 5: This flag can be easily confused with Slovenia's. Both have the same colors in the same order, and the country's coat of closer to the hoist side.
Part 2
Slovak Soviet Republic (1919)

Spoiler

One of the many plain red flags in history.
Slovak Republic (1939-1945), Slovak Republic within Czechoslovakia (1990-1992)

Spoiler

The most original flag in history.
Part 3
Slovakia and Slovenia have similar names and flags. Not only that: Slovak in Slovak Slovenčina, while Slovene in Slovene is Slovenščina. No wonder people confuse them.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Slovenia

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 25 June 1991 (Slovene independence)
Part 1
Rule 1: The coat of arms is pretty simple, but not much space is given to it, so I don't know if a child could draw it from memory.
Rule 2: The first Slavs came to the Alps around the the century. In 658, the ancestors of the Slovenes founded the duchy of Carantania in what is now Austria. In the mid-8th century, the duchy became a vassal of the Franks, which Christianized the area. The duchy became a margriavate of the Carolingian Empire in 828, after which the former duchy was Germanized. Meanwhile, what is now Slovenia was part of the Avar Khaganate.
In the 10th century, what is now Slovenia was multiple border regions of the Holy Roman Empire. The area came under Habsburg rule in the 14th century, though it was then fought over by them and the Slovene Counts of Celje (whose coat of arms featured yellow six-pointed stars, this being the origin of them on Slovenia's flag) until the latter became extinct in 1456. One of the parts of what is now Slovenia, which was the Duchy of Carniola, had a white coat of arms with a blue eagle and a red and yellow crescent. This, along with the Pan-Slavic tricolors being defined in the 1848 Prague Slavic Congress, is the origin of the color of Slovenia's flag.
Slovenia became part of the Austrian Empire after it was proclaimed in 1804. In 1848, in response to a German flag being flown over Ljubljana Castle. In response, Lovro Toman, a Slovene poet and nationalist, flew a white, blue, and red tricolor (with a 1:2 ratio, so not identical to Russia's). The tricolor was made the official flag of the Duchy of Carniola, strangely enough since the Austrian Empire tended to persecute non-German nationalist symbols (tricolors, unlike bicolors, were considered nationalist symbols). The Carniolan tricolor then became a symbol of the idea of United Slovenia, becoming the Slovene tricolor.
On 29 October 1918, when WWI was almost over, the (unrecognized) State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs was created. It joined Serbia on 1 December 1918 to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after 1929.
In 1941, during WWII, the Axis invaded and partitioned Yugoslavia. Slovenia's north was annexed by Nazi Germany, while its south was annexed by Italy. Its easternmost part was annexed by Hungary. In 1943, Germany took over the parts of Slovenia which were annexed by Italy.
The Axis was defeated by the Yugoslav Partisans, which included the Slovene Partisans (whose flag featured the Slovene tricolor with a red star on the blue). After the war ended, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (known as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after 1963) was declared, with Slovenia being one of its six republics. Slovenia gained parts of the Julian March from Italy in 1947.
While in Yugoslavia, its flag featured the Slovene tricolor with a red star symbolizing communism on it.
On 25 June 1991 Slovenia declared independence and adopted its current flag. Slovenia's declaration of independence led to a war witth Yugoslavia which lasted ten days and in which 63 people died.
The symbolism of Slovenia's coat of arms (designed by Marko Pogačnik):

According to Pogačnik, the Triglav symbolises the male principle. There are two white bending lines below it, representing the Triglav Lakes Valley and the Slovene sea and rivers in general, or the female principle. Above Triglav, there are three golden, six-pointed stars, forming a triangle and symbolising democracy. The stars are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje.[5]

Rule 3: White, blue, and red. Not a bad color combination, but I think it's overused.
Rule 4: The flag has a coat of arms, though I don't think it's too complex.
Rule 5: This flagis very similar to Slovakia's. The two flags can be easily confused.
Part 2
1945-1991

Spoiler

Bosnia and Macedonia wer the only Yugoslav republic with distinctive flags.
Part 3
Slovakia and Slovenia have similar names and flags. Not only that: Slovak in Slovak Slovenčina, while Slovene in Slovene is Slovenščina. No wonder people confuse them.

 

[badposter]

Flag of the Solomon Islands

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 18 November 1977
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple flag, which a child could draw from memory.
Rule 2: It is believed speakers of Papuan langauges came to the islands around 30,000 years ago. Austronesian-language speakers came around 4000 BC. The Lapita, ancestors of Poloynesians, came between 1200 and 800 BC.
The first European to come to the islands was Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, who was Spanish and came in 1568. Mistakenly believing that the islands were very wealthy, he gave them the name "Solomon Islands", after the richand biblical king Solomon.
Missionaries only really began coming in the mid-19th century. The Germans establsihed a protectorate iover the north Solomon Islands in 1885, while the 1893 did the same thing with the southern islands in 1893, also adding more islands to the protectorate in 1898.
After the 1899 Tripartite Convention was held, the UK, in exchange for not gaining anything in Samoa, gained mist of the north Solomon Islands, though Bougainville and the islands around it remained German (nowadays, they're part of Papua New Guinea).
During WWII, the islands saw fighting between the Allies and the Japanese Empire, including the bloody Guadalcanal Campaign
The Solomon Island got a new constitution in 1970, when general elections were held. The islands gained autonomy in 1976. In 1977, in preparation for independence, there was a design competition for the islands' new flag. A flag designed by an expatriate from New Zealand was adopted. The Solomon Islands gained full independence on 7 July 1978.
In the flag, the blue symbolize sea and sky, the green symbolizes fertile land, the sun symbolizes sun and sandy beaches, and the five white stars symbolizes the provinces of the country.
Rule 3: Blue, white, yellow, and green. This flag has nice colors.
Rule 4: The flags has stars, which are simple.
Rule 5: The flag is distinctive.
Part 2
Solomon Islands Protectorate

Spoiler

It's a British colonial flag.
Part 3
A distinctive flag with good colors.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Somalia

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 26 June 1960 (in British Somaliland), 1 October 1960 (in Somalia).
Part 1
Rule 1: A child coul draw a star from memory.
Rule 2: Somalia was not colonized by one, but rather by two European coountries. The country's east was gained by Italy in 1889, after Italy signed protection treaties with the Sultanate of Hobyo and the Majerteen Sultanate. The colony of Italian Somaliland was then founded. The former sultanate was incorporated into the colony in 1926 while the latter was in 1924.
Meanwhile, in northwestern Somalia, the British established aprotectorate known as British Somaliland. However, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, a Somali religious leader, founded the Dervish, which managed to resist British colonization of the interior until it was defeated in 1920.
In 1924, after WWI, the UK gave Jubaland, a region which was previously part of the Colony of Kenya, to Italy. Italy then founded a colony known as Italian Trans-Juba, which was incorporated into Italian Somaliland in 1925. After the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1936) was fought, and Italy annexed Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland became part of a new colony known as Italian East Africa.
In 1940, during WWII, Italy conquered British Somaliland, but the Allies managed to beat back Italy in 1941, and occupy Italian East Aftica for the rest of the war. Somaliland then fell under British military administration in 1945. In 1949, it was agreed that the UN would give Italy a mandate over what was once Italian Somaliland, on the condition that it would gain full independence within ten years. Thus, in 1950, the UN Trust Territory of Somaliland, administered by Italy, was created. Initially, the territory used Italy's flag, but after 12 October 1954 it used both Italy's and the UN's.
British Somaliland gained independence as the State of Somaliland on 26 June 1960, adopting Somalia's current flag. The Trust Territory the gained independence on 1 July 1960, unifying with Somaliland to form the Somali Republic, which adopted Somalia's current flag on 1 October 1960. Somalia's flag had been designed in 1954 by Mohammed Awale Liban, in preparation for Somalia's independence.
In Somalia's flag, the blue once symbolized the UN, which helped in Somalia's transition to independence, but niw it symbolizes the sky and the Indian Ocean. The five points of the star symbolizes the places Somalis live: Djibouti, the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province in Kenya, and the former British and Italian Somaliland. Thestar itself symbolizes unity.
Rule 3: Blue and white. Good colors.
Rule 4: This flag has a star, which is simple.
Rule 5: This flag is very similar to that of the short-lived Republic of West Florida (1810) and also the Bonnie Blue Flag, used unofficially in the Confederate States of America in early 1861. Both states which used, the flag no longer exist, however.
Part 2
British Somaliland (1903-1950)

Spoiler

The Britsh Empire was big...
British Somaliland (1950-1960)

Spoiler

...and bad at flags.
Part 3
A good simple, flag. I love it.

 

[badposter]

Flag of South Africa

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 27 April 1994
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw the flag from memory, I think. The flag isn't too complex.
Rule 2: In 1488, when the Portuguese explorer discovered the Cape of Good Hope, the dominant ethnic in what is now South Africa were the Xho and Zulu people.
The first Europeans to establish the colony were the Dutch. In the year 1652, Jan van Riebeck, working for the Dutch East India Company, established a colony in the Cape of Good Hope, established so that the Dutch East India Company would resupply its ships. Farmers from Europe were brought to the colony. They were mostly Dutch, but some were were German, Scandinavians, or French Huguenots fleeing persecutions. The Dutch didn't enslave the native Khoikoi people, instead bringing in slaves from Madagascar, India, and Indonesia. The colonists mixed with the slaves, creating the Cape Coloureds and the Cape Malays.
In 1795, during the French Rvolutionar Wars, France conquered the Netherlands, leading to stadholder William V to escape to Great Britain, where he sent the Kew letters, in which the stadtholder commanded the governors of Dutch colonies to surrender to the British to prevent French taking over the colonies. The British then invaded the Cape Colony to prevent it falling into French hands. The colony was returned to the Neterlands in the 1803, after the signing of the Treaty of Amiens, but the Britisgh retook the colony in 1806. The 1815 Congress of Vienna recognized the colony as British, and the UK paid the Netherlands 6 million pounds in compensation.
The British imposed their lsanguage and culture, and brought in colonists. This, along with tha abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, and frequent border wars with the Xhosa, led some Boers (descendants of the original colonists, who spoke Dutch and Afrikaans), to leave the Cape Colony and trek inland in the 1830s and 1840s. They then established various Boer Republics, the two most important being the South African Republic, established in 1852, whose flag was like that of the Netherlands, but with a vertical green stripe on the hoist, and the Orange Free State, which became independent in 1854 and used a white flag with three horizontal orange stripes and the Dutch flag on the canton. Another republic, Natalia, was annexed by the British Empire in 1843, becoming the Colony of Natal.
From 1899 to 1902, the Second Boer War was fought between the British and the Boer republics. The former won, and both the South African Republic and the Orange Free State became British colonies: the former became the Transvaal Colony, and the latter became the Orange River Colony.
In 1910, the colonies in what is now South Africa united to form the Union of South Africa, at first a self-govening dominion of the British Empire. South Africa's first flag was a red ensign with the coat of arms of the union on it. The coat of arms were on a white disc starting in 1912.
The first flag of South Africa was unpopular. The Afrikaners disliked due to the Union Jack being on the flag, while the British wanted the flag to be just the Union Jack. This led to South Africa adopting a new flag, which was like the Prince's Flag (hoisted by Jan van Riebeeck when he founded the Cape Colony, and also not used by any current nation, so it was considered neutral) but with the flags of the United Kingdom, the Orange Free State, and the Republic of South Africa. The flag was deliberately laid out so that none of the three flags would be dominant:

The position of each of the miniature flags is such that each has equal status. That the Orange Free State flag, since it hangs vertically, is higher than the other two, is a plus factor. However, to ensure that the Dutch flag in the canton is placed nearest to the upper hoist of the main flag, the Free State flag must be reversed. The British Union Flag, which is nearest to the hoist and is thus in a more favoured position, is spread horizontally from the Free State flag towards the hoist and is thus also reversed. Although placed horizontally furthest from the hoist, to balance the British Union Flag, the Vierkleur is the only one of the miniature flags which is spread in the same direction as the main flag. This compensates for its otherwise less favourable position. In this arrangement, each of the miniature flags enjoy equal precedence

After the Statute of Westminster 1931 was passed, South Africa became a sovereign state. After the National Party won South Africa's election and established apartheid, a system of racial segregation and rule of the white minority. After a referendum in 1960, South Africa became a republic in 1961.
Internal opposition to apartheid, along with an intenational arms and trade embargo. Apartheid ended after negotations that began in 1990, with segregation ending in 1991, and non-whites gaining the right to vote in 1993.
On 27 April 1994, for the first time, an election was held in which all adult South Africa, regardless of race, could vote. On that same date, South Africa adopted its current flag, which initially meant to be used for five years before there would be a discussion on changing it. However, on 28 Sptember 1995 it was decided it would be kept, and its use was confirmed when South Africa's constitution came into effecto on 4 February 1997.
Green, lack, and yellow appear in the flags of the African National Congress,the Pan-Africanist Congress, and the Inkatha Freedom Party, and are associated with the country's black majority, while the red, white and blue appear in the flags of the UK an dthe Netherlands, and represent the country's white population. The green "Y" symbolizes unification of various ethinicities moving together towards a united South Africa.
Rule 3: Green, white, red, black, yellow, and blue. The flag has many colors, but it looks very good.
Rule 4: The flag of South Africa has no text or emblems.
Rule 5: This flag has a pretty distinctive design.
Part 1
1910-1912

Spoiler

I prefer red ensigns to blue ones. Still don't like this flag.
1912-1928

Spoiler

Same as above.
1928-1994

Spoiler

I don't really like flags with flags on them.
Part 3
A distinctive with pretty nice colors. Very good flag.

 

[badposter]

Flag of South Korea (The Taegukgi, Taeguk flag)

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 27 January 1883 by the Korean Empire, 15 October 1949 by South Korea. Current version adopted in October 1997.
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw the taeguk (the central emblem), but they may not memorize the pattern of the trigrams.
Rule 2: In 1876, during the times of the Joseon dynasty, a treaty between Japan and Korea, in which the latter stoppe being a Chinese tributary, opened three pors to Japan, and gave the citizens of the former extraterritoriality. Although Japan had a flag, Korea didn't. This led to various propsals to create a flag, but the governement considered it unimportant.
However by 1880 trade in Korea was increasing, and it was seen as necessary for Korea to have a flag. Huang Zunxian, a Chinese delegate, proposed tha Korea use the flag of the Chinese Qing dynasty, leading to negotiations. However, the negotiations didn't go far, and Korea remained flagless.
The flag issue came up again after the United States-Korea Treaty of 1882. Afterwards, Ma Jianzhong, a Chinese offical who opposed Korea using China's flag, instead proposing a white flag with red and black circle in the center and eight trigrams around the flag. On 22 August 1882, Park Yeong-hyo designed a version of Jiazhong's flag, in which the black in the circle was replaced with blue, and the trigrams were four instead of eight. That flag was adopted by Korea on 27 January 1883.
Korea became an empire in 1897, at the same time modernizng and westenizing. Japanese influence on Korea began growing, leading to Japan annexing Korea in 1910. Korea remained Japanese until Japan's surrender in WWII. Korea was then split into a northern Sovie-administered half and southern half, administered by the United States military. South Korea (known as the Republic of Korea) gained full independence on 15 August 1948. On 15 October 1949 South Korea adopted a flag similar to the current, but with a different shad of blue. South Korea's current shade of blue was adopted in October 1997.
White is a traditional color, frequently used in the attire of 19-century Koreans. It symbolizes peace and purity. The taeguk in the center comes from the philosophy of yin-yang, the blue symbolizing negative cosmic forces and the blue symbolizing positive ones, with the teaguk itself symbolizing balance. Each trigram has a meaning: The one on the upper hoist side, geon (☰), symbolizes heaven, spring, the east, humanity, fathers, and the classical element of heaven, and means justice. The one on the lower hoist side, ri (☲) symbolizes the sun, autumn, the virtue of justice, daughters, and fire, and means fruition. The one on the upper fly side, gam (☵) symbolizes the moon, winter intelligence, sons, and water, and means wisdom. Finally, the one on the lower fly side, gon (☷) symbolizes earth (the planet), summer the west, courtesy, mothers, the west, and earth (the classical element), and means vitality.
Rule 3: White, black, red, and blue. The colors of this flag are nice.
Rule 4: Both the teaguk and the trigrams are simple.
Rule 5: The teaguk and the trigrams make the flag distinctive.
Part 2
1948-1997

Spoiler

As you can see, the 1997 change was pretty minor. I prefer the current shade if blue, but I wouldn't mind if the shade were never changed.
Part 3
A nice, distincive flag, even if the exact number of bars in each trigram is hard to memorize.

 

[badposter]

Flag of South Sudan

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 9 July 2005
Part 1
Rule 1: A child can draw this flag from memory. I don't think this flag is very complex.
Rule 2: The are was at first dominated by speakers of a Central Sudanic language. Speakers of Nilotic langauges began to dominate ariund the 14th century.
The area, along with all that is now Sudan, was conquered by Egypt under Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1820 and 1830s. Egyptian attempts to garrison and fortify the region, due to the fact that defection and disease were common, resulted in failure, and Egypt not having control over the region. This led to Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, a merchant form Khartoum, taking control of the region. He established trading posts, were he sold ivory and traded slaves. Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, was threatened by al-Zubayr's power, leading him to establish Equatoria in what is now southern South Sudan and appoint Samuel Baker, a British man, as its governor. He as replaced by Charles George Gordon in 1874. During his governorship, al-Zubayr would be put under house arrest and his son would be defeated.
Gordon was replaced by Emin Pasha (born Isaak Eduard Schnitzer: he was a German Jew who emigrated to the Ottoman Empire). The Mahdist Revolt in Sudan (1881-1899) cut off Egypt from Equatoria, leading to Emin Pasha being stranded, and an expediton to rescue taking place. Equatoria was disestablished in 1889.
What is now South Sudan, along with Sudan, became part of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (administered by both the United Kingdom and Egypt) in 1899.
South Sudan remained part of Sudan when the latter gained independence in 1956. However, the differences between the northern Muslim and Arab-influenced culture, and the Christian and Animist culture of the south led to theestablishment of movements for the independence of the latter, and two bloody civil wars, the latter which ended with a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, in which it was agreed that there would be a referendum over South Sudanese independence in the future. Afterwards, on 9 July 2005, South Sudan adopted its current flag. An independence referendum in South Sudan was held in January 2011, and the pro-independence side won with 98.83% of the vote. South Sudan gained full independence on 9 July 2011. It is the newest internationally-recognized state in the world.
In South Sudan's flag, the black symbolizes African skin, red symbolizes the blood shed by the martyrs for South Sudan's independence, green symbolizes the country's natural resources, white symbolizes the peace achieved after many years of war (South Sudan is currently in the Pan-Afircan flag] that started in 2013), the blue symbolize the water of the Nile River, and the star symbolizes the unity of states in South Sudan. The flag uses the colors of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-African_flag]the Pan-Afircan flag.
Rule 3: Blue, black, white, yellow red and green. While I don't necessarily dislike flags with many colors (Seychelles and South Africa have good colors), I don't really like the color combination of this flag.
Rule 4: The flag has a simple star.
Rule 5: This flag is similar to other flags which use the colors of the Pan-African flag (like Kneya or Malawi), and its design is similar to Sudan's. The flag is different enough from both to be distinctive.
Part 2
South Sudan has no historical flags.
Part 3
I don't really likethe flag. Still, it's definitely not terrible, my dislike is just personal opinion.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Spain

Civil flag

Spoiler

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 1785 at sea, 1843 on land. Current version adopted on 19 January 1981
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw the simple civil ensign from memory, but not the state flag, with its rather complex coat of arms.
Rule 2:

Spoiler: Lots of words.

During the Middle Ages, there were six main states in the Iberian Peninsula: Portugal (which is to this day independent, and whose flag I have already written about), the Kingdom of Castile (whose name in Spanish, Castilla, comes from castillo (castle), and whose coat of arms and banner featured a castle on a red background), the Kingdom of León, which was incorporated into Castile (and whose coat of arms featured a crowned lion on a white backround: León is lion in Spanish), the Kingdom of Navarre, which was partially in what is now France, and whose territory south of the Pyreenes was conqured by Castile in 1512 (and whose coat of arms featured eight golden chains with an emerald in the center, on a red background), the kingdom of Aragon (whose coat of arms featured alternating red and yellow vertical lines), and one (or many) caliphates or emirates ruled by a Muslim (the entire peninsula was conquered in the 8th century, and afterwards the Christians gradually reconquered the peninsula. By 1238, when the last Muslim in the peninsula, the Emirate of Granada, was founded, Muslims only held the south of Spain, and in the 15th century they only held this)
The first step towards the establishment of Spain happened in 1469: Isabella, heir to the throne of Castile, married Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Aragon (the former would ascend to the throne in 1474, and the latter would do it in 1479). Together, they were known as the Catholic Monarchs, whose complex coat of arms featured the coats of arms of Castile, León, Aragon, and Sicily (then in the crown of Aragon) St. John's eagle (which doesn't have an article on the English Wikipedia), a yoke ("yugo", representing Isabella, whose name in Spanish, Isabel, was once written with the first letter being "Y") with a Gordian knot, a bundle of arrows ("flechas", symbolizing Ferdinand (Fernando)) and the motto "Tanto monta".

Also, the yoke referred to the legend of the Gordian knot, as did the motto Tanto monta; while the bundle of arrows alluded to the Classical moral story advising that arrows can be easily broken one by one, but are unbreakable if tied together

In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs conquered Granada, the last state ruled by Muslims in the Iberian peninsula, thus ending the Reconquista. Afterwards, the added a pomegranate (whose fruit is known as the Granada in Spanish) was added to the bottom of the shield.
In 1496, Joanna, second daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, married Philip the Handsome of the House of Habsburg, son of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Duchess of Burgundy (who had died in 1482). The two monarch's only son to make it past infancy died in 1497, and their eldest daugter died in 1498, making Joanna the heir of both Castille and Aragon. Joanna and Philip had a son named Charles in 1500. Isabella died in 1504, making Joanna the queen of Castile. However, Joanna was mentally unstable, which meant that her husband had the real power. Philip died in 1506, and Ferdinand became the regent of Castile until his death in 1516. Afterwards, Charles was crowned king of Castile and Aragon, though since he was in Burgundy, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros became regent until Charles arrived in 1517. As Charles was the king of both Burgundy and Castile and Aragon (he was also Holy Roman Emperor after his grandfather died in 1519), the cross of Burgundy, which originated as a version of St. Andrew's Cross used by the duke of Burgundy, began to be used as a naval ensign and a battle flag on land in Spain in the early 16th century.
Charles began to abdicate from his thrones in the 1550s. The Holy Roman Empire would go to his younger brother, Ferdinand, while Spain and Burgundy would go to his son Philip. What is now the Netherlands, known as the Northern Netherlands at the time (it was the northenmost part of Burgundy), gained independence from Spain after the Dutch Revolt.(1568-1648).
The Habsburgs, the ruling house of Spain, were heavy practitioners of incest, leading to Charles II, a severely disabled man who was infertile becoming king of Spain in 1665. His death in 1700 led to a succesion dispute, as the new king of Spain, Philip V of the House of Bourbon, was also the second son of King Louis XIV of France's eldest son. The fear of an unified France and Spain by other powers in Europe led to the War of Spanish Succesion (1701-1714), after which it was agreed Philip would remain king of Spain, but give his claims to France. The treaties which ended the war, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the Treaty of Rastatt (1714) made Spain lose all its territories in Europe outside the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic Islands (they also lost Gibraltar and Minorca, though the latter was regained in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, after which Spain gained its current European borders, unless you count Olivenza as Spanish).
Philip V changed the naval ensign of Spain so that it would be a white flag with the complex Bourbon coat of arms on it. The coat of arms was changed in 1760, and so was the flag.
In 1785, king Charles III of Spain observed that many countries in Europe used a white flag at sea, leading to confusion when they were at war with each other. Thus, he ordered the Minister of the Navy to design a new flags to Spain for use at sea. The minister of the navy designed twelve flag. The king chose a red, yellow, and red triband, in which the yellow triband was the size of the two red bands combined. On the yellow band, on the hoist side, was a coat of arms which had shield. The left side of the shield was red, and had a castle on it, symbolizing Castile, while its right side was white, with a crowned lion on it, symbolizing León. Above the shield was a crown. The new flag later became Spain's land flag (with the civil flag having no coat of arms).
In 1868, there was a revolution in Spain which overthrew the queen and established a provisional government. The flag remained the same, but a coat of arms similar to the current was adopted, but with no crowns in the pillars, a mural crown, a red lion, and no emblem in the center of the shield. Amadeo I, an Italian prince, became Spain's king in 1870. He abdicated in 1873, and Spain became a republic. The crown over the shield was removed, but one on the lion was kept. The next year, the monarchy, the House of Bourbon, and Spain's old flag, were restored.
In 1930, Miguel Primo de Rivera, military dictator of Spain since 1923, was overthrown. Alfonso XIII, Spain's king since 1886, had supported him, leading him to become unpopular. Elections held in 1931 were won by republicans, and Alfonso XIII fled the country. On 14 April 1931 the Second Spanish Republic. On 27 April 1931 it adopted a new flag: the red and yellow had been associated with Aragon, so the bottom red stripe was replaced with purple, which symbolized Castile and León. The old coat of arms was removed, and replaced with Spain's coat of arms at the time (the coat of arms was centered). The coat of arms was nearly identical to the 1868 one, but the lion had no crown.
In 1936, a semi-succesful Coup d'état in Spain led by some generals of the the Spanish Republican Armed Forces led to a civil war between Spanish republicans (supported by the Soviet Union and Mexico) and nationalists (supported by Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Portugal). The latter won in 1939, and the Spanish State, a dictatorship ruled by Francisco Franco established in 1936 began to rule over all of Spain. The flag adopted by the Nationalists in 1938 became Spain's flag. The purple became red again, and the coat of arms was moved back to the hoist side, and Spain adopted a new coat of arms, similar but not identical to that of the Catholic monarchs (the part of the shield which had Sicily's coat of arms on it was replaced with Navarre's). The coat of arms was slightly changed in 1945, and began to take up more space on the flag, with the coat of arms touching the red stripes.
In 1947 Spain offically became a kingdom again. Despite this, no king was named. It was only in 1969 that Franco named Juan Carlos of the House of Bourbon (Alfonso XIII's grandson) as his heir, believing that Juan Carlos would mantain Spain's dictatorship after his (Franco's) death.
Franco died in 1975, being succeeded by Juan Carlos II. Surprisingly, Juan Carlos made Spain a democracy. In 1977 Spain's coat of arms was again changed, remainig similar to Spain's past two coats of arms.
Spain's current constitution was adopted in 1978. In it, Spain's flag is defined as a red, yellow, and red horizontal triband, with the middle stripe being twice the side of the red stripes.
Spain's current coat of arms was adopted in 1981. The shield features the coats of arms of Spain's historical kingdoms, with the pomegranate symbolizing Granada and the three fleurs-de-lis on a blue backgound symbolizing the House of Bourbon. The pillars symbolize the Pillars of Hercules in the Strait of Gibraltar. Plus ultra is Spain's motto. The central cron and the one above the pillar in the fly side are the Spanish royal crown, while the crown above the pillar on the hoist side is the imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire, symbolizing Charles I of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (and Duke of Burgundy).

Rule 3: Not counting the colors in the coat of arms, red and yellow. Nice colors.
Rule 4: The state flag has text and a complex coat of arms. It's bad.
Rule 5: This flag is distinctive, even without the coat of arms.
Part 3
Cross of Burgundy (early 16th century-1710, -1843 on land)

Spoiler

It's definitely simple and distinctive, though nowaday it's associated with the Spanish Empire, which no longer exists.
1701-1760

Spoiler

Flags with commplex coat of arms are bad. At least it doesn't have text (My opinion of the 1760-1785 flag is the same).
1785-1873, 1874-1931

Spoiler

This flag still has a complex coat of arms, but compared past and future coats of arms it's simple.
1931-1939

Spoiler

Of course, I dislike the coat of arms. However, I love the purple strip.
1939-1945

Spoiler

Not the most complex flag Spain's ever had, but the most complex one with text. I dislike this flag, and the 1945-1977 and 1977-1981 ones(By the way, the text mean "One, Great, Free")
Part 3
The civil flag is pretty good, but the state flag has a coat of arms and text.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Sri Lanka

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 2 March 1951 (current version adopted on 22 May 1972)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child cannot draw the lion. It's pretty complex.
Rule 2: According to legend, Vijaya, the legendary first king of Sri Lanka, came to the islands from India in 543 BC, and brought a flag with a lion on it (probably a lie, since flags didn't exis at the time, though vexilloids did).
In 162 BC, King Dutugamunu (who really existed, though there are many legends about him) led a campaign against Elallan, an Indian king who invaded Sri Lanka. Dutugamunu flew a banner featuring a lion wileding a sword on its right forepaw, plus the sun and moon. This banner would be used by future kingdoms in Sri Lanka.
The kingdom which Dutugamunu ruled, the kingdom of Anuradhapura (founded in 377 BC) existed until 1017. The Indian Chola dynasty began invading the island in 993, fully conquering it in 1017. The Cholas ruled until 1070 when Vijayabahu I, who began a rebellion against the Cholas in 1056, defeated them and founded the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, which fell in 1310. From the 13th to 16th centuries, Sri Lanka would be split into multiple kingdoms: Jaffna, Dambadeniya, Raigama, Kotte, Sitawaka, and Kandy. By 1590, only Jaffna, Kotte, Sitawaka, and Kandy
In 1505, the Portuguese came to the island. In 1517 they built a fort in Colombo. In 1594 Sitawaka was conquered. Dharmapala, last king of Kotte, would give his kingdom to the Portuguese after his death in 1597. Kandy became the last independent kingdom in Si Lanka after Jaffna was conquered in 1624. War between the Kandyans and Portuguese led to Rajasinghe II, king of Kandy, to sign a treaty with the Dutch to defeat the Portuguese. The Portuguese were defeated in 1656, only to be replaced with the Dutch, who by 1700 had conquered the entire coast of Sri Lanka, making Kandy only have control of the inland part of Sri Lanka.
In 1795, after France conqiered the Netherlands in the French Revolutionary Wars, Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was known as the time) was conquered by the British in 1995, and British rule of the island was confirmed in the 1802 Treaty of Amiens. Kandy was conquered in 1815, and lost its autonomy after the Uva Rebellion (1817-1818). The lion banner fell out of use, and was taken to the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. The flag was rediscovered in early 20th century by E. W. Perera, a pro-independence politician, and a photo of it was published in a newspaper known as Dinamina, making the exact design of the flag known again
Universal adult suffrage in Ceylon was established in 1931. Ceylon's parliamentary election in 1947 ended with a pro-independence coalition making up a majority. On 4 February 1948 Ceylon gained independence as the Dominion of Ceylon, a Commonwealth Realm. It adopted a flag similar to the current, but with only the rectangle with the lion on it and its border. There a few differences betwwen in and the current: there was a thin black border between the red and yellow, and there were spearheads instead of leaves in the corners. The flag was changed again in 1951 to be nearly identical to the current, but withspearheads instead of leaves. On 22 March 1972 Ceylon adopted a new constitution, becoming a republic known as Sri Lanka. That same date, its current flag was adopted.
In Sri Lanka's flag, the lion symbolizes Sri Lanla's bravery. The har on its ead symbolizes religious observance, meditation and wisdom, its beard symbolizes purity of words, its nose symbolizes intelligence, and its two front paws symbolize purity in handling wealth. The eight hairs of the lion's tail symbolize the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path. the sword symbolizes Sri Lanka's sovereignity, while its handle symbolizes earth, water, air, and earth. The bo leaves in the corners of the maroon rectangle symbolize loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The orange rectangle symbolizes Sri Lankan Tamils, the country's biggest minority (three million people, a mayority in the north), while the green one symbolizes Islam and Sri Lankan Moors (about two million people). The maroon rectangle symbolize the Sinhalese (15 million people, the country's biggest ethnicity). The yellow border symbolizes the unity of Sri Lankans.
Rule 3: Yellow, green, orange, and maroon. Pretty nice colors.
Rule 4: The flag features a lion.
Rule 5: This flag has a pretty unique design.
Part 2
British Ceylon

Spoiler

British colonial flag. I like elephants, but not this flag.
Dominion of Ceylon (1948-1951)

Spoiler

I personally love the orange and green rectangles, so I prefer the current.
Dominion of Ceylon (1951-1972)

Spoiler

It's almost identical to the current.
Part 3
The lion is a bit comple, but otherwise it's a great flag.