Badposter rates every country flag

[badposter]

Flag of Guatemala

Civil ensign

Spoiler

Ratio: 5:8 (an unusual ratio)
Adopted: 17 August 1871
Part 1
Rule 1: The coat of arms is too complicated to draw from memory. A child could draw the civil ensign though.
Rule 2: This is a Central American flag, so it's time for the Central American copypasta.

The Federal Republic's flag was influenced by Argentina's flag and had two blue stripes (representing the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans), and a white stripe between them (representing the land between them). The blue and white of this flag, and of every country that was a member of the Federal Republic's flag, comes from this

And for the coat of arms:

In the center of the flag is the Guatemalan coat of arms. It includes the resplendent quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala that symbolizes liberty; a parchment scroll bearing the date of Central America's independence from Spain, 15 September 1821; crossed rifles, indicating Guatemala's willingness to defend itself by force if need be; a bay laurel crown, the symbol for victory; and crossed swords, representing honor

This flag's deisgn was like the other Central American countries's: a blue white and blue horizonta ltriband with a coat of arms in the center. In 1851, when Guatemala was ruled by a conservative pro-Spain government, red and yellow were added to the flag because those were Spain's colors. In 1871 the liberals took over and removed the red and yellow on the flag, changed the coat of arms and made the flag vertical to distinguish this flag from those of other Central American countries.
Rule 3: Ignoring the coat of arms, blue and white. Good colors.
Oh, and I guess it's time to talk about an important relating to rule, which, while I knew existed,didn't know the details of until last week embarrasingly enough: the rule of tinture. This was originally a heraldric rule, but it applie to vexillology too. Basically it states metals (that is, or and argent, gold and silver, represented by yellow and white) shall not be put on metals and colors shall not be put on colors (there are exceptions to this rule, but this is just the basic concept)
Once again ignoring the coat of arms, this flag has one color and one metal, thus not breaking the rule of tincture (note that a flag isn't neccesarily bad just because it breaks the rule of tincture)
I apologize for not knowing about the rule until... the 14th, I think.
Rule 4: The state ensign has (small) text and a complex coat of arms. The civil ensign, however, doesn't.
Rule 5: There are other flags with a vertical blue white blue tricolor, but they're obscure. I think this flag (even without its coat of arms) is rather distinctive, given it has the Central American colors but is vertical in constrast to the vertical flags in the region's other countries.
Part 2
1838-1843

Spoiler

This flag has a complex coat of arms and text, and unlike the current it's not distinctive, due to the fact it's horizontal.
1843-1851

Spoiler

Same as above.
1851-1858 (civil ensign, the state ensign had a complex coat of arms)

Spoiler

This flag looks nice (in my opinion) despite breaking the rule of tincture (red touches bue and yellow touches white).
1858-1871 (civil ensign, same deal as above)

Spoiler

This flag, on the other hand, looks ugly despite breaking the rule of tincture.
Part 3
The civil ensign is good. It's simple and relatively distinctive. The state ensign is also distinctive, but it also has text and a complex coat of arms (though it does have a quetzal. I like quetzals)

 

[badposter]

Flag of Guinea

Ratio: 2:3 (normal, not interesting)
Adopted: 10 November 1958 (more than a month after Guinea's independence, which happened in 2 October of that year
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor.
Rule 2: The red represents the blood of those who died from wars and slavery (4.1% of the slaves who came to the Americas through the Transatlantic Slave Trade came from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau or Sierra Leone. The yellow represents the Sun and the country's riches and the green represents the country's vegetation (pretty generic symbolism)
This flag has Pan-African colors and also the same colors as those of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, a political party which was in favor of the independence of French colonies in Africa.
Rule 3: Red, yellow and green. Good colors, but I think they're overused.
Rule 4: It's a simple tricolor with no emblem.
Rule 5: This flag is pretty similar to Mali's, the only difference being that this flag has the colors reversed. This flag is not distinctive.
Part 2
Wikipedia's page for this flag has no historical flags. I checked the French Wikipedia (since French is the most spoken European langage in Guinea, due to the fact that Guinea was once French colony) and found nothing there either. But I did find a historical flag of an empire which was in what is now Guinean territory in flagspot:
Wassolou Empire (1878-1898)

Spoiler

It's not good looking (it has a 1:1, which is pretty ugly on this flag imo), but at least it's disinctive.
Part 3
It's not distinctive, and besides it's one of the least interesting Pan-Africans. Bad flag.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Guinea-Bissau

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 24 September 1973 (declaration of Guinea-Bissau's independence. The country's independence would be recognized on 10 September 1974)
Part 1
Rule 1: This is a simple flag. A child could draw it from memory.
Rule 2: The red represents the blood shed during Guinea-Bissau's independence (Guinea-Bissau became independent after a bloody war, like most Portuguese colonies in Africa), the green represents Guinea-Bissau's forests and the gold represents Guinea-Bissau's mineral wealth and the black star represents African unity. I think this is pretty generic symbolism, except for the black star.
This flag has Pan-African colors and is based on Ghana's flag (both having Pan-African colors and a black star). This flag has the same colors of those of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, which led the independence of both Guinea-Bissau (then known as Potuguese Guinea) and Cape Verde, and which ruled Guinea-Bissau dictatorially after independence and is the country's country's dominant party today, having 67 of the 102 seats in the National People's Assembly of Guinea-Bissau. (the party also ruled Cape Verde from 1975 to 1980 when, after the Bissau-Guinean coup of 1980 the Cape Verdean branch of the party separated from the party, becoming the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde)
Rule 3: The Pan-African colors plus black. I think they look good on this flag.
Rule 4: There are lot of flags with stars. Well, they're simple.
Rule 5: This flag is based on Ghana's flag and uses the Pan-African colors, but the black makes it distinctive compared to a generic Pan-African by its black star, and by Ghana's flag for having one vertical stripe and two horizontal stripes, compared to Ghana's, which was three horizontal stripes.
Part 2
I couldn't find historical flags of Guinea-Bissau on the English and Portuguese Wikipedias nor on flagspot.
Part 3
A good Pan-African, altough I think it looks better with a 2:3 ratio

 

[badposter]

Flag of Guyana

Ratio: 3:5 (after 2:3 and 1:2, the most common ratio for national flags)
Adopted: 26 May 1966 (Guyanan independence)
Part 1
Rule 1: I think this flag is simple enough for a child to draw recognizably (though not perfectly) from memory.
Rule 2: From this site (which I found in flagspot)

The Golden Arrowhead, Guyana's National Flag has FIVE symbolic colors -- GREEN represents the agricultural and forested nature of Guyana, WHITE symbolizes the rivers and water potential of the country, a GOLDEN arrow represents Guyana's mineral wealth, BLACK portrays the endurance that will sustain the forward thrust of the Guyanese people and RED represents the zeal and dynamic nature of nation-building which lies before the young and independent Guyana.

The basic design of this flag (without the black or white) was created by an actual (American) vexillologist, Whitney Smith. The black and white were added after a suggestion by the College of Arms (which is British). I don't get this. The old version didn't break the rule of tincture, but this one does (the red borders the black and the yellow touches the white). But then again, without the black and white this flag would be a Pan-African, while Guyana's population is made up of Indians descended from the Indians brought to Guyana as labor when both countries were in the British Empire, descendants of African slaves, mixed-race Guyanans and natives.
Rule 3: Red, black, yellow, white and green. Even if this flag breaks the rule of tincture I don't think it has bad colors.
Rule 4: I think triangles are simple.
Rule 5: This flag has a distinctive design.
Part 2
British Guiana (1875-1906)

Spoiler

If you've read this topic you've realized I don't like British colonial flags. The flag of British Guiana changed coat of arms in 1906, 1919 and 1955. I don't like any flag of British Guiana.
Part 3
I think it's a good flag, which makes sense since it was mostly designed by a professional vexillologist.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Haiti

Civil ensign

Spoiler

Ratio: 3:5 (the third most common flag ratoi)
Adopted: 1807 (as flag of the Republic of Haiti, which was only what is now the south of the country from 1806 to 1820, when Jean-Pierre Boyer reunified both halves), re-adopted 15 January 1859 (Emperor Faustin I overthrown), re-adopted again 25 February 1986 (Jean-Claude Duvalier overthrown).
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could not draw the state ensign from memory due to its rather complex coat of arms. The civil ensign is, however, a rather simple.
Rule 2: According to a Haitian popular legend, during the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) the newly appointed Haitian revolutionary leader, Jean-Jacques Dessalines ripped the white out of a French flag in 1803 and asked his goddaughter Catherine Flon to sew back the red and blue, creating a vertical red and blue flag. Whether or not this actually happened, in 1 January 1804 Haiti became an independent republic with a vertical red and blue flag, with the red representing black Haitians and the blue representing gens de couleur (the ripping out of the white has implications, since Dessalines ordered the massacre of white people in Haiti)
On 2 September 1804 Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Governor-General of Haiti declared himself emperor. In 1805 the blue on Haiti's flag was replaced with black. Dessalines's rule became more autocratic, and he became less popular with the public and with member of his administration. In 1806 Dessalines was assasinated and Haiti was split between the northern state of Haiti, ruled by Henri Cristophe, which had Haiti's old flag, and the Republic of Haiti, ruled by Alexandre Pétion, which had an horizontal red and blue flag with Haiti's coat of arms in a white square in the center.
In 1811 Henri Christophe, the president of the State of Haiti declared himself king and the State of Haiti became the Kingdom of Haiti, which had a red and black horizontal flag (note that in this flag the red is on the left , and in the flag of Dessalines' empire he red was on the right). In 1818 Alexandre Pétion died of yellow fever and was replace by Jean-Pierre Boyer, who in 1820 took over the Kingdom of Haiti after Henri Cristophe killed himself. Cristophe's son was assasinated by revolutionaries ten days after his father's suicide.
In 1849 Faustin Soulouque, president of Haiti declared himself Emperor Faustin I of Haiti and the coat of arms on Haiti's flag were replaced. In 1859 the emperor was overthrown and exiled, and the old flag was restored alongn with the republic.
Haiti's flag wouldn't change until 1964. That year, the president, Francois Duvalier (elected in 1957) declared himself President for Life of Haiti, and the black and red flag used by Dessalines (so red on right), though with a coat of arms mostly the same as Haiti's current, with the exception of the flags on it being black and red instead of black and blue.
In 1971 Francois Duvalier died and was replaced by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier, who kept the flag. In 1986 Jean-Claude Duvalier was overthrown and went into exile in France. After Duvalier's overthrow the old flag was restored. It has been Haiti's flag continously since.
Oh, and for the meaning of the coat of arms

It shows six draped flags of the country, three on each side, which are located before a palm tree and cannons on a green lawn. On the lawn various items are found, such as a drum, bugles, long guns, and ship anchors. Above the palm tree, there is a Phrygian cap placed as a symbol of freedom. On the lawn between the drum and the ribbon there were supposed to be two pieces of chain with a broken link symbolizing the broken chain of slavery.[citation needed]

The ribbon bears the motto: L'Union Fait La Force (French, "Unity Makes Strength"). This should not be confused with the national motto of Haiti, which according to the Constitution of Haiti is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

Rule 3: Once again not counting the coat of arms, red, white and blue. I like the red and blue, but the white square is pretty ugly. It looks like an image which was copypasted into the flag.
Rule 4: The state ensign has a pretty complex coat of arms and (pretty small) text . This is bad.
Rule 5: In the 1936 Olympics Haiti (which was using its civil ensign) and Liechtenstein used identical flags (Embarrasing confession: I learned this on the Big Bang Theory). Due to this, Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag. So now that Liechtenstein's flag has a crown, I think Haiti's flag without its coat of arms would be distinctive, though I'm not extremely sure on that.
Part 2
Haiti (1804), First Empire of Haiti (1805-1806), State of Haiti (1806-1811)

Spoiler

I think this is a good flag, even if a bit too similar to that of Paris. This flag, however is rectangular, while Paris' is square, so I think it's distinctive.
Though maybe in an alternate universe I'm complaining about Haiti's flag being to similar to Paris'. But at least Haiti doesn't have its current flag in that universe.
First Empire of Haiti (1805-1806)

Spoiler

I like this flag's colors, though I don't like Dessalines. I think Haiti shouldn't go back to using red and black flags for reasons I'll explain below.
Kingdom of Haiti (1811-1820)

Spoiler

I dislike most flag with coat of arms, including this one.
Second Empire of Haiti (1849-1859)

Spoiler

Same as above.
1964-1986

Spoiler

His rule, based on a purged military, a rural militia known as the Tonton Macoute, and the use of cult of personality, resulted in the murder of 30,000 to 60,000 Haitians and the exile of many more

After assuming power, he introduced cosmetic changes to his father's regime and delegated much authority to his advisors. Thousands of Haitians were killed or tortured, and hundreds of thousands fled the country during his presidency.[2] He maintained a notoriously lavish lifestyle (including a state-sponsored US$ 2 million wedding in 1980), and made millions from involvement in the drug trade and from selling body parts from dead Haitians while poverty among his people remained the most widespread of any country in the Western Hemisphere

Fuck the Duvaliers.
Part 3
It's ugly and has a complex coat of arms. A bad flag

 

[badposter]

Flag of Honduras

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: According to English Wikipedia, 7 March 1866. According to Spanish Wikipedia. 16 February 1866. And according to flagspot, 9 January 1866. So basically, the first half of 1866.
Part 1
Rule 1: This is a pretty simple flag, which a child could draw from memory.
Rule 2: Central American flag? Copypasta.

The five stars represent the countries that were in the Federal Republic of Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras (Los Altos isn't included, which makes sense since it was founded in 1838 (when the Federation was breaking up), only existed for two years, and doesn't exist today, its territory being in Guatemala and Mexico), in the hopes that the countries of Central America will one day be reunited.
Rule 3: Blue and white. As I have said in the past, I like that color comination.
Rule 4: Another flag with star, and another day I'll write the word “simple”
Rule 5: I think the stars make the flag distinctive compared to other Central American flag. Good example of relatd but distinctive.
Rule 2
So I couldn't find anything of English Wikipedia. So I looked for historical Honduran flags in flagspot. I couldn't find anything from before 1866.
But then I checked Spanish Wikipedia...
1839-1866

Spoiler

I think this flag is pretty generic and boring and I think it's more distinctive with the stars.
Rule 3
It's simple and manages to be related but distinctive. This is my favorite Central American flag.

 

[Magikrazy]

When this is over, will you do a favorite/least favorite?

 

[badposter]

When this is over, will you do a favorite/least favorite?

I wasn't planning on doing it, but now I'm gonna do it.
Well actually, I like (and dislike) too many flags to pick one favorite or least favorite, so I'm going to do the best and worst flag of every alphabet letter.
.
Flag of Hungary

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted:1 October, 1957 (coat of arms removed after 1956 Hungarian Revolution). First flown in the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. First flag with this colors adopted as the flag of Hungary in 1867 (Austria-Hungary founded). Austria-Hungary would break up in 1918.
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor.
Rule 2: In 1848, when Hungary was part of the Austrian Empire, the Hungarian Revolution began (there was a wave of revolution in Europe in 1848). A green, white and red tricolor was flown in that revolution, which was inspired from the French tricolor. The colors come from Hungary's coat of arms, and the flag was horizontal to prevent confusion with Italy's flag (the states in what is now Italy also had a Revolution in 1848. If you look at the flags of the revolutionaries in the article I linked to, you'll see that, excluding Milan, all have green, white and red vertical tricolors)
In 1849 the Hungarian Revolution was crushed by Austrian and Russian forces, but in 1867 the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 founded Austria-Hungary, an union of the Austrian and Hungarian monarchies (which had the same king. Both were ruled by the House of Habsburg), and Hungary got its own flag, which was the tricolor with a coat of arms with archangels supporting it.
In 1918 Austria-Hungar lost the WWI and was dissolved. The Hungarian People's Republic was established. It was like that of Hungary under Austria-Hungary, but without the crowns or the archangels. In 1919 communist took power and the Hungarian Soviet Republic was established. It had a plain red flag and didn't last long: it was defeated by Romanian, Yugoslavian and Czechoslovokian forces and, after less than six months, the Hungarian People's Republic was restored. The restoration didn't last long. After just five days, a right-wing coup took place and the Hungarian Republic was established. In 1920 the Hungarian parliament restored the Hungarian monarchy, and the Kingdom of Hungary was established. The crown was restored to the flag, but the Kingdom of Hungary, despite its name, never had a king, due to threats from Hungary's neighbors and the fact that the Regent of Hungary, Miklós Horthy, who held the real power in Hungary, didn't have a good relation with Charles IV of Hungary (and I of Austria), the last emperor of Austria-Hungary
Hungary was in the Axis in WWII. After they lost the “monarchy” was abolished and the Second Hungarian Republic, which had a somewhat different coat of arms from previous Hungarian flags was established. In 1949 the Soviet-backed Hungarian Communist Party took power and the Hungarian People's Republic (not to be confused with the other Hungarian People's Republic) was established. It, at first, had a communist coat of arms on its flag.
In 1956 there was a nationwide uprising agains the influence of the Soviet Union in Hungary. The revolutionaries flew a flag with the coat of arms in the centers cut out. The reformist Imre Nagy took over the Hungarian Working People's Party. It was agreed free elections would be held and Soviet troops would withdraw from Hungary, which would leave the Warsaw Pact. In response, Soviet troops with tanks invaded Hungary. Imre Nagy would be imprisoned and executed. János Kádár would take power. His government would be less authoritarian than that of Mátyás Rákosi (who was the General Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party before the Revolution), and the coat of arms would be removed from the flag. In 1988 János Kádár resigned due to old age and reformists took over the Communist Party. In 1989 it was agreed that the Hungarian People Republic would be dissolved and multi-party elections would be held
The Hungarian constitution (adopted in 2012) states that the green represents strength, white represents hope and green represents fidelity.
Rule 3: Red, white and green. Colors I like.
Rule 4: This flag is a simple tricolor with no text and no emblems.
Rule 5: I think this flag can easily be confused with that of North Rhine-Westphalia. This flag, however, originates in 1848 and this flag originates from 1948, one hundred years later. So I don't hold that against Hungary.
Part 2
1867-1918 (Hungary as part of Austria-Hungary)

Spoiler

I don't there should be realistic humans (well, they're archangels, but they're humanlike) should be on flags (I'm okay with simple, stylized humans)
Hungarian People's Republic (1918-1919)

Spoiler

Not bad as far as flags with coat of arms go.
Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919)

Spoiler

I don't like monocolors.
Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946)

Spoiler

The crown on the flag actually exists, (it originates from the 12th century) and its cross is actually crooked (from a mistake when putting the crown in its chest in the 17th century).
Since Hungary is not a monarchy I don't think this flag should be brought back. And besides, the Holy Crown of Hungary is pretty complex.
Second Hungarian Republic (1946-1949)

Spoiler

This flag has a crown on the cross, which is kind of since it's the flag of a republic
Hungarian People's Republic (1949-1956)

Spoiler

I don't like most coats of arms on flags, including this one. By the way, I don't think flags should have flags on them.
Part 3
I think it's a bit boring, but it's not a bad flag.

 

[Kyoko Sakura]

Was waiting for Hungary. Interesting post.

 

[Magikrazy]

Yeah, me too (I'm part Hungarian)

 

[badposter]

Flag of Iceland

State ensign

Spoiler

Ratio: 18:25 (civil ensign), 9:16 (state ensign) (all Nordic flags have odd ratios)
Adopted: 19 June 1915 (when Iceland was a part of Denmark with home rule. Iceland would gain independence as a kingdom on 1 December 1918). Shade of blue defined on 17 June 1944.
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could draw this flag from memory. Most Nordic flags are simple.
Rule 2: In 1897 (when Iceland was part of Denmark) a blue flag with a white cross was flown in a parade. This flag became a symbol of Icelandic nationalism. A flag similar to the blue and white one, but with a red cross inside the white cross, became the flag of Iceland in 1913. In 1918 Iceland would become an independent kingdom (which had the same king as Denmark)
On 17 June 1944 the Icelandic monarchy was abolished after a referendum on May of that year. On the same date of the abolition of the monarchy the shade of blue on the flag was darkened.
The blue on the flag symbolizes the seas, the red the country's volcanoes, and white represents snow (a satellite image of Iceland taken on January 2004. Iceland is usually greener, but it does normally have white spots, the biggest being Vatnajökull, a glacier covering more than 8% of Iceland's teritory.). The cross represents Christianity.
The history of this flag as told by a flagspot user (I don't kow if this story is true)

The blue and white flag gained some popularity, especially after the flag incident of 12 June 1913. A young man, Einar Petursson, was rowing around Reykjavik harbour with a blue and white flag flying from the small boat. The captain of the Danish coast guard ship "Islands Falk" ("Falcon of Iceland") arrested the young man and confiscated the flag. This provoked outrage throughout Reykjavik and blue and white flags appeared everywhere. As the captain tried to go ashore to pursue the matter against the young man, he was forced to go back again under an espalier of blue and white flags. (See this photo of Petursson, courtesy of the Prime Minister's office, Iceland.)

A meeting was called and a resolution protesting against the action of the captain was adopted. The resolution also called for the official adoption of a flag for Iceland. The parliament wanted the blue and white cross flag, but this was denied by Danish authorities, apparently because the King thought this flag to be too similar to the royal flag of Greece.

Rule 3: Blue, white and red. Color that I think are overused but not bad. This flag has good colors
Rule 4: Crosses are simple.
Rule 5:

Something nice about Nordic flags is that they all have different colors that make them distinctive.

Part 2
Kingdom of Iceland (has a lighter shade of blue) (1918-1944)

Spoiler

I think both this flag and the current are good
Part 3
I like all Nordic flags.
(Unrelated to flags, but I want Iceland to win the Euro, or at least beat England on Monday)

 

[Kyoko Sakura]

Yeah, me too (I'm part Hungarian)

Yeah I'm a quarter Hungarian (paternal grandfather) and I like learning more about the country.

 

[badposter]

Flag of India

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 22 July 1947 (eight days after British independence)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child couldn't draw the wheel perfectly, but they could draw the wheel recognizably, which is what matters.
Rule 2: A saffron, white and green tricolor with a spinning wheel on the center, known as the Swaraj flag (Swaraj means self-governance in Hindi. The word was used by Mahatma Gandhi to refer to India's indpendence) was adopted by the Indian National Congress (a political party which led India's independence movement, which is today one of India's biggest political parties. Gandhi was a member) in 1931. The saffron represented courage and sacrifice, the white peace and truth and the green faith and chivalry. The wheel symbolized Gandhi's wish that Indian would grow their own clothes.
A few days before Indian independence, the Indian Constituent flag declared that India's would have to be acceptable to all countries and communities. A flag similar to the Swaraj flag was adopted, but the spinning wheel was replaced by the Ashoka Chakra, a wheel of law with 24 spokes.
The meaning of the flag according to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India's firs Vice President and second President, who was also a philosopher:

Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.

This flag, by law, is to be made of khadi, a type of hand-spun cloth which Gandhi wore.
Rule 3: Saffron, white, green and blue. Good colors.
Rule 4: The wheel is a relatively simple emblem.
Rule 5: The Ashoka Chakra makes the flag distinctive imo.
Part 2
British Raj (1858-1947)

Spoiler

It's red instead of blue, so it's more distinctive than other British colonial flags. I still don't like it though.
Part 3
A good, distinctive and relatively simple flag.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Indonesia

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: Unoficially, 17 August 1945 (Indonesian declaration of independence), officially 27 December 1949 (United States of Indonesia founded)
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a pretty simple flag.
Rule 2: The Majapahit Empire, a Javan empire founded in the 13th centrury which at its peak in the 14th century ruled much of what is now Indonesia, used a red and white banner with nine stripes. Red and white are also found in the flag of other Indonesian kingdoms, and also by other Austronesians.. Some say that this is because in Austronesian mythology red symbolizes Mother Earth and white symbolizes Father Sky.
Whatever the case, red and white became symbols of Indonesian nationalism and independence from the Dutch. When Indonesian indpendence was declared on 17 August 1945 a red and white flag (known as the Bendera Pusaka, which means the Heirloom Flag was flown on Sukarno's (Sukarno was Indonesia's first president) house. The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence led to a war with the Netherlands. While the Dutch managed to control the urban areas, a stalemate in the countryside, combined with international pressure, led to the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference in 1949 in which the Netherlands agreed to transfer its sovereignity of Indonesia. The Republic of the United States of Indonesia, which was a federation, was established on 27 December 1949. It didn't last long, being replaced by the (unitary) Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1950. The Republic has had a lot of political turmoil (Indonesia has only been an inunterrupted democracy since 1998) but it as always had a red a white flag.
An alternate story on the origin of the flag goes:

There is also another story about the flag of Indonesia, which is significantly related to the flag of the Netherlands. Under Dutch colonialism, every administration used the Netherlands (Red-white-blue) flag. The flag of Indonesia was prohibited. To symbolise the intention of forcing out the Dutch, the Indonesian nationalists and independence movement tore apart the Dutch flag. They tore off the bottom third of the flag, and separated the red and white colours from the blue colour. A famous flag tearing incident, the "Hotel Yamato incident" happened on 19 September 1945 on top of Hotel Majapahit in downtown Surabaya, where young Indonesian revolutionaries tore the blue part of the Dutch flag flown in the hotel to change it to the Indonesian flag in the lead up to the Battle of Surabaya. The main reason was because blue in the Dutch flag was understood as standing for the "blue blooded" aristocracy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Conversely, the red colour represented the blood shed in the War of Independence, while the white could be understood to symbolise the purity of the Indonesians.[10]

Some others say the red represents bravery and the white purity. According to others the red represents the body and the white the soul. There are also those who say the red represents represents sugar and white represents rice, both sugar and rice being the main components of Indonesian cuisine.
Rule 3: Red and white. Well, not bad colors. They don't break the rule of tincture.
Rule 4: It's a pretty simple flag with no text or emblems.
Rule 5: This flag is not only identical to Monaco's (which is older, being adopted in 1881), but also to Vienna's, Salzburg's, Voralberg's (an Austrian states) and Kerkrade. I think this issue coould be fixed with Indonesia using its naval jack, which, while being similar to the flags of Liberia Malaysia and the United States, has no canton, which I think makes it distinctive. Certainly, it's more distinctive than the current.
Part 2
Dutch East India Company (1603-1800)

Spoiler

Given that Indonesia is no longer a Dutch colony, that the company went bankrupt in 1800 and that it was involved in slave trade
Dutch East Indies (1800-1949)

Spoiler

the most original flag in history./s
Part 3
A boring and undistinctive flag. I'd rather have Indonesia use its naval jack as its national flah.

 

[TabuuandPeach]

Please do the flag of Israel it's a simple flag.

 

[Magikrazy]

He's doing every flag in alphabetical order, so after he does Iran, Iraq, and Ireland, he'll get to Israel.

 

[EctoBiologist]

rip Venezuela.

 

[Lord Bowser]

rip Venezuela.

still a better fate than zimbabwe

 

[badposter]

Flag of Iran

Ratio: According to national Iranian standards, 4:7. But constructing using a straightedge results in a ratio of 1:75/28(7√5 − 15), which is approximately 1:1.7477. A pretty strange ratio.
Adopted: Colors adopted in 1933. Current flag adopted 29 July 1980 (Islamists take power after the 1979 Iranian Revolution)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child couldn't draw this flag from memory unless they knew how to write the Arabic script.
Rule 2: Before the 1979 Iranian Revolution Iran had a lion and sun on its flag. Iran was ruled as a dictatorially by the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Due to reasons other people can explain better the Shah was overthrown by a coalitions of Islamists, leftists, and liberals. The Shah escaped to Egypt and a power struggle ensued between the factions who led the Revolution, and the Islamists won. In 1980 the lion and sun was replaced by a rather stylized deciption of the first part of the shahada (lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, there is no God but God. To convert to Islam one must recite the shahada), which has the shape of a tulip due to a legend that tulips grow from the shed blood of martyrs. In the red and green stripes the phrase Allahu Akbar (God is Great), written eleven times per stripe in Kufic script.
The green symbolizes In the Iranian culture, it symbolizes growth, happiness, unity, nature, vitality, and the Persian Language, the white freedom and the red martyrdom, bravery, love, warmth and sophistication.
Rule 3: Green, white and red. I think this flag has good colors.
Rule 4: This flag has a lot of text. I don't think it looks bad, but it's pretty complex.
Rule 5: If Iran's flag had no text it'd be pretty similar to Hungary's and identical to North Rhine-Westphalia's. The flag as it is now is distinctive.
Rule 2
Note: Iran was known as Persia before 1933 in the West.
Standard of the Achaemenid empire (circa 550 BC-330 BC) (note that Wikipedia also has versions with a gold falcon on a red background or a gold falcon on a white background. I don't know much about the topic)

Spoiler

I like the falcon, thoughn it's complex.
Flag used by Mahmud of the Ghaznavid Empire (998-1030)

Spoiler

It's a golden moon on a black background. It's a flag I like.
Safavid dynasty under Ismail I (1502-1524)

Spoiler

This flag also has a moon. I think it's a good flag, but I prefer Mahmud's
Safavid dynasty under Tahmasp I (1524-1576)

Spoiler

The sheep and sun emblem is a bit too complex for me9.
Safavid dynasty (1576-1732)

Spoiler

This flag has the lion and sun emblem, which would be used by other Iranian flags for the next 300 years. Personally I think the emblem is too complex, and given it's associated with the Iranian monarchy nowadays I don't think Iran should use it.
Afsharid dynasty (1736-1796)

Spoiler

I have to admit I'm biased towards non-quadrilaterals (by the way, this flag had no green because Nader Shah, the first shah of this dynasty, thought the colors to be associated with Shia Islam (which was the official religion of Safavid Persia), while Nader Shah's army was a mix of Sunni and Shia)
Zand dynasty (1750-1794)

Spoiler

I like non-quadrilaterals but not the emblem. So I'm conflicted.
.
From 1789 to 1925 the Qajar dynasty ruled Persia. I don't care about most of their flags, excluding the last one, which was adopted after the Persian Constitutional Revolution.
Qajar dynasty (1906-1925), Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1933) (the civil ensign had no emblem. Same thing happens with the next two flags)

Spoiler

I think even without the lion the flag is distinctive, due to the pink and the 1:3 ratio (this flag is pretty long due to its ratio)
Pahlavi dynasty (1933-1964)

Spoiler

Honestly, I like the pink more.
Pahlavi dynasty (1964-1979), Interim Government of Iran (1979), Islamic Republic of Iran (1979-1980)

Spoiler

The civil ensign of Iran during this period is almost identical to the flag of North Rhine-Westphalia the only difference being the ratio (the same could be said of the 1933-1964, but a 1:3 ratio is much easier to tell apart from a 3:5 ratio (the ratio of North Rhine-Westphalia's flag) than a 4:7 ratio).
Rule 3
God that was long. Well, I think the flag doesn't look bad, but the text is too complex, even if actually looks good. If I had to change Iran's flag I'd have it be the 1906-1933 civil ensign.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Iraq

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 22 January 2008 (colors adopted 28 July 1963)
Part 1
Rule 1: A child could not draw this flag from memory unless they knew how to write Arabic script.
Rule 2: First, the meaning of Pan-Arab colors:

Basically, there are two set of Pan-Arab colors: the most used set uses red, black, green and white. These colors were first used in the 1916 Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire and each color represented an Arab dynasty: black represented the Abbasids, white the Ummayads, green the Fatimids and red the Hashemites.
The other set uses red, white and black and is derived from the Arab Liberation Flag, which was used in the 1952 Egyptian Revolution which overthrew the country's monarchy.

In 1920 the future of the former Ottoman territories in the Middle East was decided in the San Remo conference (1920). The British were awarded a mandated over the former Ottoman Viyalets of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul. This led to an Iraqi revolt against the British. The British put down the revolt, but in 1921 it was agreed Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, who was proclaimed King of Syria but overthrown by the French in 1920 would become King of Iraq. In 1922 the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty was signed. It gave Iraq local self-government and gave gave the British control of Iraq's military and foreign affairs. This created the Kingdom of Iraq, which had a black white and green horizontal tricolor and a vertical trapezoid with two seven-pointed white stars (representing Arabs and Kurds) on the the left. This flag was similar to that of Jordan, which like Iraq had a Hashemite monarchy (which Jordan still has). When Iraq gained full independence in 1932 the flag was kept, until 19 February 1958 when, in response to Egypt and Syria uniting to form the United Arab Republic, Iraq and Jordan established a federation called the Arab Federation, whose flag was identical to Palestine's current.
The Federation didn't last long. On 14 July 1958 the monarchy was overthrown and abolished. The king and most of the royal family were executed, and Iraqi Army brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim. The Republic of Iraq was established. Under Qasim's rule Iraq's flag was a black white and green tricolor (representing Arabs) with a yellow sun (representing Kurds) and a red star (representing both Iraq's past and its Chaldean Syriac and Assyrian minorities).
Qasim would prove to be an authoritarian leader and became unpopular with Iraqis, the Arab world, and Iran. In February 1963 Qasim was overthrown and executed in the Ramadan Revolution, led by The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which supported Pan-Arabism. A new flag of Iraq, based on the Arab Liberation flag and the flag of the United Arab Republic. It was a red white and black horizontal tricolor with three stars representing Egypt, Syria and Iraq (representing hope for Arab unity and a new United Arab Republic). In March of 1963 the Ba'ath Party took power in Syria and a flag identical to Iraq's was adopted (Syria changed its flag in 1972). In November 1963 the Ba'ath Party government was overtrown in coup d'état. The coup was led by Naserists, who are Pan-Arab (Nasser was the president of Egypt when the United Arab Republic was founded) and the flag was kept the same.
In 1966 the Ba'ath Party was split between Iraqi and Syrian factions in 1966. In 1968 the Iraqi faction of the Ba'ath Party took power after a coup d'état. Troughout the 1970s, the president of Iraq, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, began to fall ill, and his Vice President, Saddam Hussein, began to gain more and more power, eventually becoming Iraq's president on 16 July 1979. In 1986 the meaning of the stars on Iraq's was changed. The stars now symbolized the three tenets of the Ba'ath Party: unity, freedom and socialism.
In 1991 the phrase تَكْبِير (Allahu akbar, God is great) was added to the flag in Saddam's own handwritng, some say to garner support from religious leaders during the Gulf War.
In 2004, during the Iraq War, after Saddam Hussein was overthrown (and, in 2006, executed) the flag was mostly kept the same, but the phrase was changed to be in the Kufic script
In 2008 the stars on the flags were removed. The new flag was meant to be temporary and a contest was launched, but nothing came of it. Thus the flag adopted in 2008 is Iraq's current flag.
Rule 3: I dislike the Pan-Arab colors, but they're not bad colors. This flag doesn't break the rule of tincture.
Rule 4: This flag has text. This is bad.
Rule 5: Other than the flag of the unrecognized state of Somaliland this flag is the only Pan-Arab flag with text. But for some reason I can't find most Pan-Arab flags distinctive, including this one.
Part 2
Kingdom of Iraq (1921-1958)

Spoiler

I don't find to be distinctive compared to that of Jordan or Kuwait.
1959-1963

Spoiler

This flag is distinctive, has a simple emblem, and represents Iraq's minorities. Good flag.
1963-1991

Spoiler

Extremely similar to Syria's current, the only difference being Syria's flag has two stars instead of three.
1991-2004

Spoiler

Saddam Hussein could draw this flag from memory. I, however, could not (it's hard to compare, given I write in the Latin script and Saddam wrote in the Arabic script. But I think he has better handwriting than me)
2004-2008

Spoiler

Kufic script looks better than Saddam's handwriting. But I still don't like the flag.
Part 3
I can't this flag distinctive. And it has text. I dislike this flag.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Ireland

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 6 December 1922 (Irish Free State founded). Constitutionally confirmed with the Irish Constitution of 1937 (adopted on 29 December of that year)
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor with no emblems.
Rule 2: The Society of United Irishmen, a late 18th Irish revolutionary organization used a green flag with a yellow harp. This flag was used by the Irish soldier Owen Roe O'Neill in the 1640s. During the late 18th century had become associated with revolution.
During that time a rival organization, the Orange Order, which was pro-unionist and Protestant-only was founded. It was named after the Protestant and Dutch King of Great Britain William II (King of Great Britain from 1689 to 1702) of the House of Orange, who defeated the Catholic king James II in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The flag of the Orange Order was orange with a purple star and with a St George's Cross (the cross in England's flag) in the canton.
After the 1798 Irish Rebellion had the "green" republican United Irishmen and the "orange" Protestants who favored British rule, 19th century Irish nationalism focused on peace between the two.
On 7 March 1848 Thomas Francis Meagher, leader of the Young Irish, an Irish nationalist organization, flew a green, white and orange vertical tricolor from the Wolf Tone club in Waterford, his native city. The green represented republicans, the orange loyalists and the white peace between them. It was based on the tricolors of France and Newfoundland, where Meagher's father was born. (Fun fact: Meagher was set to be executed but was just deported to Tasmania. He then escaped to the USA, fought for the Union in the American Civil War and was appointed Governor of the Territory of Montana. In 1867 after becoming ill he fell from a steamboat into the Missouri River. His body was never recovered)
From 1848 to 1916 Meagher's flag wasn't used much, but the use of the flag was revived after it was used by Irish rebels in the 1916 Easter Rising.
The British managed to put down the Easter Rising, but in the 1918 British elections the nationalist Sinn Féin party won the most seats in Ireland. Sinn Féin refused to take their seats in the British Parliament and instead formed a parliament called the Dáil Éireann (Assembly of Ireland) in Dublin. On 21 January 1919 the Dáil declared Irish independence. The unrecognized Irish Republic claimed all of Ireland but controlled just 21 of its 32 counties and had Meagher's tricolor as its flag.
After the Government of Ireland Act 1920 was signed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland (made up of six counties in Ireland's northeast) and Southern Ireland (made up of the rest of Ireland's counties). In 1921 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. On 6 December 1922 the Irish Free State was founded. It was an independent country which had the same king as that of the UK and the same flag as that of the Irish Republic. In its first two days its territory was all of the island of Ireland, but in the treaty it was established that the counties that were in Northern Ireland had the right to opt out of the Free State. Thus, on 8 December 1922 Northern Ireland returned to the UK.
On 29 December 1937 Ireland adopted a constitution that established an independent state simply known as Ireland. It established a presidency, but did not establish the president as the head of state. It also neither mentioned the monarchy or declare it abolished, leaving Ireland's head of state vague. Finally, the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (which took effect in 1949) declared Ireland was a republic, which meant Ireland would have to leave the Commonwealth of Nations, since at the time only monarchies with the same monarch as the other members could be in the Commonwealth (the monarchy requirement was abolished after the London Declaration just after Ireland became a republic. This permitted India to stay in the Commonwealth despite becoming a republic in 1950. Ireland, however, never returned to the Commonwealth).
Part 3: Green, white and orange. Nice colors.
Part 4: This flag is a simple tricolor with no text or emblems.
Part 5: This flag is pretty similar to Ivory Coast's, but that's Ivory Coast's fault, since this flag is older. This flag is also similar to Italy's, but I think most people can distinguish orange and red.
Part 2
That green flag with a yellow harp I mentioned? The harp has breasts with nipples. I'm not showing that flag.
Part 3
A good flag, though a bit bland.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Israel

Civil ensign (Note: has a 2:3 ratio.)

Spoiler

Ratio: 8:11 (an unusual ratio)
Adopted: 28 October 1948 (Five months after the founding of the State of Israel)\
Part 1
Rule 1: A star of David can be made by drawing two triangles. It's pretty simple.
Rule 2: The Austrian Jewish poet Ludwig August von Frankl states in his 1864 poem, "Judah's Colours" that blue and white are the Jewish colors:

When sublime feelings his heart fill, he is mantled in the colors of his country. He stands in prayer, wrapped in a sparkling robe of white.
The hems of the white robe are crowned with broad stripes of blue; Like the robe of the High Priest, adorned with bands of blue threads.
These are the colours of the beloved country, blue and white are the colours of Judah; White is the radiance of the priesthood, and blue, the splendors of the firmament

In 1891 the Zionist Jacob Baruch Askowith and his son Charles Askowith designed a "flag of Judah" which was mostly identical to the current flag, but with the word "Maccabee" in golden letters in the Star of David.
The white in the flag represents divine benevolence and the blue represents God's glory, purity, and benevolence, besides being an important color in Judaism. The Star of David is a Jewish symbol (74.9% of Israels are Jewish) and the stripes recall the design of a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl.
Rule 3:White and blue. As I have written before I think those are good colors.
Rule 4: The Star of David is a simple emblem. Simple emblems are good.
Rule 5: This flag is pretty distinctive.
Part 2
Claiming the flag of British Palestine or of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (part of the Ottoman Empire) is an historical Israeli or Palestinian flag is a politically loaded move, and in the interest of political neutrality Part 2 will be empty when I write about Israel or Palestine's flag, except if the flags are of the State of Israel or the State of Palestine. The State of Israel has only had one flag (the current) so there will be no flags in this section.
Part 3
A good simple and distinctive flag. The civil ensign, however, is pretty ugly.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Italy

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 18 June 1946 (Italy becomes a republic. Coat of arms removed). Officialy adopted when the Italian constitution came into effect on 1 January 1848.
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor.
Rule 2: During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, managed to conquer the Italian peninsula. Many French puppet states were created, including the Transpadane Republic (created from the Duchy of Milan), and the Cispadane Republic (created from the Duchy of Modena and Reggio and the Papal Legations. In 1797 the Cisalpine Republic was created from the Cisalpine Republic, the Cispadane Republic and the former Duchy of Mantua (and briefly the Republic of Venice, though Venice was given to Austria in the treaty of Campo Formio in exchange of it recognizing the republic). The Cisalpine Republic had a flag that was almost identical to Italy's current, with the exception of having a 1:1 ratio (meaning it was square). The red and white came from Milan's flag and the green came from the uniform used by the Milanese civic guard.
In 1802 the Italian Republic (a French client which only covered part of what is now Italy) was founded from the Transalpine Republic and the Subalpine Republic (whose territory was in Piedmont, which was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia). The Italian Republic had a square flag with a green square inside a white rhombus inside a red square. In 1805 the Kingdom of Italy was created from the Republic of Italy and the (formerly Austrian) Venetian Province, which France managed to retake. Its king was Napoleon and its flag was similar to that of the Republic of Italy, but with a 2:3 ratio and a Napoleonic eagle inside the green square.
In 1814 Napoleon was defeated, the Kingdom of Italy was dissolved. In 1815 the Concert of Vienna made Italy have nine sovereign states in it: The Duchy of Lucca (ruled by the house of Bourbon-Parma, annexed by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1847), the Duchy of Massa and Carrara (ruled by the House of Este, annexed by the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1829), the Duchy of Modena and Reggio (ruled by the House of Austria-Este, a branch of the house of Habsburg), the Duchy of Parma (ruled by the house of Bourbon-Parma), the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (ruled by the house of Habsburg-Lorraine), the Kingdom of Sardinia (ruled by the house of Savoy), the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (ruled by the house of Bourbon-Two Sicilies), the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (ruled by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine) and the Papal States (ruled by the Pope). In 1848, Italian liberals rebelled against Austrian rule in Italy and for liberal constitutions. Revolutionary states were declared in Italy, and all of the states had a green white and red vertical tricolor as their flag, with the exception of the Provisional Government of Milan, whose flag had brown instead of green. Charles Albert, the king of Sardinia supported Italian unification and declared war on Austria. Sardinia adopted a war flag almost identical to that of the Cisalpine Republic, but with the Savoy coat of arms in the center. Sardinia lost its war against Austria and the revolution was crushed. Charles Albert would go into exile and die in 1849.
In 1851 the Kingdom of Sardinia adopted a version of its war flag with a 2:3 ratio (and, in the case of the civil ensign, no crown). In 1859 Sardinia, allied with France, declared war on Austria and managed to annex Lombardy from the the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. At the same time revolutions happened in Tuscany, Parma, Modena and Reggio and the Papal Legations, The United Provinces of Italy, a Sardinian puppet state with the same flag as that of Sardinia was founded. In 1860 the United Provinces joined Sardinia after a referendum. After the the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860 the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was annexed, along with most of the Papal States except for Lazio, where Rome was. On 17 March 1861 the Kingdom of Italy, which had the same flag as that of Sardinia. When it was declared it held most of Italy's current territory, excluding Venetia and Lazio. In 1866 Otto von Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia offered Victor Emmanuel II, the last kinh of Sardinia and the first king of Italy, the opportunity to annex Venetia if Italy supported Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War. Prussia won that war and Italy annexed Venetia.
Meanwhile, the Papal States were being protected by a French garisson. But after the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870 the garrison was recalled to fight in that war, which allowed Italy to annex the Papal States. Rome became Italy's capital.
During WWI Italy was aligned it the Allied Powers. It would fight in exchange for:

Trentino and the South Tyrol up to the Brenner Pass, the entire Austrian Littoral (with Trieste), Gorizia and Gradisca (Eastern Friuli) and Istria (but without Fiume), parts of western Carniola (Idrija and Ilirska Bistrica) and north-western Dalmatia with Zara and most of the islands, but without Split

After WWI Dalmatia would be given to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This led to resentment against the Allies and led to the rise of fascism. After the March on Rome in 1922 Victor Emmanuel III, the King of Italy, appointed the Fascist Benito Mussolini as the Prime Minister of Italy, the first country ruled by a fascist. In WWII Italy would join the axis. After the war Italy would lose Istria and Carniola to Yugoslavia.
In 1946 there was a referendum on whether Italy should be a republic or a monarchy. The monarchy was abolished, and from 1946 to 2002 the Savoys were forbidden to step foot in Italy. The coat of arms in the Italian flag were removed. Italy has never changed its flag since.
Rule 3: Green, white and red. Nice colors.
Rule 4: This flag is a simple tricolor with no text or coats of arms.
Rule 5: I think this flag is distinctive from Ireland's, since most people can distinguish red from orange (except for colorblind. Every emblemless tricolor breaks Rule 5 if you have achromatopsia. I also think it's distinctive compared to Hungary's because most people can distinguish horizontal from vertical.
Part 2
Republic of Italy (actually a French puppet which didn't even cover all of Italy. I'm only including it here because of the name of the state) (1802-1805)

Spoiler

Pretty neat flag.
Kingdom of Italy (also a French pupped which only covered part of Italy) (1805-1814)

Spoiler

The Republic had a better flag.
Kingdom of Sardinia (1851-1861), United Provinces of Central Italy (1859-1860), Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)

Spoiler

This flag has a coat of arms, but the coat of arms is simple. It's a good flag, but I understand why Italy no longer uses, since it's no longer ruled by the House of Savoy.
Part 3
A good, simple flag, if a bit bland.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Ivory Coast (officially known as Côte d'Ivoire, the country's name in French)

Ratio: 2:3 (normal)
Adopted: 3 December 1959 (less than a year before Ivorian independence on 7 August 1960)
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple tricolor.
Rule 2: Orange represents the land, fertility and the country's northern savannah, the white peace (Ivory Coast was one of the most stable countries in Africa during most of the 20th century, but it's had a coup d'état in 1999 and two civil wars this century), and the green both hope and the country's southern forests. This flag's design is based on that of the French tricolor, since the French were the ones who colonized Ivory Coast.
Rule 3: Orange, white and green. Good colors.
Rule 4: This flag has non text or emblems.
Rule 5: I think this flag is too similar to Ireland's, having the same colors arranged in reverse. I don't think the flag of distinctive.
Part 2
Before independence Ivory Coast was part of French West Africa, which had a very original flag. The French were very lazy when giving their colonies flags.
Part 3
It's a boring flag, and more importantly it's not distinctive.

 

[badposter]

Flag of Jamaica

Ratio: 1:2 (normal)
Adopted: 6 August 1962 (Jamaican independence)
Part 1
Rule 1: It's a simple flag. A child could draw it from memory.
Rule 2: The green represents Jamaica's land, the black represents hardships (Jamaica, after it was colonized by Spain, had its natives become slaves, and after they were mostly wiped out they were replaced with slaves brought from Africca. After the English conquered the island in 1655 slavery was kept until emacipation in 1834) and the yellow represents the sun. Wikipedis says this flag has Pan-African, but the flag has neither the same colors as Ethiopia's flag nor the same colors as those of the Pan-African flag designed by the UNIA in 1920, so I'm not sure if that's true.
Rule 3: Green, yellow and black. This flag, along with Mauritania's is one of the few current flags of a country that have neither red, white nor blue on their flags. This flag has very good colors imo.
Rule 4: This flag has no text or coat of arms.
Rule 5: I don't think this flag can be confused for any other. It's distinctive.
Part 2
Colony of Jamaica (1875-1906)

Spoiler

Another bad British colonial flag. But at least it has crocodiles and pineapples, which I like.
In 1906, 1957 and 1962 Jamaica adopted a new flags. The flags were shitty and had text. The flags also had a topless woman and a topless man.
Part 3
A distinctive flag with pretty good colors. I love this flag.