National Flag - National Flags On Land

National Flags On Land

The Flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
The War Flag of the People's Republic of China.
The Philippines' national flag is the only flag which may be hoisted inverted when the Congress of the Philippines has declared a "state of war".

On land, there is a distinction between civil flags (FIAV symbol ), state flags, and war or military flags . State flags are those used officially by government agencies, whereas civil flags may be flown by anyone regardless of whether he/she is linked to government. War flags (also called military flags) are used by military organizations such as Armies, Marine Corps, or Air Forces.

In practice, many countries (such as the United States and the United Kingdom) have identical flags for these three purposes; national flag is sometimes used as a vexillological term to refer to such a three-purpose flag . In a number of countries, however—notably those in Latin America—there is a distinct difference between civil and state flags. In most cases, the civil flag is a simplified version of the state flag, with the difference often being the presence of a coat of arms on the state flag that is absent from the civil flag.

Very few countries use a war flag that differs from the state flag. The People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Japan are notable examples of this. Swallow-tailed flags are used as war flags and naval ensigns in Nordic countries and charged versions as presidential or royal standards. The Philippines does not have a distinctive war flag in this usual sense, but the flag of the Philippines is legally unique in that it is flown with the red stripe on top when the country is in a state of war, rather than the conventional blue.

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Famous quotes containing the words national, flags and/or land:

    All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
    Thomas Paine (1737–1809)

    No doubt I shall go on writing, stumbling across tundras of unmeaning, planting words like bloody flags in my wake. Loose ends, things unrelated, shifts, nightmare journeys, cities arrived at and left, meetings, desertions, betrayals, all manner of unions, adulteries, triumphs, defeats ... these are the facts.
    Alexander Trocchi (1925–1983)

    When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” you may indeed set over you a king whom the LORD your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community.
    Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 17:14,15.