Vexillological symbol

Vexillological symbols are used by vexillologists to indicate certain characteristics of national flags, such as where they are used, who uses them, and what they look like. The set of symbols described in this article are known as international flag identification symbols, which were devised by Whitney Smith.

National flag variants by use

Some countries use a single flag design to serve as the national flag in all contexts of use; others use multiple flags that serve as the national flag, depending on context (i.e., who is flying the national flag and where). The six basic contexts of use (and potential variants of a national flag) are:

Civil flag – Flown by citizens on land.

State flag – Flown on public buildings.

War flag – Flown on military buildings.

Civil ensign – Flown on private vessels (fishing craft, cruise ships, yachts, etc.).

State ensign – Flown on unarmed government vessels.

Naval ensign – Flown on warships.

In practice, a single design may be associated with multiple such usages; for example, a single design may serve a dual role as war flag and ensign. Even with such combinations, this framework is not complete: some countries define designs for usage contexts not expressible in this scheme such as air force ensigns (distinct from war flags or war ensigns, flown as the national flag at air bases; for example, see Royal Air Force Ensign) and civil air ensigns.

Combinations

Symbol	Meaning	Symbol	Meaning
	Civil flag		National flag
	State flag		National ensign
	War flag		State and war flag, war ensign
	Civil ensign		State flag, civil and war ensign
	State ensign		Civil and state flags and ensigns
	War ensign		State and war flags and ensigns
	Civil and state flag		National flag, civil ensign
	State and war flag		National flag, state ensign
	Civil and state ensign		National flag, civil and state ensign
	State and war ensign		National flag, state and war ensign
	Civil flag and ensign		State and war flag, national ensign
	State flag and ensign		Civil and state flag, national ensign
	War flag and ensign		National flag and ensign
	Civil and war ensign		Civil flag, war ensign
	Civil flag, state ensign		Civil flag, state and war ensign
	Civil flag, civil and war ensign		Civil flag, civil and state ensign
	Civil flag, national ensign		Civil and war flag
	Civil and war flag, war ensign		Civil and war flag, state ensign
	Civil and war flag, state and war ensign		Civil and war flag, civil ensign
	Civil and war flags and ensigns		Civil and war flag, civil and state ensign
	Civil and war flag, national ensign		Civil and state flag, war ensign
	Civil and state flag, state ensign		Civil and state flag, state and war ensign
	Civil and state flag, civil ensign		Civil and state flag, civil and war ensign
	State flag, war ensign		State flag, state and war ensign
	State flag, civil ensign		State flag, state and civil ensign
	State flag, national ensign		State flag and ensign, war flag
	State and war flag, civil ensign		State and war flag, civil and war ensign
	State and war flag, civil and state ensign		War flag, state ensign
	War flag, state and war ensign		War flag, civil ensign
	War flag, civil and war ensign		War flag, civil and state ensign
	War flag, national ensign		National flag, war ensign
	National flag, civil and war ensign		Other

Other symbols

Other symbols are used to describe how a flag looks, such as whether it has a different design on each side, or if it is hung vertically, etc. These are the symbols in general use:

Normal or de jure version of flag, or obverse side
Design was proposed in the past, but never officially adopted
Design is a reconstruction, based on past observations
Reverse side of flag
Design is an acceptable variant
Alternative version of flag
De facto version of flag
Flag has different designs on its obverse side and its reverse side
Obverse side meant to be hoisted with pole to the observer's right
Design officially authorized to represent nation by government of that nation
Design used in the past, but now abandoned (this symbol is not part of Smith's original set)
Reverse side is mirror image of obverse side
Reverse side is congruent to the obverse side
Information on reverse side is not available
Flag can be hung vertically by hoisting on a normal pole, then turning the pole 90°
Flag can be hung vertically by rotating the design first
Vertical hoist method of flag is unknown
Design has no element which can be rotated
Flags can only be hoisted vertically
Flag is not authorized to represent the group or country; unauthorized.

In Unicode

In April 2017, a preliminary proposal to encode vexillology symbols was submitted to the Unicode Consortium[1].

Literature

Whitney Smith "The Flag Information Code" // The Flag Bulletin 21 (1982): 35
Željko Heimer "The FAME: Symbols and Abbreviations"
Joe McMillan "FIAV Flag Information Symbols" // Flags of the World

References

Pandey, Anshuman: "Preliminary proposal to encode Vexillology Symbols in Unicode"

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[1] Pandey, Anshuman: "Preliminary proposal to encode Vexillology Symbols in Unicode"