Flags & Emblems

A flag is a country's argument about itself compressed into a rectangle, and reading one properly means knowing what its parts are called and why they were chosen. This category covers national flags and their symbolism, the vocabulary of vexillology, and the emblems that appear on currency, passports and sporting kit. It includes the outliers, the flag that is not rectangular among them. The explanations give the intended meaning where it is documented and say plainly when a popular interpretation is folklore rather than official.