Whenever I'm locked down in a quarantine or period of self-isolation, I turn to this Vexillology series to keep myself accountable in keeping up the blog. I really like flags! I think that they are incredible symbols of national expression, and the best flags really reflect the unique history, heritage, and culture of the country.
That being said, there are some real unoriginal flags. In fact, and most confusingly, there are several countries in the world which have more or less the same flag! And in my opinion, nothing is more annoying than boring, identical flags. I mean, you can be so creative with your flag designs (as I hope that this blog series has shown). Why not create something unique to represent your country's unique heritage?
I think this is unacceptable! I think that a unique and creative flag is way better than a boring tricolor any day, but it turns out that plenty of countries would disagree with me. Whether for historical reasons or because of national pride, these countries have kept their flags, despite their similarities to another flag in the world.
Chad and Romania
The Chad-Romania flag issue is probably the most famous, since these are the only two flags national that are actually 100% identical. Both countries claim the blue, gold, and red tricolor for themselves. Who really has the right to the flag? Well, that's difficult.
Romania's flag is definitely older, dating back to 1848. Chad's flag was designed in 1960 after it gained independence from France. The thing is, in 1960, Communist Romania was flying a slightly different version of the Romanian flag, with the arms of the Socialist Republic of Romania in the center. After the overthrow of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime in 1989, Romania readopted its original flag.
In 2004, the government of Chad called on the United Nations to weigh in on the issue, but the government of Romania firmly stated that the tricolor belonged to them. To this day, neither country has been willing to redesign their flag, leaving us with two identical national tricolors.
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| Chad |
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| Romania |
Senegal, Mali, and Guinea
Now, these three flags aren't exactly the same, and as a matter of fact, they have good reason for being similar. The flags of Senegal, Mali, and Guinea (and Cameroon, although the design is different enough not to be included here) are all variation of the same tricolor.
All three flags are variations of the flag of the Mali Federation, a short-lived state (1959-1960) which eventually broke into its several successor states in the 1960s. The flags all incorporate the Pan-African colors, and I'm actually ok with their similarities due to their collective history. Still, they are really similar, and it can be confusing to keep track of which flag belongs to which country.
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| Senegal |
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| Mali |
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| Guinea |
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| Mali Federation |
Indonesia, Monaco, and Poland
Indonesia, Monaco, and Poland's flags are all very similar, though were designed independently. The flags of Monaco and Poland are mostly the same, but the red and white bars are flipped. The flags of Indonesia and Monaco are identical, except for the fact that the shade of red used in the Indonesian flag is a bit brighter.
None of the flags are particularly creative, but I suppose bold bars of red and white are simple enough to come up with independently. None of the three countries shares any sort of historical connection.
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| Indonesia |
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| Monaco |
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| Poland |
Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia
The flags of Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia are, again, not exactly identical. Like the flags of the states of the former Mali Federation, the flags of these three sovereign states are all directly descended from a previous country. In this case, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia were all constituents of the Republic of Gran Colombia, which was established after independence from Spain, and existed in South America between 1822 and 1830.
Once again, I'm ok with the similarities in these three flags due to their shared historical heritage, and they are different enough to be distinctive.
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| Venezuela |
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| Ecuador |
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| Colombia |
Luxembourg and the Netherlands
There's been a push in Luxembourg to change the national flag to the more popular "Red Lion Ensign", which is technically the ensign of all ships registered to Luxembourg. The reason for the campaign is the near identical designs, and subsequent confusion between, the national flags of Luxembourg and the nearby Netherlands.
In 1815, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was in a personal union (meaning it shared the same monarch with) the Netherlands under King William I. At this time, the flags were the same because they flew under the banner of the same monarch. Even today, when both countries have different monarchs, the flags are still the same.
Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd recommend the Netherlands going back to the orange, white, and blue Prince's Flag that it uses in the past (too many countries use red, white, and blue, and it's just uncreative at this point), and Luxembourg officially adopting the Red Lion Ensign. I'd love more countries to adopt unique flags. Leave the vertical tricolor to Russia or Paraguay!
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| Luxembourg |
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| Netherlands |
But that's not all! I'll be back tomorrow with a few more flags that are way too similar for my taste.
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