LITTLE LIBRARY

KINGFISHER
Larousse Kingfisher Chambers Inc.
95 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016

First American edition 1994

2468 10 97531
Copyright © Larousse pic 1994

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Steele, Philip.
Flags / Philip Steele,
p. cm.—(Little library)
Includes index.
1. Flags—Juvenile literature. 2. Flags—Pictorial works—
Juvenile literature. [1. Flags.] I. Title. II. Series: Little
library (New York, N.Y.)
CR101.S74 1994
929.9’2’0222—dc20 94-2578 CIP AC

ISBN 1-85697-505-3
 LITTLE LIBRARY

1
 Contents (
All kinds of flags 5
Shapes and designs 6
The first flags 8
Coats of arms 10
Flags at sea 12
Flags on land 14
Sporting flags 16
Flag ceremonies 18
National flags 20
Africa 22
Asia 24
Europe 26
North and Central America 28
South America 29
Oceania 29
Index 30
All kinds of flags
F lags can be seen almost everywhere.
They flutter and flap from the tops
of important buildings, from flagpoles
at ceremonies and games, and from
ships at sea. Some flags are used as
bright, cheerful decorations on objects
such as T-shirts and mugs. Others
are used as warnings
and signals.
 Shapes and designs
F lags come in all shapes, sizes, and
colors. They may be made of
cloth, paper, or even plastic. Today,
most flags are rectangular in shape, but
there are many other flag designs. Some
of these are shown below.

A pennant or
streamer has
a long tail.

Swallowtail flags have

PARTS OF A FLAG V-shaped cuts in their
Truck outer edges.
-Clip or

Swallowtail pennant

Swallowtail with tongue

•Halyard
Bunting is a string of flags.
•Flagpole
or flagstaff

6
COLLECTING FLAGS

Why don't you start

a collection of flags or
things with flag designs
on them? Stamps,
clothes, badges,
mugs, and plates
are often
decorated
with flags.

Gonfalon Schwenkel (square or

(hanging banner) rectangular with a tail)

Oriflamme (with Oriental with flammules

streamers) (flame-shaped cuts)
|
$
|
4
I The first flags
T housands of years ago, people
may have placed animal skulls or
{ horns on poles as badges of their tribe,
f Warriors probably carried symbols of
f their gods into battle for good luck.
Is
Armies of the ancient Romans carried
standards that they thought were holy.
The Roman vexillum was one of the
first flags in Europe.

These standards are called

vexilloids. They were probably
used to show where the chief
was during a battle or to signal
the movement of troops.

Bronze and silver standard

(about 2300 B.c.)

Egyptian vexilloid
(about 3200 B.c.)
 ROMAN STANDARDS

Eagle standard Vexillum - Standard of

of a Roman an early kind the Emperor
legion of flag Constantine

THE FLYING DRAGON

During the Middle Ages, soldiers carried

dragon flags into battle to frighten the enemy.
These flags were shaped like wind socks and
contained whistles that shrieked when
the wind blew through them.
Coats of arms
W hen battles were fought by
knights in armor, it was hard
to see which side people belonged to.
About 900 years ago in Europe, family
badges called coats of arms were
designed for kings, queens, and
knights. These coats of arms were sewn
or painted on clothes, shields, and
flags. The set of rules for designing
these shields was called heraldry.

Heraldic shields were

divided into simple
patterns. Many of
today’s national flags
use similar designs.
 YOUR OWN FLAG
1 Sketch out a flag
design on a sheet of
paper. You could
base the design on
your initials, or you
could draw some¬
thing to do with
your surname (such
as a crown if your
name is King).
2 Copy the design
onto an old sheet
and color it in with
fabric paints or
felt-tip markers.
3 Finally, cut out
Japanese knights tied the sheet into the
flags to their backs so shape of a flag.
that they could be
seen in battle.

Modern city flags often

show an old coat of
arms, like this flag from
Amsterdam in Holland.
Flags at sea
I n the past, many ships flew flags
showing their country’s or city’s
coat of arms. Most of these were hard
to see from a distance and so simpler
flags were designed, with bold crosses
or stripes. Later, many of these flags
became national flags.

This flag
shows the white
crosses of the city
of Danzig (now
Gdansk, Poland).

v Black-and-white pirate
flags often showed skulls
or skeletons, like the one
below. They were flown to
terrify sailors on other ships.

Ya -4
ft

J1
 SIGNALS AT SEA

A B C D

a®
H J K M N

0 Q
HHin
R T U
I
I
i
f
A Flags are still used V Here are the names
for signals at sea. or meanings of some
They can mean letters of the flags flown on
or words. For example, ships:
the flag for P — the 1 Ensign
Blue Peter — means 2 High-ranking officer
“leaving port." on board ship
3 Masthead pennant
on a warship
4 Company flag on a
<D
merchant ship
5 Jack
 Flags on land
0) tf»i*TJll*>TtJCi<rm‘<ii|i|itf~n^rrnTiiwri ■> -ngjiiii .o—irur^iafffpahifjr TntirigTr^ia^irrnrTriirviimiiiffTrimfmTiixuJTr'—tffuMiwftrtHWiiNadtjaBWRWfc

M any companies have their own

flags. These flags may show
advertising slogans or carry company
badges called logos. The one shown
below left, for example, is the logo for
a car-maker. Special organizations may
also have their own flags.

World Scout
organization

Red Crescent
organization

Company Red Cross

logo (for organization
Volks¬
wagen)

Crosses and crescents,

like the ones shown
above right, are religious
symbols. They appear on
many national flags, too.
Religious flags are often
carried in processions.

14
 SEND A MESSAGE

• #

<95 1
A B

ET
TT
R S

V
r
w

Before two-way radios

were widely used, people
sent messages by a flag
code called semaphore.
Try signaling a message
to a friend, using the arm
movements shown here.

;
Sporting flags
A t big sporting events, fans often
l wave flags and banners in their
team’s colors. National and local teams
all have their own flags. Small flags are
often used as markers in games such as
golf, and as signals in horse racing,
yachting, and football.

v A checkered flag t> Small flags are used

signals the end of to mark the corners on
a car race. soccer fields.
 The five colored rings
on the Olympic flag
represent the world’s
five continents. Every
Olympic Games also
has its own special flag.
1te>

< t/ .
\ Flag ceremonies
M
I --—--
!
any people have deep feelings
about flags. Flags may stand
for strongly held beliefs or be part of a
country’s history. They may represent
peace or freedom. Many countries have
special ceremonies in which soldiers
or school children salute their
flag as a sign of respect.

At the Palio
festival in
Siena, Italy,
colorful
historic flags
are tossed
and swirled
in the air.
 FLAG FACTS

• When important
people die, flags
may be lowered
part way — flown
at half-mast — as
a sign of respect.

• Lowering a flag
or flying it upside
down may be
National flags may be seen as a sign
flown outside palaces of surrender.
and other important
buildings. Many are • Ships sometimes
raised or lowered salute each other
daily by a special by dipping their
guard of honor. flags — lowering
and raising them

in Morocco
j National flags
T oday, every country in the
world has its own national flag.
On the next pages, you can see a
selection of these flags. National flags
are often flown side by side as a mark
of friendship between countries.

National flags may be flown

to show respect to a visiting
king, queen, or president.
 INTERNATIONAL FLAGS

Some flags are well-known throughout the

world. Perhaps the most famous is that of
the United Nations which shows two olive
branches to represent world peace.

n
United Nations European Community
%
f

i
IK-
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¥
V
f

Organization of Organization of s
American States African Unity si
s
I
I
 Africa

□
Liberia

Morocco

Cote d’Ivoire

Chad

Algeria

★
o
Mauritania

Burkina Faso

Ghana Sudan

Guinea
Ethiopia

Nigeria Djibouti
22
- ' ■

1 _
I
Somalia Cameroon Mozambique S

Zimbabwe

Kenya Gabon

Botswana f
I

Uganda Congo

Namibia
I

Tanzania Angola
i
South Africa i

i
I

Lesotho

Zaire Malawi
23
 Lebanon

Kazakhstan

Kuwait

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan
Jordan

13 rill ru dll na dll ru dll no cUI ru rill na rill ru rilJ ra xrllJ na rill ru d

Tajikistan Iran

Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan

Yemen
Turkey Pakistan

United Arab
Cyprus Emirates India
 #

^k.
Nepal
Cambodia
Japan

Laos
Bhutan Taiwan

Vietnam Philippines
Bangladesh

Sri Lanka Brunei

China

Malaysia
Maldives Mongolia

Myanmar Korea, North

'3

I
''ill

II
Korea, South Indonesia
1s
Europe
1
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United Kingdom
s
IB
if

S
! Iceland
I »

Netherlands
Vatican City
State
Ii
Norway
| h
I Switzerland

Sweden
Luxembourg

Austria

Denmark

Portugal Poland
 Slovenia Lithuania
Czech Republic

Belarus
Albania

Slovakia
r-T' n,, r

Greece Ukraine

Hungary

Romania Moldova

Bosnia-
Herzegovina

Russia Georgia

Estonia Armenia

Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro) Latvia Azerbaijan

27
 X
North and Central America

Canada

United States

Mexico

Guatemala

Belize

Trinidad & Tobago

El Salvador Jamaica
South America €

___I
Paraguay
Venezuela

Guyana

Surinam Peru Chile

Brazil Bolivia Argentina

Oceania

New Zealand
Papua New Guinea

Australia Kiribati

29
 Index
Africa, flags of 22-23 national flags, 20-28
Asia, flags of 24-25 North America, flags
of 27
badge 8,10
Blue Peter, the 13 Oceania, flags of 28
bunting 6 Olympic flag 17

Central America, flags pennant 6, 13

of 27 pirate flag 12

ensign (on ships) 13 Red Cross flag 14

Europe, flags of 25-26
European Community semaphore 15
flag 21 shield 10
signal flags 13, 15
flagpole 5 South America, flags
of 28
gonfalon 7 standard 8, 9
swallowtail flag 6
halyard 6
heraldry 10 United Nations flag 21
hoist rope 6
vexilloid 8
jack (on ships) 13 vexillum 8, 9
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Flags

GAYLORD S
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FLAGS
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• Learn how to signal in sem; £ 5 o'
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• Read about the first-ever I£

Discover who carried the Flyir4
• Find out about heraldry
• Make your own coat of arms

Little Library is a handy pocket-sized series that children

will love to collect. Designed to build into a child’s first
library, there are stories and rhymes, early concepts, and
information books on favorite subjects.

There is a reading age guide that is color-coded on the

cover of each book:

Red Books for under 5 years

Blue Books for 4-6 years
Green Books for 6-9 years

ISBN 1-85697-505-3

Kin^
9781856975056
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