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How it works

From photograph to a sourced answer

Four steps, no expertise required. The short version: geometry is measured, the catalogue is searched, and every candidate arrives with the reference behind it.

Identify a flag

  1. Upload or shoot

    Drop a photo onto the upload area, pick one from your device, or take one on the spot with the camera option. Crooked, partly furled and slightly blurred flags are expected — that is what real photographs look like.

  2. The image is read

    Colour regions are separated from the background, then measured: the ratio of each band, the position and shape of any charge, the aspect ratio of the field. Those measurements are what get compared — not the raw pixels.

  3. The catalogue is searched

    Measurements are matched against the construction data held for every flag in the library, so a design is recognised from its geometry rather than from having seen that particular photograph before.

  4. Ranked matches, with receipts

    You get the closest candidates in confidence order, each with its jurisdiction, period of use and the reference work it was verified against, so you can check the answer rather than take it on trust.

What makes a good photo

  • One flag in frame, filling as much of it as possible
  • The full field visible, hoist to fly
  • Flat or lightly rippled, rather than wrapped around the pole
  • Even light, with the flag not lit from behind

Where it struggles

  • Flags furled tightly enough to hide the charge or the stripe order
  • Near-identical tricolours where only the shade differs
  • Heavy backlighting, which shifts every colour at once
  • Municipal and regimental designs that have never been published

A ranked list is not a verdict. Where two designs differ only in shade or in a detail your photo cannot resolve, both are returned with their sources so you can make the call yourself.