The library
A catalogue built for the awkward flags
National flags are the easy part. The hard part is the county banner on a town hall, the ensign on an old postcard, the regimental colour in a museum case. That is what the library is for.
Identify a flagCatalogue at a glance
Current index data unavailable
- Images indexed
- Current index data unavailableReference renderings measured and available to match a photograph against.
- Flags in corpus
- Current index data unavailableDistinct designs, each with its construction data and period of use.
- Sources cited
- Current index data unavailableReference works, statutory records and archives the corpus is verified against.
- Years covered
- Current index data unavailableSpan between the earliest and latest design on file.
What is in there
- National & stateCivil, state and war variants, plus ensigns and jacksCurrent index data unavailable
- Maritime & signalICS alphabet, house flags and yacht club burgeesCurrent index data unavailable
- Military & unitRegimental colours, air force flags, command flagsCurrent index data unavailable
- OrganisationsIntergovernmental bodies, NGOs, sporting federationsCurrent index data unavailable
- Ethnic & culturalPeoples, languages, diasporas and movementsCurrent index data unavailable
- Community-submittedReviewed against primary sources before publicationCurrent index data unavailable
What an entry records
Matching works from measurements, not from photographs, so every flag has to be described precisely before it can be found. Each entry carries six things:
- Construction sheet
- Proportions, band widths, and the placement and size of every charge.
- Colour references
- Official specifications where they exist — Pantone, CMYK, RAL or a statutory description.
- Period of use
- Adoption and withdrawal dates, with the instrument that set them.
- Jurisdiction
- The state, region, municipality, unit or body the flag belongs to.
- Variants
- Civil, state and war versions, ensigns, jacks and any authorised alternatives.
- Sources
- The reference works and primary records the entry was verified against.
Where no published construction sheet exists — which is common for municipal and regimental designs — the entry records what the archive holds and says so, rather than inventing a specification.