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Sources

Where the answers come from

A match is only useful if you can check it. These are the works consulted when a flag is added or corrected, and the order in which they are trusted.

Identify a flag

Reference works

  • FlagGeek.net

    Reference work

    Worldwide

    The catalogue behind FindMyFlag — construction sheets, colour specifications and adoption dates.

  • Flags of the World (FOTW)

    Community

    Worldwide

    The vexillological community's long-running encyclopaedia, used to corroborate obscure municipal and historical designs.

  • National gazettes & flag acts

    Primary record

    Per country

    Statutory instruments and official gazette notices that define proportions, tinctures and permitted usage.

  • Album des Pavillons Nationaux

    Reference work

    Maritime

    The French Navy's ensign album, the standard authority for national ensigns, jacks and maritime variants.

  • Wikimedia Commons vector set

    Archive

    Worldwide

    Freely licensed SVG renderings, checked against primary specifications before a match is published.

  • Institutional & municipal archives

    Archive

    Regional

    City archives, regimental museums and heraldic offices consulted for designs with no published sheet.

How a flag is verified

  1. Start from the instrument

    Where a flag act, gazette notice or council resolution exists, that text is the authority — including when it contradicts common usage.

  2. Corroborate the drawing

    Published construction sheets and ensign albums are compared against each other. Where they disagree, the entry records the disagreement.

  3. Check against the object

    Photographs of flags in service, museum holdings and archive material are used to confirm that the specification matches what was actually flown.

  4. Cite what was used

    Every source consulted is attached to the entry, so a match can be traced back to the document it rests on.

Corrections

Vexillology runs on correction. If an entry is wrong, or you hold a primary source that is missing here, send it over — with the document if you have it — and the entry will be updated and recredited.

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