Reference Emoticon-style historical and regional flags

[Kyng]

As you're probably aware, we recently revised all of the flag emoticons on here (for countries, states, territories, and so on). However, there are a lot of historical and regional flags that aren't covered by this (for example, county flags, or flags of countries that no longer exist). They're not useful enough to be worth adding as emoticons; however, we might occasionally find a use for them (for example, when discussing former countries) - and therefore, I've made and posted a selection of them here .

Before I post the images, though - a quick disclaimer. I'm well aware that some of these flags represent far-left or far-right regimes, which did horrible things in the name of their ideology. Thus, the fact that I have created these images is not an indication of support for any of these regimes, or anything they did. Rather, these are being posted only for use in historical contexts, i.e. when discussing the countries themselves, or individuals or groups connected with those countries, at the time when these flags were in use. Any other use of these flag images is forbidden (and indeed, there are certain flags here whose use in a non-historical context may violate our "Adult and Prohibited Content" policy).

With that out of the way, I'll post these flags in alphabetical order of country, starting with:

Austria-Hungary

Here we have the civil ensign, that was in use from 1869 to 1918:



Brazil

Here we have the flag of the Empire of Brazil. This exact version was used from 1853 to 1889, but the basic design was in use from 1822:



Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire pre-dates the modern idea of "each nation having its own national flag" - but, this symbol was used to represent Byzantium on some naval charts from around 1375:



Canada

Before adopting the familiar 'maple leaf' flag in 1965, Canada had a series of Red Ensign-based flags. The one I've posted here was in use between 1921 and 1957:



China

Two flags here. First is the flag of the Qing Dynasty, adopted in 1889, and used until 1912. Second is the "Five-colored Flag", adopted by the Republic of China in 1912, and used until 1928:



Confederate States of America

Two flags here. First of all is the 'Stars and Bars' flag used between 1861 and 1863. Then, we have the 'Blood-stained banner' flag used from March 1865:



Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Just one flag here. It's the flag used when the country was known as Zaire, from 1971 to 1997:



Egypt

Just one flag here. It used by the Kingdom of Egypt between 1922 and 1953 (and co-officially by the Republic of Egypt between 1953 and 1958):



Ethiopia

Just one flag here. It's the flag with the Lion of Judah, used between 1897 and 1974:



Germany

Five flags here. First is the imperial banner of the Holy Roman Empire, used from around 1430 to 1806. Next is the flag of the German Empire, used from 1871 to 1918 (and again from 1933-35). After this, we have the state flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (used from 1892 to 1918), and the flag of the Saar Protectorate (which existed from 1946 to 1956). Finally, we have the flag of East Germany, used from 1959 to 1990:



Of course, there is another former German flag that's quite obviously missing here. Before anybody's asking about it, I have no plans to add it - partly because some countries have strict rules regarding its display (and I would rather not open myself up to legal trouble), and partly because it has so much more potential for misuse than any of the other flags in this thread. Sorry!

Great Britain

Only one here. It's the flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain, used between 1707 and 1801:



Hong Kong

Another one with only one. This was the fourth colonial flag, used between 1959 and 1997:



Iran / Persia

Only one here. It's the 'lion and sun' flag, used between 1907 and 1980:



Italy

Only one for this one too. It's the flag of the Kingdom of Italy, used between 1861 and 1946:



Portugal

Just one flag here. It was used between 1830 and 1910:



Russia / USSR

Now another one with two. First is the state flag of the Russian Empire, used from 1858 to 1896. Second is the flag of the Soviet Union, whose basic design was used between 1924 and 1991. (The Soviet flag was actually an emoticon on here until recently - but I took it off, because I believe it'd be a better fit in this set than as an emoticon on the main board):



South Africa

Two flags here. First is the flag used by the Union of South Africa, upon its independence in 1910. Second is the flag that replaced it in 1928, and remained in use until the end of apartheid in 1994:



South Vietnam

Just the one here too. It was in use between the country's establishment in 1955, and the Fall of Saigon in 1975:



South Yemen

Just one flag here. It was used for the duration of the state's existence, between 1967 and 1990:



Spain

Two flags here. First is the flag of the Second Spanish Republic, used between 1931 and 1939. Second is the flag introduced under Franco in 1945, and used until 1977:



United States

Only one here. Various 13-star flags were used between 1777 and 1795, and the one I've gone with is the most recognisable one, popularly known as the "Betsy Ross flag":



Yugoslavia

Two here. First, we have the flag of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, used between 1946 and 1992. Next is the flag of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, used from 1992 until the dissolution of the union in 2006:

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To repeat: these flags have been posted only for use in historical contexts (i.e. when discussing the countries themselves, or individuals or groups connected with those countries, at the time when these flags were in use). However, if you do just want to have historical discussions which involve these former countries and regimes, then go right ahead .

[Kyng]

A while back, Opal Fruit requested that I make a set of English county flags. So, I did that .

This set includes the flags for all 39 historic counties of England. However, it does not include the more modern metropolitan or ceremonial counties, not all of which even have flags anyway . (If you want to know the difference between "historic counties", "metropolitan counties" and "ceremonial counties", then I made a thread all about that, which you're welcome to read )

Anyway, without further ado, here are the flags:

- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Cornwall
- Cumberland
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- County Durham
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Hampshire
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Huntingdonshire
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Middlesex
- Norfolk
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Norfolk
- Oxfordshire
- Rutland
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Sussex
- Warwickshire
- Westmorland
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
- Yorkshire

Unlike the historic country flags, I'm posting these for general use - so, enjoy !

[Kyng]

A few more of these. This time, I've made flags for the 10 biggest cities in the USA, going by urban-area population (and excluding DC, since that already has a flag emoticon ):

- Boston
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Detroit
- Houston
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York City
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco

I stopped after 10, for two reasons. First of all, it's a nice, round number . Secondly, the 11th one would be Phoenix, which has an awesome flag - but unfortunately, it's still under copyright, and they're quite strict about how it can be used . Oh, well!

(Oh, and as with the English county flags, these are free for general use )

[Kyng]

Next up, are the flags of the Japanese prefectures:

- Aichi
- Akita
- Aomori
- Chiba
- Ehime
- Fukui
- Fukuoka
- Fukushima
- Gifu
- Gunma
- Hiroshima
- Hokkaido
- Hyōgo
- Ibaraki
- Ishikawa
- Iwate
- Kagawa
- Kagoshima
- Kanagawa
- Kōchi
- Kumamoto
- Kyoto
- Mie
- Miyagi
- Miyazaki
- Nagano
- Nagasaki
- Nara
- Niigata
- Ōita
- Okayama
- Okinawa
- Osaka
- Saga
- Saitama
- Shiga
- Shimane
- Tochigi
- Tokushima
- Tokyo
- Tottori
- Toyama
- Wakayama
- Yamagata
- Yamaguchi
- Yamanashi

I doubt we'll get any use out of these - but, I couldn't resist making them, because I love the way they look. They're different from one another, yet they have a consistent aesthetic to them - which is simple, yet distinctive.

As with the other regional flags, these are released for general use .

[Moonshroom]

Thank you, man. I really needed the Austro-Hungarian and German Empire ones.

[Kyng]

I've added another batch of eight historical flags:




All of these have been added to the list in the opening post. As with my original set of 16, these are being posted for use in historical contexts only.

[Kyng]

And another eight historical flags:




As with the ones I added previously, these are being posted for use in historical contexts only.