Vexillology

With the United States' nail-biting World Cup victory over Algeria, capped by a goal in the 91st minute, it feels great to be an American today. Watching the World Cup has rekindled in me an interest in world flags, the study of which is called vexillology. A country's flag is its most important visual symbol in the media, international diplomacy, war, and sports competitions. While every country is entitled to choose whatever colors and images they want for their flag, it's obvious to me that some flags are better than others.

Here is the Saudi Arabia flag.
This is a poor flag because it has writing on it. Flags should be comprehensible by all people and writing in any language excludes those who are unfamiliar with the language. To make matters worse, there's a sword underneath the writing and so for all non-Arabic speakers know, the writing says "Saudi Arabia kills all non-Muslims." In fact, the inscription reads "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

Here is one of my favorite flags.
The Japanese flag portrays the rising sun, an incredibly powerful symbol. It contains just two colors and is simple enough for a child to recall and draw it. The color red has been repeatedly associated with victory in human psychology, and so is a good choice to include in a national flag. Another benefit of its simplicity is that it can be recognized even when partially unfurled on a calm day.

Unfortunately the New Zealand flag is pathetic.
You never want the flag of another sovereign nation in the upper left-hand corner of your flag. There is a long-stading movement to replace this flag, but nothing seems to ever come of it.

I also take issue with the Canadian flag.
Sure, it's simple, uses two colors, and there's a lot of winning red there. But a maple leaf? It's hardly a symbol of a thriving, powerful democracy.

I actually don't think the Israeli flag is all that bad.
The star of David is a simple and unique symbol of Israel's establishment as a Jewish state, and with the blue stripes the flag looks like a Jewish tallit.

Complicated coats of arms and multi-colored patterns are definitely flag no-nos, such as in the flags of Serbia
and Turkmenistan.

And now for the United States flag.
The U.S. flag is really a fantastic flag. It is extremely unique and far from the boring tri-colors of European nations like France, Italy, and Germany. In some ways there's a lot going on, with 13 stripes representing 13 colonies and 50 stars for 50 states, but really there are just two symbols repeated 13 and 50 times. There's no problem with a partially unfurled U.S. flag because even the 13 red and white stripes are enough to identify it.

Interesting fact: What is the only world country not to have a rectangular flag?


Nepal.