Flags of Europe

Stripes of red and white have been a collective emblem of Austria for over 800 years, and they were first used on the flag in 1191. According to long-established legend, the red and white flag was designed to resemble the bloodstained white coat worn by the Duke of Austria during a fierce battle.

The flag of Azerbaijan is the national ensign of Azerbaijan. It consists of three equal horizontal bands coloured blue, red, and green, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star centred in the red band. The blue band refers to Turkic heritage, the red is for progress and Europeanisation and the green refers to Islam.

The island is depicted in a copper shade representative of its name: the name Cyprus has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar), from the large deposits of copper found on the island. The crossed green olive branches symbolise the hope for peace between the Turks and the Greeks. It was designed by İsmet Güney, a Turkish Cypriot painter.

Known as the Dannebrog ("Danish Cloth"), this blood-red flag with an off-centred white cross (a "Nordic cross") became a model for other regional flags.

Blue represents loyalty, and the country's beautiful blue skies, seas, and lakes; black is symbolic of past oppression and the fertile soil; and white represents virtue, winter snows, and Estonia's long struggle for freedom and independence.

The off-centred blue cross is based on the Nordic cross, widely used on Nordic national flags. The blue colour is symbolic of blue skies, and the thousands of lakes in Finland. The white represents the winter snows.

The tricolore consists of three vertical bands of equal width, displaying the country's national colours: blue, white, and red. The blue band is positioned nearest the flagstaff, the white in the middle, and the red on the outside. Red, white, and blue have come to represent liberty, equality, and fraternity—the ideals of the French Revolution. Blue and red are also the time-honoured colours of Paris, while white is the colour of the Royal House of Bourbon.

The tricolour flag was designed in 1832, and the black, red, and gold colours were taken from the uniforms of German soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars (Out of the blackness (black) of servitude through bloody (red) battles to the golden (gold) light of freedom.^[1]) or taken from the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire.

It features a white cross and a combination of nine (five blue and four white) horizontal stripes. The shade of blue has varied over the years, and darker blue (shown) is now commonly used. The alternating white and blue stripes are said to represent the nine syllables of the phrase "Eleftheria i thanatos" ("Freedom or Death"), a popular motto during the Greek War of Independence. During the Kingdom of Greece, a crown was added in the centre of the cross.

Greece's national flag between 1822 and 1970 featured a simple white cross on a blue background. It is not known why this version was adopted, and not a blue cross on a white background as was popular in the War of Independence. During the dictatorship, a navy blue version of the current flag with proportions of 7:12 was used.

The dominant crimson red, white, and teal green colours of the tricolour design are taken from the historical Hungarian coat of arms. Crimson red is said to symbolise strength, white faithfulness, and teal green hope.

Modeled after the French tricolour, the colours of the Irish tricolour symbolise two communities. Green represents the Roman Catholic nationalist tradition. Orange represents the Protestant unionist community. White symbolises peace between both.

The design is adopted from a 13th-century chronicle where "red divided by white" is said to be a Latvian flag. To distinguish it from the Austrian flag, the proportions 2:1:2 and the "Latvian red" colour have been adopted.

Yellow is symbolic of the country's wheat fields, green symbolic of the forests, and red symbolises patriotism. Collectively the colours represent hope for the future, freedom from oppression, and the courage of the Lithuanian people.

The flag uses a combination of red, white, and blue that dates to the 13th century, and the Grand Duke's coat of arms.

The flag uses the traditional red and white colours which pre-date those of the Knights of Malta and which Government emulate^{[clarification needed]} the arms of the former Universitas of Mdina. The George Cross (upper hoist), outlined in red, was added to the flag in the 1940s, as King George VI of the United Kingdom presented it to islanders for outstanding gallantry during World War II.

At one time this tricolour flag was orange, white, and blue, as those were the livery colours of William of Orange, a Dutch prince. In the 17th century, red replaced the orange as a flag colour, because the orange dye used on the flag was unstable, and turned red after exposure to the sun. It is the oldest tricolour flag still in national use^[2] and has influenced both the French^[3] (1794) and Russian flag^[4] (1693); both of these flags have in turn influenced many other European and African flags.

The colours red and white have long been associated with Poland and its coat of arms, at least since 3 May 1791.

The design is a rectangular bi-colour (2:3 ratio) with a field vertically divided into two stripes of different widths—a green stripe on the hoist, and a larger red stripe on the fly. A small version of the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) is superimposed over the boundary between the colours at equal distance from the upper and lower edges. The field colours, especially the green, originally represented a radical republican-inspired change that broke the bond with the former religious monarchical flag. In the ensuing decades, these colours were popularly propagandised as representing the hope of the nation (green) and the blood (red) of those who died defending it, as a means to endow them with a more patriotic and dignified, therefore less political, sentiment.

A vertical tricolour of bands of blue, yellow, and red of equal width and overall proportions of 2:3.

White, blue, and red are traditional Pan-Slavic colours. The superimposed Slovakian arms feature a dominant white cross atop a blue symbolic reference to the European country's mountains.

Red, white, and blue are taken from the Carniolan coat of arms. The flag without the coat of arms was in use from 1848 to 1945. The Slovenian coat of arms features three gold stars, symbolizing the Counts of Celje. The mountains shown in white are representative of the Alps, and Mount Triglav, Slovenia's national symbol, in particular; the wavy blue lines across the bottom indicate Slovenia's access to the sea.

The off-centre yellow cross (the Nordic cross) is taken from the Danish flag. The yellow and blue colours are taken from the national coat of arms.

It was adopted in 1569, but a union mark was added in the canton from 1844 to 1905.

The "Union Jack" merges the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). The flag of Wales, the other country of the United Kingdom, is not graphically represented.

The island is depicted in a copper shade representative of its name: the name Cyprus has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar), from the large deposits of copper found on the island. The crossed green olive branches symbolise the hope for peace between the Turks and the Greeks. It was designed by İsmet Güney, a Turkish Cypriot painter.

The "Union Jack" merges the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). The flag of Wales, the other country of the United Kingdom, is not graphically represented.

Modeled after the French tricolour, the colours of the Irish tricolour symbolise two communities. Green represents the Roman Catholic nationalist tradition. Orange represents the Protestant unionist community. White symbolises peace between both.

The dominant crimson red, white, and teal green colours of the tricolour design are taken from the historical Hungarian coat of arms. Crimson red is said to symbolise strength, white faithfulness, and teal green hope.

The tricolore consists of three vertical bands of equal width, displaying the country's national colours: blue, white, and red. The blue band is positioned nearest the flagstaff, the white in the middle, and the red on the outside. Red, white, and blue have come to represent liberty, equality, and fraternity—the ideals of the French Revolution. Blue and red are also the time-honoured colours of Paris, while white is the colour of the Royal House of Bourbon.

The flag uses a combination of red, white, and blue that dates to the 13th century, and the Grand Duke's coat of arms.

At one time this tricolour flag was orange, white, and blue, as those were the livery colours of William of Orange, a Dutch prince. In the 17th century, red replaced the orange as a flag colour, because the orange dye used on the flag was unstable, and turned red after exposure to the sun. It is the oldest tricolour flag still in national use^[6] and has influenced both the French^[3] (1794) and Russian flag^[4] (1693); both of these flags have in turn influenced many other European and African flags.

The design is a rectangular bi-colour (2:3 ratio) with a field vertically divided into two stripes of different widths—a green stripe on the hoist, and a larger red stripe on the fly. A small version of the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) is superimposed over the boundary between the colours at equal distance from the upper and lower edges. The field colours, especially the green, originally represented a radical republican-inspired change that broke the bond with the former religious monarchical flag. In the ensuing decades, these colours were popularly propagandised as representing the hope of the nation (green) and the blood (red) of those who died defending it, as a means to endow them with a more patriotic and dignified, therefore less political, sentiment.

It features a white cross and a combination of nine (five blue and four white) horizontal stripes. The shade of blue has varied over the years, and darker blue (shown) is now commonly used. The alternating white and blue stripes are said to represent the nine syllables of the phrase "Eleftheria i thanatos" ("Freedom or Death"), a popular motto during the Greek War of Independence. During the Kingdom of Greece, a crown was added in the centre of the cross.

Greece's national flag between 1822 and 1970 featured a simple white cross on a blue background. It is not known why this version was adopted, and not a blue cross on a white background as was popular in the War of Independence. During the dictatorship, a navy blue version of the current flag with proportions of 7:12 was used.

Known as the Dannebrog ("Danish Cloth"), this blood-red flag with an off-centred white cross (a "Nordic cross") became a model for other regional flags.

The off-centred blue cross is based on the Nordic cross, widely used on Nordic national flags. The blue colour is symbolic of blue skies, and the thousands of lakes in Finland. The white represents the winter snows.

The off-centre yellow cross (the Nordic cross) is taken from the Danish flag. The yellow and blue colours are taken from the national coat of arms.

It was adopted in 1569, but a union mark was added in the canton from 1844 to 1905.

Blue represents loyalty, and the country's beautiful blue skies, seas, and lakes; black is symbolic of past oppression and the fertile soil; and white represents virtue, winter snows, and Estonia's long struggle for freedom and independence.

The design is adopted from a 13th-century chronicle where "red divided by white" is said to be a Latvian flag. To distinguish it from the Austrian flag, the proportions 2:1:2 and the "Latvian red" colour have been adopted.

Yellow is symbolic of the country's wheat fields, green symbolic of the forests, and red symbolises patriotism. Collectively the colours represent hope for the future, freedom from oppression, and the courage of the Lithuanian people.

The flag of Montenegro, adopted in July 2004, is a red banner bearing the coat of arms adopted in 1993. The country's coat of arms is derived from those of King Nikola.

White, blue, and red are traditional Pan-Slavic colours. The superimposed Slovakian arms feature a dominant white cross atop a blue symbolic reference to the European country's mountains.

Red, white, and blue are taken from the Carniolan coat of arms. The flag without the coat of arms was in use from 1848 to 1945. The Slovenian coat of arms features three gold stars, symbolizing the Counts of Celje. The mountains shown in white are representative of the Alps, and Mount Triglav, Slovenia's national symbol, in particular; the wavy blue lines across the bottom indicate Slovenia's access to the sea.