I liked the 1959 version of the flag of Mali. For a couple years it had a kanaga (which IIRC was a letter from the ancient Tifinagh alphabet) that looked to me like a dancing stick figure with its legs apart and bent at the knee, arms held out and bent up at the elbow. When I was a kid I thought it looked deeply weird – and therefore attractive.
It was deleted from the flag in 1961. I could have easily missed it, but my parents had a 1960 edition of Collier’s Encyclopedia, so that’s what I saw as a kid.
One thing about flags- left-wing radical movements usually have cool symbols, despite what those symbols stand for. I’m thinking specifically of the Soviet Union’s hammer and sickle and Nazi Germany’s swastika. (Yes, I realize the swastika predates the Nazis by thousands of years). As far as modern-day, non-despotic countries go, I don’t really know. I like that bird on Zimbabwe’s flag, though.
Angola’s flag has kind of a kitschy, psychotic charm goin’ for it. And the Nazi War Flag is pretty much the epitome of evil fascism, isn’t it?
Cascadia’s Flag is pretty nice, with the slight problem that the country doesn’t actually exist. (Well, no one’s perfect) Ditto for the Conch Republic.
While not exactly a national flag, I love the Aboriginal flag, such a simple beautiful design and superbly evocative of the outback. I have it hanging in my living room in fact, and I used the colours thoughout my house.
Kenya. The colors symbolise the place well and the central shield is simple enough not to get busy, while still making it very evocative of the nativism that still permeates their country.
Just wanted to add: me, neither. I’m from the Maritimes. Never heard it called “the nosebleed” in my life.
Huh? What? Flags? Oh yeah. I like Canada and Japan the best. Close second is the Union Jack, I just like the design. The US flag… you know, I want to love it, but as somebody mentioned above, it’s just so busy. I love stars. I love many stars. But they’re so uniform, like someone ordered them to stand in neat rows. Scatter those bad boys! Like Australia!
Stars and stripes. Almost as bad as mixing stripes with polka dots. It’s a bit much.
