# Why Are Flags All the Same Shape? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108 "2003-10-28T21:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/1 "2003-10-28T21:45:46Z")
While looking at a group of international flags at the airport today it suddenly occured to me that all of the flags, no matter what country they were from, were the same shape. By that I mean they all had the same width to height ratio. Further, all of the flags I can remember seeing have also been in that same ratio. Given that a flag is a unique representation of a country, why does no one have a flag that is a distinctly different shape? (Actually, I do seem to recall that someone has a square flag and maybe a triangular one but can’t connect them to a country right now; at any rate such variations seem uncommon.) Is there a “standard” width to height ratio for a flag? If so, when and why was that particular ratio selected and why is there so little variation from it? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/2 "2003-10-28T22:16:34Z")
[Switzerland’s flag is square](http://atlasgeo.span.ch/fotw/flags/ch.html) ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/3 "2003-10-28T22:21:05Z")
Grr, posted too quickly. [Vatican’s too](http://www.flags.net/VACY.htm) ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/4 "2003-10-28T22:33:15Z")
[Nepal](http://www.fotw.net/flags/np.html) has a unique flag shape, too. But it’s pretty obvious that these few counter-examples are the “exceptions that prove the rule”, as it were. IANAV [(vexillologist)](http://www.fotw.net/flags/flagetym.html), so I can’t answer the basic question. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/5 "2003-10-28T22:35:25Z")
Doesn’t it have something to do with the “Golden ratio” thing, the universally liked proportion of a rectangle? And they aren’t all that shape. There are the ones with the trailing points, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/6 "2003-10-28T23:24:19Z")
Most national flags have a hoist to fly (height to width) ration of either 1:2 or 1:1.5. The proper proportions of U.S. flag are the unusual ratio of 1:1.9 (i.e. a flag 5 feet high would be 9 feet 6 inches long). I don’t know why this is, but I would speculate that it is due to the importance of the national flag for maritime use. A flag in the ratio of 1:2 or 1:1.5 will fly nicely and be readily identifiable from the stern of a ship. To the extent that national flags have developed or been influenced by maritime ensigns, that may be why many of them are quite similar in shape. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/7 "2003-10-28T23:26:56Z")
Qatar’s flag is a rectangle, but the width:height ratio is more like 2:1 for some odd reason. I would cite the Qatar flag as the least odd of the flag oddities. One of the odd ones is Ohio’s. (Spoken as a native Ohioan.) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/8 "2003-10-28T23:31:21Z")
Actually Qatar’s ratio is 3:2. It’s longer than it oughta be, you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/9 "2003-10-28T23:32:46Z")
The obvious answer: They’re standard-sized. (Sorry.) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/10 "2003-10-28T23:34:11Z")
OK, I’ll get this right eventually. Qatar flag’s ratio is 28 to 11, which works out to 2.55 to 1. The Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/11 "2003-10-28T23:38:25Z")
Just wanted to note the eerie mathematical coincidence hidden within that 28:11 ratio. 11 is 4 plus 7. 28 is 4 times 7. The **[47 Society](http://www.47.net/47society/)** will have a ball with that one! ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/12 "2003-10-29T03:43:02Z")
I think it’s interesting that every country _has_ a flag. Is it just some natural part of human nature to want a flag to stand for a people, or did it start somewhere and catch on with everyone else? I would imagine it’s a European thing that spread to remote places like Nepal? ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/13 "2003-10-29T04:29:27Z")
Indeed. And are there countries without flags? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/14 "2003-10-29T04:44:58Z")
The state flag of Ohio is pennant shape with a notch taken out of the point - like a sideways “W.” Is there a name for this shape? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/15 "2003-10-29T04:45:29Z")
Here’s a lot of flags, all on one page: [CIA - Flags of the World](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/flagsoftheworld.html) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/16 "2003-10-29T04:53:58Z")
[Ohio](http://www.50states.com/flag/ohflag.htm) has a pennant. (I know Ohio is not a country, just wanted to point out this fascinating factoid.) Speaking of fascinating factoids, the official aspect ratio of the U.S. flag is [1.9 to 1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/17 "2003-10-29T05:10:07Z")
**Why Are Flags All the Same Shape?** Maybe because they all serve the same purpose? I suppose some country could come up with some radically different shape for a flag, but then nobody would recognize it as being a flag. And identifying your ship/border/embassy/etc. is the real point of flying a flag there, so such a flag would be pretty non-functional. Maybe you could always fly right below it a normal flag with an explanation: “the above wierd-shaped thing is our flag.” ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/18 "2003-10-29T08:20:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by panache45 \* > \*\*The state flag of Ohio is pennant shape with a notch taken out of the point - like a sideways “W.” Is there a name for this shape? \*\* I think the W-shape is called a “swallow tail”. Norway has both a rectangular and a swallow-tailed flag, used for slightly different purposes: [http://flagspot.net/flags/no.html](http://flagspot.net/flags/no.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mellon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Mellon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/19 "2003-10-29T10:42:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Further, all of the flags I can remember seeing have also been in that same ratio. Most are very close to eachother, with a number of exceptions as mentioned by others. There are however small differences between flags that may appear to have the same ratios. A quick Google search gives the follwing numbers for the nordic countries: Finland [11:18](http://flagspot.net/flags/fi.html) Sweden [10:16](http://flagspot.net/flags/se.html) Norway [8:11](http://flagspot.net/flags/no.html) Iceland [18:25](http://flagspot.net/flags/is.html) Denmark [14:17](http://flagspot.net/flags/dk.html). The Danish flag has been in use since 1219 and is the oldest continuously used national flag. [Cite.](http://flagspot.net/flags/dk.html#hist) Apparently I used the same site as **flodnak** , but I found it independently, the hamsters just wouldn’t let me post before my lunch break so my post appears to be late. Regarding the swallow tail flags mentioned by flodnak: Many, if not most, countries have a war/state/royal flag that is slightly different from the normal flag. In the above links in this post you can see that the Nordic flags use the swallow tail design, possibly with the addition of other symbols. The most famous flag of this kind is probably the [Japanese naval flag](http://flagspot.net/flags/jp%5E.html). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108/20 "2003-10-29T11:22:43Z")
Well, I believe that with the dissolution of the great empires (Austria-Hungary, Ottomans, Britain, France, USSR, etc.), the majority of the world’s independant nations were formed during the 20th Century. New nations formed flags in the shapes and patterns - like the tricolor - that were already common, just to display their legitimacy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-flags-all-the-same-shape/210108.md?page=2)