This articleis missing information about existing unvectorised proposals. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
"And then, later on, the flag of the new state will be designed in the manner of the Commonwealth countries, Canada or Australia... the French colours in the upper right corner of the cloth".[1]
The "upper right corner" in question can either refer to a canton or the upper fly. However, as inspiration from Commonwealth flags was taken and some Arabic flags are flown in sinister — the right side is where the flag pole is — it is likely to be a canton displayed in Arabic fashion to Fernand Carréras.
FLN and OAS' Algeria flag proposal interpretation (1962) in current fashion (flown in dexter)
FLN and OAS' Algeria flag proposal interpretation (1962) in arabic fashion (flown in sinister)
In June 1932, while working for the Portuguese Institute of Heraldry (IPH), Affonso Dornellas elaborated a coat of arms for theColony of Angola and João Ricardo da Silva drew it. Even though the Estado Novo's Agência Geral das Colónias (General Agency of the Colonies) had asked for the shield, it was never used officially. Like other designs, the Agency used a modified version at the 1934 Colonial Exposition of Porto, before settling with the 1935 shield design.[2]
In 1966, heraldist Franz Paul de Almeira Langhans designed flags for Portugueseultramarine provinces in his book "Armorial do Ultramar Português", that of Angola being theFlag of Portugal defaced with the colony's lesser arms shield on its lower fly side.[3][4]
A red-green-black tricolor was allegedly mentioned by a reporter who visited Angola in the beginning of September of '96 tovexillologist Jaume Ollé as a "proposal under consideration to be the basis of a new national flag", it featured the colors of both the foundationalMPLA and its main opposition (UNITA) while using thePan-African flag colours. At the time,Rhodesian vexillologist Bruce Berry said the Angolan embassy in South Africa did not acknowledge any move to change the flag.
Additionally, in 1999 Ollé wrote about flags seen by him in Luanda pictures from '76: "Horizontal stripes of red, green and black [...] Horizontal B-R-B horizontal (the red stripe fimbriated Y) [...] Stripes of red, purple and green".[5]
In 2003, a submission 106 by "Catica" was chosen by the NationalConstitutional Commission, an organ in charge of drafting the country's next constitution, as the new flag, its description being the following:
"A rectangular flag measuring 180 centimeters long and 120 centimeters wide, divided in five horizontal stripes: its top and bottom stripes are dark blue, each measuring 20 centimeters, the two intermediate stripes are white, each measuring 10 centimeters, and the central stripe is blood-red, measuring 60 centimeters. The middle red stripe features a design of a 15-ray yellowish sun comprising three irregular concentric circles which are inspired by the ancestral Tchitundo-Hulu rocks paintings in the country's SouthwesternNamibe province. The sun symbolizes the riches and the historical and cultural identity of Angola".
The polemic new flag, along with a new athem, were supposed to be formally adopted after the planned2005 general elections, which only ended up happening in'08, but this never happened.[6]
UNITA has positioned itself against the current flag for its similarities with MPLA's and keeps on fighting for its change.[7][8][9]
IPH's Colony of Angola flag proposal (1932)
Langhans' Overseas Province of Angola flag proposal (1966)
In 1885,Ghevont Alishan, anArmenian Catholic priest and historian proposed 2 Armenian flags. The first is a horizontal tricolor flag of red-green-white, with red and green coming from the Armenian Catholic calendar, in which the first Sunday of Easter is called "Red Sunday" and the second Sunday is "Green Sunday", with white being added for design reasons. He then made another flag proposal, a vertical tricolor of red-green-blue, taken from the rainbow.[10]
In 1918, in the stage of deciding on what the flag should look like, artistMartiros Saryan proposed some flags, two of which were flags with the colors of the rainbow. He wrote, “there are many tricolors, multi-colored flag would be more suitable for us, because we are an oriental nation”. His drawings fell into oscurity, being only revealed in the 2000s.[11][12][13]
The first flag that was considered as a proposal to represent the Australian people is theEureka flag. Several demonstrators swore allegiance to the flag and flew it as a symbol of defiance during theBattle of the Eureka Stockade in 1854.
In 1900, seeing howFederation approached and so would the need for a flag, theMelbourne Evening Herald initiated a contest promising a prize of 25 australian pounds to the winner. Entries were mandated to contain theUnion Jack and thesouthern cross in their designs. The designs by Mr. F. Thompson was chosen as the winner.
This contest then prompted theReview of Reviews, also aMelbourne journal, to come up with a new competition in October 1900. They neglected the decision of obliging participants to include certain elements on the design of the flag.
Later, in 1901, the newly-formedCommonwealth Government held anofficial competition, which also included the proposals made to theReview of Reviews competitions in 1900. Five winners were chosen, with their designs only differing in small details. The first Australian flag was tuned using elements from this five winners.
However, theAustralian flag debate has been a topic of discussion for years, dating back to the early 1990s after the adoption of the official flag afterFederation. The main points of the debate on whetherAustralia should adopt anew flag discuss the elimination of theUnion Jack, and the representation of Australia's complex and multicultural history. This prompted several unofficial redesign contests, such as the ones byThe Daily Telegraph in 1982,Adelaide Advertiser in 1992, andA Current Affair in 1993, among many others.
In 1973, when the flag design for the Bahamas was submitted for approval to the Garter King of Arms, the head of the College of Arms, Sir Anthony Wagner, proposed that the gold and aquamarine stripes swapped colours. Nevertheless, this change never took place, and the current Bahamian flag was adopted.[14]
In 1990, the authorities ofMinsk allowed the use of thewhite-red-white national flag along with the state flag of theSSR. This led to many opposition supporters to create more proposals bearing this design, including flags with thePahonia contained in the red stripe, and some even resembling aNordic cross due to the addition of a red bar towards the hoist.[15][16]
Right after declaringindependence from the USSR in 1991, the special sixth session of the XII Council of the Belarusian SSR commenced with the objective to address several topics, including the republic's name,state flag, andcoat of arms. Flag designs were submitted by the public, many involving the colours red, green, and blue.[15][16]
In 1993, due to unrest regarding the adoptedwhite-red-white flag, the future presidentAlexander Lukashenko proposed a referendum to change the flag, but was rejected. Once he became president in 1995, Lukashenko proposed a version that consisted of two thin green stripes top and bottom, and a central red field. This flag, alongside a version similar to the one used by theSSR without thehammer and sickle, were put forward for areferendum, including their respective coat of arms designs. The latter won the referendum and was adopted as the currentflag of Belarus.
In 2008, Belgian artist Luc Swinnen made a proposal to the Belgian flag, adding pixels blurring the lines between the stripes to symbolize Belgium's interwoven cultures and languages.
In 2010, Dutch designer Theun Okkerse proposed a new Belgian flag, with a yellow-black-yellow background representing theFlemish people combined with a yellow-red-yellow design representing theWalloons, and their intersection creating four "arrows" pointing to the center of the flag.
In 2011, Belgian cartoonistPierre Kroll designed a new flag for Belgium, divided into four squares, colored yellow, red, blue, and white. Yellow representing the Flemish people, red representing the Walloons, blue representingBrussels, and white representing theGerman-speaking Community of Belgium.[17]
After winning Bolivia's presidency and in the wake of Bolivia's constitutional reforms, discussions of changing the flag were engaged.Evo Morales appeared at a football match with the following flag on his jersey in October 2006, made of the Bolivian colors crossed by thewiphala. In the end, no change was made.[18][19]
This sectionis missing information about existing Bosnian proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
In 1992, one of the proposals was a horizontal tricolor of green-red-blue tricolor with green representingBosniaks, red representingCroats, and blue representingSerbs.
Another flag from that time was proposed, it being theaccepted flag but with blue bands at the left and right sides.
Another one, proposed by defenders of Sarajevo, consisted of a blue triangle in the bottom-right taking up half of the flag with 3fleur-de-lis, and the other half of the flag consisting of 6 red and white stripes, making the Pan-Slavic colors.[20]
In 1997, a flag change was again happening as Bosnian Serbs considered the accepted flag of representing onlyBosniaks. There was a "Czech"-style proposal, with a blue triangle for Eastern Orthodox Serbs, green bar for Sunni Muslim Bosniaks, and red bar for Latin Catholic Croats. There were also 2 proposals of a light blue background, one with an olive branch and the other with a map of Bosnia and Herzegovina on it, likely meant to be uncontroversial designs.
There were four other similar proposals, all containing a map of Bosnia, either blue or yellow, within a red-white-blue tricolor, either diagonal or horizontal, within either 10 stars in a circle, or 2 olive branches taken from theFlag of the United Nations.[21]
Three proposals were made byHigh RepresentativeCarlos Westendorp, one being the adopted flag but with a shade of blue similar to the UN flag, another containing 5 stripes coming from each side of the flag without reaching the other side in yellow and white on a UN-like blue background, and the final being the same as the previous but with 12 stripes and them forming a triangle in the flag's center.[22]
In 1888,Júlio Ribeiro designed a flag for a Brazilian republic, it had fifteen alternating black and white stripes, a red rectangle in the canton, containing a blue map of Brazil inside a white circle with 4 yellow stars on each corner of the canton, it eventually became the flag of the state ofSão Paulo.[23]
In 1890,Antônio da Silva Jardim also a designed a Brazilian republican flag, a black-red-white tricolor with a coat of arms centered on it.[citation needed]
Also in 1890,José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco proposed a similar design, a black-white-red diagonal tricolor with a coat of arms, similar to the imperial arms centered on it.
In 1892, Oliveira Valadão proposed changing the acceptedFlag of Brazil by removing the blue circle, the stars, and the motto and instead adding the coat of arms.
In 1908, Wenceslau Escobar proposed removing the motto "ORDEM E PROGRESSO" because according to him, the flag cannot have a "motto of a sect (Positivism)".
In 1908, Eurico de Góes proposed going back to theimperial flag, but without a shield or crown, and instead a white star.[24] He later in 1922, proposed a similar flag but without the white star, or the globe, and the red cross and light blue circle being expanded and centered on the yellow rhombus.[citation needed]
Around 1915,King Ferdinand proposed a new flag for Bulgaria, a black-white-blue horizontal tricolor, black representing theBlack Sea, white representing theAegean Sea, and blue representing theAdriatic Sea.[25]
There were several proposals for German colonies to get their own flags and heraldry. In 1914,Wilhelm Solf proposed a flag for Cameroon, theFlag of the German Empire with the proposed shield on it or the shield's symbol within a circle.[26]
In 1902, theDaily Express reported that a series of flags were being proposed to replace the Union Jack everywhere in the British Empire aside from the United Kingdom itself. The goal was to provide a flags more representative of the people of each area they would be used in. As described, the flags would have featured theCross of Saint George and an imperial crown in the canton to represent the English. In the top right would be the emblem of the territory flying the flag, and in the case of Canada, its coat of arms. A large sun in the centre symbolized "the empire on which the sun never sets."
In 1930, the newspaperLa Presse proposed a new Canadian flag, which had won a contest the newspaper had held a few years earlier. It was a white flag, with aUnion Jack canton, 7 five-point blue stars making up theBig Dipper, and a larger 8-pointed North Star in the top-right quarter of the flag.
In 1939, Ephrem Cote proposed a flag with 3 sections. It had a blue triangle in the top-left, containing the Union Jack forEnglish Canadians, a red triangle in the bottom-right, containing afleur-de-lis forFrench Canadians, and a thick white line from the bottom-left to the top-right between the two containing a greenmaple leaf.
In 1946, it was proposed that the currentRed Ensign flag of Canada should have the shield replaced with a golden maple leaf.
In 1947,Adélard Godbout proposed a flag, diagonally divided with one white triangle in the bottom-left and one red triangle in the top-right, and a green maple leaf in the center.
In 1956,Jean-François Pouliot proposed that the Canadian flag be a red background with a green maple leaf centered on it.
In 1962, Luc-André Biron proposed a green polar star symbol on a white background as the flag.[27][28][29]
In 1964 duringGreat Canadian flag debate, several flags were proposed. The flag initially preferred by Prime MinisterLester B. Pearson was a flag designed byAlan Beddoe, with 2 blue bars at each end and a red set of 3 maple leaves connected by one stem in the center, and it became known as the "Pearson Pennant".[30] Another proposed flag made by Beddoe was the acceptedFlag of Canada, but with the British flag in the top-left, and theRoyal Banner of France in the top-right.[31]
There was also a proposal from 1964, seemingly taking elements from theFlag of the United Kingdom, and theFlag of the United States, with a blue background, a red cross with a white border, a green maple leaf in the center, and 10 white stars within the cross.[30]
There was also a proposal with the left-half of the flag red, and the right-half white, and 10 maple leaves across the whole flag.[citation needed]
There was also a proposal in 1965 by the Native Sons of Canada, with a red triangle in the top-right taking half of the flag, and a darker red maple leaf in the center.[citation needed]
After the flag debate and the currentFlag of Canada got accepted, another proposal came to represent French ties in Canada, that being theCanadian Unity Flag, which adds 2 small blue bars to the edges of the white center bar to represent French Canadians.[32]
Winner of the 1926La Presse contest to design a national flag. Design credited concurrently toEdwin Tappan Adney, Charles Lapierre, Joseph-Edouard Roy, and Isidore Renaud.[33] (1926)
In 1967, F. P. de Almeida Langhans designed designs for Portuguese colonies includingCape Verde, with aFlag of Portugal with a shield of the colony's lesser arms.[38]
In the summer of 1976, after a meeting with Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi, Central African leaderJean-Bédel Bokassa converted to Islam, likely to get Libyan aid, and a project was undertaken to adopt a new national flag with Islamic symbolism. A proposal came of the top-left quarter being split halfway horizontally between yellow and white, and the rest of the flag being green with a yellow star and crescent. This proposal was short-lived though as Bokassa quickly converted back to Roman Catholicism.[39]
Several flags were proposed in 1949 for thePeople's Republic of China, most of which contain red and yellow colors as well as stars due to communist symbolism.
Mao Zedong's proposal containing a yellow star and a yellow stripe on a white background was initially favored, but there was criticism of it being interpreted as "the fruits of the revolution being cut off".
This sectionis missing information about existing Croatian proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
This sectionis missing information about existing Estonian proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
In 1952,Åland was given right to a flag by the Finnish government, and several proposals from the past and that time were considered.
Many of them were inspired off of theFlag of Sweden due to the region's Swedish culture and language, including a "Swedish" flag proposal, a Swedish flag with a blue cross on it. It was denied by the President of Finland for being too similar to the flag of Sweden.
There was also the "Plague Flag" or "Pestflaggen", which was nicknamed that for being considered too unattractive a design.[40]
Proposal possibly made byHenri d'Artois, comte de Chambord in his younger years as a compromise, but which was never made official, and which he himself rejected when offered the throne in 1870.[41] (1850)
This sectionis missing information about existing German proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
In June 1932, while working for the Portuguese Institute of Heraldry (IPH), Affonso Dornellas elaborated a coat of arms for theColony of Guinea and João Ricardo da Silva drew it. Even though the Estado Novo's Agência Geral das Colónias (General Agency of the Colonies) had asked for the shield, it was never officially adopted. Like other designs, a modified version was used at the 1934 Colonial Exposition of Porto and on posterior coins before the introduction of the 1935 shield design.[42]
In 1966, heraldist Franz Paul de Almeira Langhans designed flags for Portugueseultramarine provinces in his book "Armorial do Ultramar Português", being Guinea's theFlag of Portugal defaced with the colony's lesser arms shield on its lower fly side.[3]
IPH's Colony of Guinea flag proposal (1932)
Langhans' Overseas Province of Guinea flag proposal (1966)
This sectionis missing information about existing Israeli proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
This sectionis missing information about existing Latvian proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
In June 1932, while working for the Portuguese Institute of Heraldry (IPH), Affonso Dornellas elaborated a coat of arms for theColony of Mozambique and João Ricardo da Silva drew it. Even though the Estado Novo's Agência Geral das Colónias (General Agency of the Colonies) had asked for the shield, it was never officially adopted. Like other designs, a modified version was used at the 1934 Colonial Exposition of Porto and on posterior coins before the introduction of the 1935 shield design.[46]
In 1966, heraldist Franz Paul de Almeira Langhans designed flags for Portugueseultramarine provinces in his book "Armorial do Ultramar Português", being Mozambique's theFlag of Portugal defaced with the colony's lesser arms shield on its lower fly side.[3][47]
In 1990, the drafting of a new constitution started discussions on changing the national symbols due to their resemble toMozambique Liberation Front's (FRELIMO), as it would be antithetical to use a partidary flag for national unity. This move failed to change the flag, and since then the primary criticism has been directed at the inclusion of theAK-47 on it, which some Mozambicans view as an allusion to violence.[48][49]
In 2005, the Mozambican government held a competition with five judges to choose a new national flag and emblem as part of a peace agreement between the FRELIMO and theMozambican National Resistance (RENAMO).[50] All the 169 proposals were ultimately rejected by theAssembly of the Republic, which voted 155 to 79 against changing the flag. All the votes against were from FRELIMO, and all the votes for were from RENAMO.[51]
IPH's Colony of Mozambique flag proposal (1932)
Langhans' Overseas Province of Mozambique flag proposal (1966)
Aruba is one of theislands that formed the former territory of theNetherlands Antilles. In 1976, the decision to obtain a distinctive flag was made, so a committee was formed in order to decide in what the design of such as flag would be. From the 693 proposals that were made to the committee, a preliminary selection of 157 was carried out. Some of these designs are depicted below. Some other proposals were made byvexillologists such asWhitney Smith, who proposed two designs.
Eventually, the committee worked on W.J. Fransen's design, and after a few iterations, the current flag ofAruba was born.[52]
This sectionis missing information about existing Macedonian proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
This sectionis missing information about existing Peruvian proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
This sectionis missing information about existing Portuguese proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
A. Rigaud Nogueira's proposal (1910–1911)
Alexandre Fontes' proposal 1 (1910–1911)
Alexandre Fontes's proposal 2 (1910–1911)
Carvalho Neves's proposal (1910–1911)
Duarte Alves Leal's proposal (1910–1911)
Antonio Augusto Macieira's proposal (1910–1911)
Alfredo Pinta da Silva's proposal (1910–1911)
António Arroyo's proposal (1910–1911)
Delfim Guimarães and Roque Gameiro's proposal (1910–1911)
First Project of the Official Commission for the new Portuguese National Flag (1910–1911)
This sectionis missing information about existing Solomon Island proposals. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2021)
In 2002, James B. Minahan proposed a design in his "Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations" that he called "the Bermudian National Flag." He states that this proposal aims to provide Bermuda with a national symbol once it attains independence from the United Kingdom.[56]
James Minahan in hisEncyclopedia of Stateless Nations presents this proposed Cayman Islander independence flag, although it does not seem like anyCayman Islands independence groups use this flag.[57]
More than 3,000 citizens of the United States mailed proposals for how the United States flag could be changed following the admission of the states Alaska and Hawaii. A small portion of these proposals can be viewed at theEisenhower Library Design of the 49- and 50-Star Flags online document.