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Invexillology, astate flag is either theflag of thegovernment of asovereign state (and can also be referred as agovernment flag and likely interchangeable with anational flag in certain scenarios), or the flag of an individualfederated state (subnational administrative division).[1]
A state flag is a variant of anational flag (or occasionally a completely different design) specifically designated and restricted by law or custom (theoretically or actually) to use by a country's government or its agencies. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to asgovernment flags. In many countries the state flag and thecivil flag (as flown by the general public) are identical, but in other countries, notably those in Latin America, central Europe, and Scandinavia, the state flag is a more complex version of the national flag, often featuring the nationalcoat of arms or some other emblem as part of the design. Scandinavian countries also useswallowtailed state flags, to further differentiate them from civil flags.[1]
In addition, some countries havestate ensigns, separate flags for use by non-military government ships such asguard vessels. For example, government ships in the United Kingdom fly theBlue Ensign.[2]
State flags should not be confused with the national flag as used by military organizations; these are referred to aswar flags andnaval ensigns.[3]
InArgentina,Australia,Brazil,Canada, theUnited States, and some other federalized countries, the termstate flag can have a different usage, as it frequently refers to an official flag of any of the individualstates orterritorial subdivisions that make up the nation.[4]
To avoid confusion with the first meaning of the term, however, such a flag would be more precisely referred to as "the flag of the state of X", rather than "the state flag of X".[citation needed] For this usage, see also:
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