40 Amazing Facts About Flags of Nations | Amazing Facts 4U
- United States flag has 13 stripes for the thirteen original colonies and one star for every state.
- Amazingly stars numbers and the position on US flag has never been standardised resulting in multiple official versions.
- “Backwards American flags” on airplanes and military uniforms are worn with the stars in front to “give the effect of the flag flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward.”
- Amazing fact is Robert G. Heft , 18 year old student designed the current flag as a school project when Hawaii and Alaska were being discussed as possible states. He received a B- for the assignment because his teacher said it lacked creativity. He was told he would receive a higher grade if it was adopted by Congress, so he sent it on to his representative who promoted it and it eventually became the nation’s flag.
- Fact is Ohio is the only state flag which is not rectangular. It is shaped like a pennant.
- Amazingly Hawaii state of US still has British Union Jack as it’s flag.
- Amazingly Texas is the only state that is allowed to fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag.
- Texas is the only state where citizens also pledge allegiance to the state flag.
- The Virginia state flag is the only U.S. state flag to feature nudity.
- The nylon American flag planted on the moon during Apollo 11 cost $5.50, was knocked over by exhaust from the Lunar Module’s ascent, and is likely to have disintegrated by four decades of heat, UV rays and radiation.
- There are 6 US flags put on Moon by various Apollo missions , five are still standing. All have turned white from bleaching by sunlight.
- US flag shares it’s birthday with the US army which was founded on June 14 , 1775 , two years before the flag was born.
- According the Flag Code, the American Flag should never be used for advertisement purposes in any manner whatsoever.
- The U.S. is the only country that does not dip its flag to the host country at the Olympics opening ceremonies. When the U.S. flag-holder was asked to do so for King Edward VII at the 1908 London games, he supposedly responded, “This flag dips to no earthly king.” Tradition has continued.
- When a foreign dignitary stays over at Blair House (the sister version of White House), their national flag is flown over the premises and the area is considered foreign soil.
- Canada Flag has red maple leaf on it since Maple tree is national tree.
- Lichtenstein and Haiti developed identical national flags independently of each other. No one realized until the two countries competed against each other in the 1936 Summer Olympics under the same flag.
- The fact is the flags of Monaco and Indonesia are identical by coincidence. Amazing thing is that it becomes Polish flag turning it upside down.
- The flags of Chad and Romania are also identical.
- The flags of Australia and New Zealand are so similar, the Prime Minister of Australia was greeted with the flag of New Zealand on a state visit to Canada in 1984.
- Amazingly the only non rectangular national flag is the double triangular shape of Nepal’s made by combining two pennants.
- The flag of the Philippines has both blue and red portion. Amazingly the blue portion is flown on top in time of peace and the red portion is flown on top in war time.
- Switzerland and the vatican city are the only countries with a square flag. Switzerland’s flag shows famous red cross.
- In Denmark, it is illegal to burn foreign flags, but not illegal to burn the Danish flag.
- Denmark’s flag is the oldest flag currently in use, designed in 1219 and unchanged since.
- There was about a 15 year period in which the flag of France was just a white flag
- Japan is referred to be the “land of the rising sun” and uses the sun in its national flag. Another country to use it is Argentina with sun in the middle.
- Amazing fact is that the national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte !
- The flag of Belize is the only one to feature human beings.
- Lebanon flag has a Cedar tree on it while Combodia flag has a temple on it.
- Saudi Arabia Flag has a sword on it while Libya used to have all solid green flag with no design until 2011.
- The words “Allahu Akbar” are repeated 22 times on the flag of Iran.
- Mozambique Flag has AK-47 gun on it.
- Dominica, Mexico, Zambia, Kiribati, Fiji and Egypt all have birds on their flags.
- John Rabe, a member of the Nazi Party, prevented the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians at the hands of the Japanese by setting up a refugee zone under the Nazi flag.
- The first African-American to receive the Medal of Honor in the Civil War was Sgt. William Harvey Carney who, despite being shot in the face, shoulders, arms, and legs, refused to let the American flag touch the ground.
- The first Olympic flag went missing for 77 years after the 1920 games until a 1920 olympian revealed he had it in his suitcase the whole time.
- During truce talks between North and South Korea, both parties would try to bring a bigger national flag than the other to each meeting. This went on until a special meeting was called to address the size of the flags, as they could no longer fit in the room.
- The Bikini Atoll’s , part of the Marshall Island’s flag looks just like the US flag but with black stars for each island destroyed by nuclear tests done by US to serve as a reminder of the debt the US still owes them for nuclear fallout and radiation poisoning!
- The world’s largest the American Flag measures 505 feet (153.9m) x 225 feet (68.58m) and weighs amazing 3,000 pounds (1,361 Kg). it was made in Pennsylvania.
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