The flag of Montenegro is red, with the coat of arms in the middle, and golden borders. The ratio of the flag is 1:2. The coat of arms takes up 2⁄3 of the flag’s height. The middle point of the coat of arms matches the middle point of the flag. The width of the border is 1⁄20 of the flag’s proportions. Two versions of the Montenegrin flag are in use, horizontal, mostly used outdoor; and vertical, mostly used indoor.
The flag of Mongolia is a vertical tricolor with a red stripe at each side and a blue stripe in the middle, with the Mongolian Soyombo symbol centering on the leftmost stripe. The blue stripe represents the eternal blue sky, and the red stripes thriving for eternity. The Soyombo symbol is a geometric abstraction that represents fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and a Taijitu symbol representing the duality of yin and yang.
The flag of Monaco is the national flag of the Principality of Monaco. It has two equal horizontal bands, of red (top) and white (bottom), both of which have been the heraldic colours of the House of Grimaldi since at least 1339. The present bicolour design was adopted on 4 April 1881, under Charles III.
Monaco’s original flag, which was similar to its current princely flag but bore an older version of its coat of arms, was in use from the principality’s early days (except during its annexation to France from 1793 to 1814) until the present, simpler design was adopted in 1881.
The flag of Monaco is graphically identical to the flag of Indonesia, with differences in their dimension ratios (Monaco’s at 4:5 and Indonesia’s at 2:3), and the shade of red is darker for the flag of Monaco. The flag of Poland is also similar to that of Monaco, but with the colours reversed – white on top and red on the bottom.
The blue, red, and yellow tricolor of Moldova is identical to the flag of Romania, reflecting the two countries’ national and cultural affinity. On Moldova’s flag, the yellow stripe is charged with the national arms. Like the Romanian coat of arms, the Moldovan arms, adopted in 1990, features a dark golden eagle holding an Orthodox Christian cross in its beak. Instead of a sword, the eagle is holding an olive branch, symbolizing peace. The blue and red shield on the eagle’s chest is charged with the traditional symbols of Moldova: an aurochs’ head, flanked by a rose in dexter and a crescent in sinister and having a star between its horns, all of gold. These two national flags are also very similar to the flags of Chad and Andorra, which are all based on vertical stripes of blue, yellow, and red.
The flag of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was adopted on 30 November 1978. The light blue field represents the Pacific Ocean, while the four stars represent the states in the federation: Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and Yap.
A similar design with six stars was in use from 1965 for the flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Kosrae was then part of Pohnpei so both were represented by one star. The three extra stars representing Palau, the Marshall Islands and Northern Mariana, which chose not to participate in the Federation. The flag, adopted in 1978, is in the colors of the UN flag. The light blue also represents the Pacific Ocean. In an echo of U.S. heraldic practice, the stars represent the entities that make up the state, in this case, the four federated states, arranged like the points of the compass, although the states locations are actually distributed from west to east.
The flag of Mauritius consists of red, blue, yellow and green bands which stands for:
The national flag of Mauritius, also known as the Four Bands and Les Quatre Bandes (French for “the four bands”), was adopted upon independence, March 12, 1968. It consists of four horizontal bands of equal width, colored (from top to bottom) red, blue, yellow, and green. The flag was recorded at the College of Arms in London on 9 January 1968.
The flag was designed by Gurudutt Moher who was a primary school teacher at that time. He died of a heart attack on October 7, 2017 at the age of 93.
Red: Red represents the struggle for freedom and independence.
Blue: Blue represents the Indian Ocean, in the middle of which Mauritius is situated.
Yellow: Yellow represents the new light of independence.
Green: Green represents the agriculture of Mauritius and its color throughout the 12 months of the year.
The flag of Mauritania is a green field containing a gold star and crescent, with a red stripe at the top and bottom of the field. The original national flag was introduced under the instructions of President Moktar Ould Daddah and the constitution of 22 March 1959 and was adopted on 1 April 1959.
On 5 August 2017, a referendum was held by President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to change the national flag, abolish the senate, and other constitutional amendments. The referendum was successful, and the new flag, including two red stripes, which represent “the efforts and sacrifices that the people of Mauritania will keep consenting, to the price of their blood, to defend their territory”, was adopted in for its first raising on 28 November 2017, the 57th anniversary of Mauritania’s independence.
The Marshall Islands were part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands administered by the United States, from which the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia split. In common with other island nations in the region, this flag features the symbolic representation of the islands’ place within the ocean. The rising diagonal band represents the equator, the star above representing this Northern Hemisphere archipelago. The white and orange portions of the band represent, respectively, the Ratak Chain (“sunrise”) and the Ralik Chain (“sunset”), as well as symbolizing peace and courage. The sun’s 24 points represent the number of electoral districts, while the four elongated points represent the principal cultural centers of Majuro, Jaluit, Wotje and Ebeye. The flag is also the national flag with the most points on a star, at 24.
Tradition states that the colors of the flag were given to Malta by Roger I of Sicily in 1090. Roger’s fleet landed in Malta on the completion of the Norman conquest of Sicily. It is said that local Christians offered to fight by Roger’s side against the Arab defenders. In order to recognize the locals fighting on his side from the defenders, Roger reportedly tore off part of his checkered red-and-white flag. This story has, however, been debunked as a 19th-century myth, possibly even earlier due to the Mdina, Malta’s old capital, associating its colors with Roger’s in the late Middle Ages.
The national flag of Mali is a tricolour with three equal vertical stripes. From the hoist the colours are green, gold, and red, the pan-African colours. The flag of Mali is almost identical to the flag of Guinea, with the exception that the colours are in reverse order.
The green stands for fertility of the land, gold stands for purity and mineral wealth, and the red symbolizes the blood shed for independence from the French.
The current flag was adopted on March 1, 1961. The original flag was adopted on April 4, 1959, when Mali joined the Mali Federation. This flag was the same, except the golden stripe had a human stick figure, a kanaga, in black, with arms raised to the sky. The figure was removed due to the opposition, in a country whose population is 90% Muslim.