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Vatican City 1

Vatican City

The flag of Vatican City was adopted on 7 June 1929, the year Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Italy, creating a new independent state governed by the Holy See. The Vatican City flag is modeled on the 1808 yellow and white flag of the earlier Papal States, to which a papal tiara and keys were later added. The Vatican (and the Holy See) also refers to it, interchangeably, as the flag of the Holy See.

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Wales 2

Wales

The Flag of Wales consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardized and many renderings exist. The flag is not represented in the Union Flag.

The flag incorporates the red dragon of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, along with the Tudor colors of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, after which it was carried in state to St Paul’s Cathedral. The red dragon was then included as a supporter of the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent. It was officially recognized as the Welsh national flag in 1959. Several cities include a dragon in their flag design, including Cardiff, the Welsh capital.

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Shetland 4

Shetland

The flag of Shetland is a white or silver Nordic cross on a blue background. The flag uses the colors of the flag of Scotland, but in the form of the Nordic cross in order to symbolize Shetland’s historical and cultural ties with Scandinavia. As with all Scottish flags, its proportions and color shades are not fixed. It was created by Roy Grønneberg and Bill Adams in 1969, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the transfer of the islands from Norway in the Kalmar Union to Scotland and the 500 years before as part of Norway.

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Scotland 5

Scotland

The flag of Scotland is the national flag of Scotland, which consists of a white saltire defacing a blue field. The Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, is the correct flag for all private individuals and corporate bodies to fly. It is also, where possible, flown from Scottish Government buildings every day from 8:00 am until sunset, with certain exceptions.

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Sark 6

Sark

The flag of Sark is white with a red St. George’s cross and a red canton containing two yellow lions (or in heraldic terms “Leopards”). It was designed by Herbert Pitt in 1938 and adopted the same year as the personal standard of the Seigneur of Sark before becoming the island’s flag in 1987. The canton is similar to the arms of nearby Normandy, of which the Channel Islands were historically a part.

The flag is flown from the Ministry of Justice in London on 6 August to mark the granting of the fief on that day in 1565. The Ministry of Justice is the British government department responsible for relations with the Crown Dependencies.

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Saint Helena 7

Saint Helena

The flag of Saint Helena was adopted on October 4, 1984. It is a defaced (i.e. differentiated) Blue Ensign, i.e., a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the shield from the coat of arms of Saint Helena centered on the outer half of the flag. The shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship, with a Saint Helena plover, also known as a wirebird, atop. Prior to the adoption of the current coat of arms and flag in 1984, the flag and shield showed the ship and coastal scene taken from the colonial seal of the colony.

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Pitcairn Islands 8

Pitcairn Islands

The coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands was granted by royal warrant dated 4 November 1969. The flag of the Pitcairn Islands was adopted on 2 April 1984. The design was suggested by the Pitcairn Island Council in December 1980 and approved by Queen Elizabeth II in April 1984. The flag was flown on Pitcairn for the first time in May 1984, during a visit by the then Governor, Sir Richard Stratton (1980—84)

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Orkney Islands 9

Orkney Islands

The Flag of Orkney was the winner of a public flag consultation in February and March 2007. In the flag consultation the people of Orkney were asked for their preferred design from a short list of 5, all of which had been approved by the Court of the Lord Lyon. The chosen design was that of Duncan Tullock of Birsay, which polled 53% of the 200 votes cast by the public.[5]

The colors red and yellow are from the Scottish and Norwegian royal coats of arms, which both use yellow and red, with a lion rampant. The flag symbolizes the islands’ Scottish and Norwegian heritage. The blue is taken from the flag of Scotland and also represents the sea and the maritime heritage of the islands.

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