| One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolize | | | | their symbols. Examples: Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, |
| a nation or country. Some national flags have been | | | | Slovenia, and Bulgaria (with green replacing blue). |
| particularly inspirational to other nations, countries, or | | | | - The original tricolor flag of Iran, the source for the |
| subnational entities in the design of their own flags. | | | | Pan-Iranian colors Green, White and Red adopted by |
| Some prominent examples include: | | | | many Indo-Iranian or Aryan states and peoples as their |
| - The flag of Denmark is the oldest state flag | | | | symbols. Examples: Tajikistan, Kurdistan, Republic of |
| Dannebrog, inspired the cross design of the other | | | | Ararat, Talysh-Mughan. Some of Iran's non-Iranian |
| Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and | | | | neighboring countries also adopted these colors see |
| regional Scandinavian flags for the Faroe Islands, | | | | Kuwait and Oman. |
| Åland, Scania and Bornholm, as well as flags for the | | | | - Ethiopia was seen as a model by emerging African |
| non-Scandinavian Shetland and Orkney. | | | | states of the 1950s and 1960s, as it was one of the |
| - The Union flag (Union Jack) of the United Kingdom is | | | | oldest independent states in Africa. Accordingly, its flag |
| the most commonly used. British colonies typically flew | | | | became the source of the Pan-African colors, or |
| a flag based on one of the ensigns based on this flag, | | | | "Rasta colors" to the ill-informed. Examples: Togo, |
| and many former colonies have retained the design to | | | | Senegal, Ghana, Mali. |
| acknowledge their cultural history. Examples: Australia, | | | | - The flag of Turkey, which was the flag of the |
| Fiji, New Zealand, Tuvalu, and also the Canadian | | | | Ottoman Empire, has been an inspiration for the flag |
| provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia, | | | | designs of many other Muslim nations. During the time |
| and the American state of Hawaii. | | | | of the Ottomans the crescent began to be associated |
| - The Tricolour of The Netherlands is the oldest tricolor, | | | | with Islam and this is reflected on the flags of Algeria, |
| first appearing in 1572 as the Prince's flag in | | | | Azerbaijan, Comoros, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan |
| orange–white–blue. Soon the more famous | | | | and of Tunisia. |
| red–white–blue began appearing — it is | | | | - The Pan-Arab colors, green, white, red and black, are |
| however unknown why, though many stories are | | | | derived from the flag of the Great Arab Revolt as |
| known. After 1630 the red–white–blue was the | | | | seen on the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, Syria, the |
| most commonly seen flag. The Dutch Tricolor has | | | | United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Egypt, Iraq, |
| inspired many flags but most notably those of Russia, | | | | Yemen and Palestine. |
| India, New York City, South Africa (the 1928-94 flag), | | | | - The Soviet flag, with its golden symbols of the |
| and France, which spread the tricolor concept even | | | | hammer and sickle on a red field, was an inspiration to |
| further. The flag of the Netherlands is also the only flag | | | | flags of other communist states, such as East |
| in the world that is adapted for some uses, when the | | | | Germany, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Angola, |
| occasion has a connection to the royal house of the | | | | Afghanistan and Mozambique. |
| Netherlands an orange ribbon is added. | | | | - The flag of Venezuela, created by Francisco de |
| - The national flag of FranceTricolore was designed in | | | | Miranda to represent the independence movement in |
| 1794. As a forerunner of revolution, France's tricolour | | | | Venezuela that later gave birth to the "Gran Colombia", |
| flag style has been adopted by other nations. | | | | inspired the individual flags of Colombia and Ecuador, |
| Exampless: Italy, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, | | | | both sharing three bands of color and three of them |
| Ireland, Haiti, Romania, Mexico. | | | | (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela) sharing the yellow, |
| - The flag of the United States, also nicknamed The | | | | blue and red. |
| Stars and Stripes or Old Glory. In the same way that | | | | - The flag of Argentina, created by Manuel Belgrano |
| nations looked to France for inspiration, many countries | | | | during the war of independence, was the inspiration for |
| were also inspired by the American Revolution, which | | | | the United Provinces of Central America's flag, which |
| they felt was symbolized in this flag. Examples: Liberia, | | | | in turn was the origin for the flags of Guatemala, |
| Chile, Malaysia, Uruguay, and the French region of | | | | Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. |
| Brittany. | | | | National flag designs are often used to signify |
| - The flag of Russia, the source for the Pan-Slavic | | | | nationality in other forms, such as flag patches. |
| colors adopted by many Slavic states and peoples as | | | | [Flagslist. |