On the Danish flag, the cross design, which represents Christianity, was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries ; Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Åland Islands and the Faroe Islands, as well as the Scottish archipelagos of Shetland and Orkney.

This flag, called the Dannebrog, inspired the cross design of the other Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and regional Scandinavian flags for the Faroe Islands, Åland, Scania and Bornholm, as well as flags for the non-Scandinavian Shetland and Orkney.

On the latter occasion the flag of the Orkney Islands was flown at half mast.

The flag of Orkney, with opposite colours from that of Åland.

The new official Orkney Community Flag 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 previous though unofficial flag of Orkney was that created in the mid-1990s and attributed to St Magnus, a yellow field with a red Nordic cross.

Historically, the red cross on yellow is likely the flag of the Kalmar Union, a medieval Scandinavian state of which Orkney was a part.

File: Former Flag of Orkney. svg |< center > The former ( unofficial ) flag of Orkney .</ br > Likely flag of the Kalmar Union ( 1397 – 1523 )</ center >

File: 2007 Flag of Orkney. svg |< center > The current flag of Orkney ( since 2007 )</ center >

From left to right respectively ; the flag of Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. A selection of Nordic flags used in Northern Europe: Iceland, Faroe Islands, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Åland Islands, Finland.

File: Stromness Town House with Orkney flag flying-geograph. org. uk-950697. jpg | Flag of Orkney

The flag of the Earldom of Orkney

Union flag, combining the St George's Cross | Cross of St George or England, with the Flag of Scotland | Cross of St. Andrew of Scotland.

Roy Grönneberg, who founded the local chapter of the Scottish National Party in 1966, designed the flag of Shetland in cooperation with Bill Adams to mark the 500 year anniversary of the transfer of the islands from Norway to Scotland.

In 1606, the flag of England ( St. George's Cross ), and the flag of Scotland ( St. Andrew's Cross ), were joined together to create the Union Flag.

This difference arose after Members of the Scottish Parliament complained that Scotland was the only country in the world that could not fly its national flag on its national day.

The Flag of Scotland, (, ), also known as Saint Andrew's Cross or the Saltire, is the national flag of Scotland.

As the national flag it is the Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, which is the correct flag for all individuals and corporate bodies to fly in order to demonstrate both their loyalty and Scottish nationality.

In the case of Scotland, use of a blue background for the Saint Andrew's Cross is said to date from at least the 15th century, with the first certain illustration of a flag depicting such appearing in Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount's Register of Scottish Arms, circa 1542.

Some flag manufacturers selected the same navy blue colour trend of the Union Flag for the Saltire itself, leading to a variety of shades of blue being depicted on the flag of Scotland.

The white saltire set against a celestial blue background is said to have been adopted as the design of the flag of Scotland on the basis of this legend.

Although the earliest use as a national symbol can be traced to the seal of the Guardians of Scotland in 1286, material evidence for the Saltire being used as a flag, as opposed to appearing on another object such as a seal, brooch or surcoat, dates from somewhat later.

Certainly by 1542, a white saltire set against a blue background was depicted as being the flag of Scotland, although an even earlier example known as the " Blue Blanket of the Trades of Edinburgh ", reputedly made by Queen Margaret, wife of James III ( 1451 – 1488 ), also shows a white saltire on a blue field.

Such flag days are standard throughout the United Kingdom, with the exception of Merchant Navy Day, ( 3 September ), which is a specific flag day in Scotland during which the Red Ensign of the Merchant Navy may be flown on land in place of either the Saltire or Union Flag.

This distinction arose after Members of the Scottish Parliament complained that Scotland was the only country in the world where the potential existed for the citizens of a country to be unable to fly their national flag on their country's national day.

( This same design, save for the Crown, is used on both the Regimental flag and tactical recognition flash of the Royal Regiment of Scotland ).

Many local authorities in Scotland fly the Saltire from Council Buildings, however in 2007 Angus Council approved a proposal to replace the Saltire on Council Buildings with a new Angus flag, based on the council's coat of arms.

This move led to public outcry across Scotland with more than 7, 000 people signing a petition opposing the council's move, leading to a compromise whereby the Angus flag would not replace but be flown alongside the Saltire on Council Buildings.

In 2006 historian David R. Ross called for Scotland to once again adopt this design in order to " reflect separate national identities across the UK ", however the 1801 design of Union Flag remains the official flag of the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In Canada, an inverse representation of the Saltire, combined with the shield from the Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Scotland, forms the modern flag of the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia ( New Scotland ), the first colonial venture of the Kingdom of Scotland into the Americas.

However, the Council of Europe agreed that the European Communities could use the flag and it had promoted its use by other regional organisations since it was created.

* The flag of Venezuela, created by Francisco de Miranda to represent the independence movement in Venezuela that later gave birth to the " Gran Colombia ", inspired the flags of Colombia and Ecuador, both sharing three bands of yellow, blue and red with the flag of Venezuela.

* The flag of Argentina, created by Manuel Belgrano during the war of independence, was the inspiration for the United Provinces of Central America's flag, which in turn was the origin for the flags of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

For example, the flags of Venezuela, of Colombia, and of Ecuador all use variants of the flag of Great Colombia, the country they composed upon their independence from Spain, created by the Venezuelan independence hero Francisco de Miranda ; and the flags of Egypt, of Iraq, of Syria, and of Yemen are all highly similar variants of the flag of the Arab revolt of 1916 – 1918.

Typically, two teams ( red and blue ) would compete in a game of Capture the flag, though a few maps with up to four teams ( red, blue, green, and yellow ) were created.

It can be traced back to 1823 when it was created as a signal flag, never intended as a civil jack.

According to this theory, the Swedish flag was created during the reign of King Charles Knutsson, who also introduced the Coat of arms of Sweden in 1442.

For the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots, held in 1994 in New York city, a mile-long rainbow flag was created and post-parade cut up in sections that have since been used around the world.

The latter flag appears to be waved by the chief Lautaro in the best-known artistic representation of it, created by painter Peter Subercaseaux.

The previous flag ( with the Gilberts ) was also based on the Union Flag but with the coat of arms created by Sir Arthur Grimble in 1932, the resident commissioner of the British colony.

During the Algerian War ( 1954 – 62 ), the agency created the Organization of the French Algerian Resistance ( ORAF ), a group of counter-terrorists whose mission was to carry out false flag terrorist attacks with the aim of quashing any hopes of political compromise.

The flag of Djibouti was created in 1972.

The existing tricolour was created during the Spring of Nations in 1848, when a group of students from Ljubljana took the colours from the Carniolan coat of arms, arranging them in such a way that it resembled the Russian national flag.

File: Essad Pasha's flag. png | Republic of Central Albania, short-lived unrecognised state created by Essad Pasha Toptani.

File: Dardania Flag. svg | Flag of Dardania, served flag of the Republic of Kosova, and Presidential Flag under UNMIK, created by Ibrahim Rugova.

The legislation that created the state flag did not specify if the flag was to be square or rectangular, however.

In his general order № 2 of 3 July 1940, Vice Admiral Émile Muselier, two days after assuming the post of chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French, created the bow flag displaying the French colors with a red cross of Lorraine, and a cockade, which also featured the cross of Lorraine.

Frontman Davey Havok was also acclaimed by Take Your Shot zine, as he " carried the flag for the horror punk style that the Misfits created in the 80s ," and " with his ongoing output throughout the years, Davey has become the ambassador of horror punk and has really helped this genre develop further ".

The flag, created as a consequence of the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800, still remains the flag of the United Kingdom.

The New Zealand Government acted to prevent the petition being presented to the monarch, and the visit to Japan on the way back from Europe created allegations of disloyalty and of flying the Japanese flag over the church settlement of Rātana Pā.