Editing National flag (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of national flags|History of flags}}

Historically, flags originated as [[military standard]]s, used as [[field sign]]s. Throughout history, various examples of such proto-flags exist: the white cloth banners of the [[Zhou dynasty]]'s armies in the 11th century BC, the ''[[vexillum]]'' standards flown by the armies of the [[Roman Empire]], the [[Black Standard]] famously carried by [[Muhammad]] which later became the flag of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and the various "[[Raven banner]]s" flown by [[Viking]] chieftains. [[Angelino Dulcert]] published a series of comprehensive [[Portolan chart]]s in the 14th century AD, which famously showcased the flags of several polities depicted – although these are not uniformly "national flags", as some were likely the personal standards of the respective nation's rulers.

The practice of flying flags indicating the country of origin ''outside'' of the context of warfare became common with the [[maritime flag]]. During the 13th century, the republics of [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] and [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] both used maritime flags; [[William Gordon Perrin]] wrote that the republic of Genoa was "one of the earliest states to adopt a national flag".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perrin |first=William Gordon |authorlink=William Gordon Perrin |title=British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1922 |pages=25}}</ref>

The current design of the [[flag of the Netherlands]] originates as a variant of the late 16th century orange-white-blue ''[[Prinsenvlag]]'' ("Prince's Flag"), that was used in the [[Dutch War of Independence]] (1568–1648), evolving in the early 17th century as the red-white-blue ''[[Statenvlag]]'' ("States Flag"), the naval flag of the [[States General of the Netherlands#Dutch Republic|States-General]] of the [[Dutch Republic]], making the Dutch flag perhaps the oldest [[Tricolour (flag)|tricolour flag]] in continuous use, although standardisation of the exact colours is of a much later date.<ref>{{cite web |title=Europe: Netherlands — The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/netherlands/ |publisher=CIA |access-date=28 January 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730075441/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/netherlands/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Worthington |first1=Daryl |title=Why Are So Many Flags Red, White and Blue? |url=https://www.newhistorian.com/many-flags-red-white-blue-part-one/7406/ |website=New Historian |access-date=28 January 2019 |date=17 October 2016 |archive-date=29 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129122755/https://www.newhistorian.com/many-flags-red-white-blue-part-one/7406/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[Age of Sail]] in the early 17th century, the [[Union Jack]] finds its origins, when [[James VI of Scotland]] inherited the English and Irish thrones (as James I). On 12 April 1606, the new flag representing this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the [[flag of England]] (a red cross on a white background, known as [[St George's Cross]]), and the [[flag of Scotland]] (a white [[saltire]] on a blue background, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross), would be joined, forming the flag of Great Britain and first Union Flag<ref>{{Cite web|title=flag of the United Kingdom|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-the-United-Kingdom|access-date=2021-11-08|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=2021-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108201326/https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-the-United-Kingdom|url-status=live}}</ref> - but then without the red [[Cross of St. Patrick]]. It continued in use until 1 January 1801, the effective date of the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, when the Cross of St. Patrick (a red diagonal cross on white) was incorporated into the flag,<ref>{{cite web |title=flag of the United Kingdom |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-the-United-Kingdom |website=Britannica |access-date=1 January 2022 |language=en |archive-date=20 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220163900/https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-the-United-Kingdom |url-status=live }}</ref> giving the Union Jack its current design.

With the emergence of [[nationalism|nationalist]] sentiment from the late 18th century national flags began to be displayed in civilian contexts as well.<ref>{{HLS|12810|"Flags"}}</ref> Notable early examples include the [[US flag]], which was first adopted as a naval ensign in 1777 but began to be displayed as a generic symbol of the [[United States]] after the [[American Revolution]], and the [[French Tricolore|French Tricolor]], which became a symbol of the [[First French Republic|Republic]] in the 1790s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://users.skynet.be/lotus/flag/fra0-en.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421053559/http://users.skynet.be/lotus/flag/fra0-en.htm |archive-date=2008-04-21 |title=The French flag}}</ref>

Most [[countries of Europe]] standardised and codified the designs of their maritime flags as national flags, in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The specifications of the [[flag of Denmark]], based on a flag that was in continuous use since the 14th-century, were codified in 1748, as a rectangular flag with certain proportions, replacing the variant with a ''split'' (swallow-tail).<ref>{{cite book|title=Dannebrog|url=http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Samfund,_jura_og_politik/Flag,_emblemer_og_heraldik/Flag_i_verden/Danmark_(Nationalflag)|access-date=2014-06-13|year=2014|publisher=Den Store Danske|language=da|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714171641/http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Samfund,_jura_og_politik/Flag,_emblemer_og_heraldik/Flag_i_verden/Danmark_(Nationalflag)|archive-date=2014-07-14}}</ref> The [[flag of Switzerland]] was introduced in 1889, also based on medieval war flags.
[[File:La prima bandiera italiana portata in Firenze - Francesco Saverio Altamura.jpg|thumb|''The first [[Flag of Italy|Italian flag]] brought to [[Florence]]'' by Francesco Saverio Altamura (1859)]]

In Europe, the red-white-blue tricolour design of the [[flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands]] became popular, since it was associated with a republican form of government through that country's long war of independence against the [[Spanish Crown]]. That association was greatly reinforced after the [[French Revolution]] (1789), when France used the same colours, but with vertical instead of horizontal stripes. Other countries in Europe (like [[Flag of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Flag of Italy|Italy]], [[Flag of Romania|Romania]] and [[Flag of Estonia|Estonia]]) and in South and Central America selected tricolours of their own to express their adherence to the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity as embodied in the French flag, although some adopted a monarchical form of government with a constitution instead of a republican government.<ref>{{cite web |title=flag - National flags |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-heraldry/National-flags |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101130920/https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-heraldry/National-flags |archive-date=1 January 2022 |access-date=1 January 2022 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Pedro Bruno - A Pátria.jpg|thumb|A 1919 painting depicting the [[Brazilian flag]] being embroidered by a family.]]
The [[Flags of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman flag]] (now the [[flag of Turkey]]) was adopted in 1844. Other non-European powers followed the trend in the late 19th century, the flag of [[Qing dynasty|Great Qing]] being introduced in 1862, that of [[flag of Japan|Japan]] being introduced in 1870. 
Also in the 19th century, most [[countries of South America]] introduced a flag as they became independent ([[Flag of Peru|Peru]] in 1820, [[Flag of Bolivia|Bolivia]] in 1851, [[Flag of Colombia|Colombia]] in 1860, [[Flag of Brazil|Brazil]] in 1822, etc.)<!--

[[Afghanistan]] had more changes of its national flag during the 20th and 21st centuries than any other country in the world, having 21 flags from 1901 to the present.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flagspot.net/flags/af_his.html|title=Historical Flags (Afghanistan)|website=flagspot.net|access-date=29 April 2018}}</ref>
this is not an objectively verifiable statement, as it will depend on which Afghan "states" you are going to "recognize", prior to the foundation of the UN an almost intractable questions.
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Currently, there are 193 national flags in the world flown by [[sovereign states]] that are  [[Member states of the United Nations|members of the United Nations]].