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Sovereign Order of Malta (Italy)

Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta

bu zeljko heimer 7-MAR-1996

This today humanitarian organization have agreed with the state of Italy certain level of suverenity in 1966, expressed mainly in issuing stamps and coins. One should draw attention on their stamps, since they are mostly heraldical and vexillological (and history of art, but we are not dealing with thet here?). Most of the serious stamp dealers don't recognize those stamps to be real stamps, but for vex-freac s, they are quite interesting, I dare say valuable source of (primarly) coats of arms. The Order have their braches (missions) in many countries of the world, and their stamps are recognized by 44 states (until 1994). However, on some of the stamps there are images of the flag of the Order, red with a withe Maltese cross. On all the images the flag is shown flying, so it is dificult to estimate the propostions. Is seems to me that 1:2 is aproximate enough.
zeljko heimer 8-MAR-1996

The flag of the Sovereign Order of Malta is red with a white cross. The above is the flag of the Great Master of the Order. Both flags have the proportions 2:3 as I could see with the flags on the Embassy of the Order in Prague.The two flags appear always together. The flag with the white ordinary cross has a little Maltese cross on top of its hoist.
The "flags" of each countries ("tongues") that were contributing to the Order of Malta are banners of the arms of these countries, with the exception of the Italian tongue, where the word ITALIA was written.
pascal vagnat 11-MAR-1996