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Usage Symbols

Note on usage symbols

On these pages the uses of flags are indicated with the system of symbols adapted from W. Smith's book (see Sources below). The original system by W. Smith consists of series of dots in a table of two rows of three. The upper row indicates the usage on land, and the lower row at sea. The first column indicates civil use, the middle one state or government use, and the right one the use by military forces. This system is replaced here by six letters, three and three with analogous meanings. The scheme is: CSW/CSW meaning Civil, State and War flag on land (or just flag), and Civil, State and War flag on sea (or ensign). If the letter is replaced by an asterisk, the flag is not used for that purpose. The most common combinations, given here as examples, are:

C/*	Civil flag	Used by private persons on land
S/***	State flag	Used by government institutions, public buildings etc.
W/*	War flag	Used by army (also Army flag)
*/C	Civil ensign	Used on private vessels
**/S*	State ensign	Used by government owned vessels
*/W	War ensign	Used by navy (also Naval ensign)
CS/**	Civil and state flag	Used by privates and officials on land
SW*	State and war flag	Used by government and army on land
CSW/***	National flag on land	Used on land
***/CSW	National ensign	Used on sea
CSW/CSW	National flag	Used both on land and sea

Other combinations are easy to derive from this. As a reminder, the letters before the slash are for the use on land, and those after it are for at sea.

As an extension to this system, I have made additional symbols to denote another two details that are not found in many sources - reverse sides of the flag, and vertical hoisting.

Zeljko Heimer's proposal for classifying reverse designs on flags.

1996-08-07

Initiated by the recent inquiries about proper flag usage when hoisting flags vertically and the problems of the reverse sides, I have give some thought to usage symbols that could make it easier to present flags. Combining this with the W. Smith's system of the usage table that we discussed here earlier, and my proposition of redesigning it to use on the Web, I have come up with a provisional system. What follows is my first attempt to articulate it, copied from my flag pages, where I have added some images marked with this system.

Reverse sides

The problem of the reverse of the flag is mainly what happens to devices that are asymmetrical. There are two main possibilities. Most often the reverse of the flag is the mirrored image of the obverse. Flags that are printed through the fabric must show this effect. This is the most common case, and I mark it with ->M (The -> symbol should represent reverse and M stands for 'Mirrored'.)

The other possibility that arises is that the reverse is an exact copy of the obverse. In the case with flags with an asymmetrical symbol, it is (usually) sewn separately on each side. When you look at such flag, there is usually no way to tell which side you are looking at. An example of such flag is the flag of Croatia, where on both sides the arms in the crest of the shield are in the same order, i.e., the Slavonian (with the marten) is always to the observer's right. I have marked such a case as ->E (E stands for Exact copy). If such a symbol is off-centered, you would be able to tell which side you are looking at, even though the symbol on both sides would be exact copies, e.g., the state flag of Spain.

In the case of the simplest flags (e.g., horizontal tricolours like the Netherlands), there is no way to tell if this is an 'M' or 'E' type. In that case, I don't give any mark. Also, the flags for which I have no information about this I leave without the markings.

->M Mirrored; image on the reverse
->E Exact; copy image on the reverse

Vertical hoisting

I use two symbols to mark this:

vN Vertically hoisted normal (using the flag as it would be used for normal hoisting)
vR Vertically hoisted with the symbol reversed back (a specially made flag is needed)

Flags that don't have such problems I leave unmarked, as well as those flags for which I am lacking this information.

See also:

Hanging flags vertically