Most Popular National Flags

Some flags you remember even if you have a poor memory, most will be forgotten the day after the Closing Olympic Ceremony. Worse, one same flag could be raised 3 times in the same day, and still you may have no idea what’s on it.

Is it as simple as to say, some things you like and others you don’t?

Obviously the difference is in the simplicity of design, how many items and colours are to be computed, also bearing in mind that there are a few hundred flags floating about town. However the only obvious thing about international flag appeal is that nothing is especially straightforward, least of all what seems to make sense. And as to the concept of simplicity this is as clear as Mayan writings, or Heraldry, which comes to the same.

The rules for assessing flag prestige are variable, perhaps even more mysterious than Classification & Censorship criteria of suitability.

Some flags may be popular due to simple design, others because they seem to be seen more often. Of course everyday exposure makes it easier to remember, and also if you like it can be a strong factor. However none of this can be made into a definite rule. Perhaps in a nutshell the most pivotal consideration is how well you remember a flag, which may vary from a vague sense of recall to a clear definition without a doubt.

In that case there must be some intermediate factor at play, which may well be the most elusive aspect of symbolism.

Here again the quantity of details is not a reliable indication of what has appeal.

Flag of Poland

For instance Indonesia and Poland have the two simplest designs, the whole flag being made of a red and white stripe and nothing else. But when did you last see these two characters?

Flag of Indonesia

Also in our survey we have found that flag popularity is not limited to what people like and dislike. It then became necessary to look at popularity in a greater dimension, perhaps beyond ideological preference. Or how else would you explain that most Anti-Soviets during the Cold War could describe the Russian flag better than their own?

This is still the case today, in fact. Is it easier to visualise a hammer and a sickle in a red background than stars and stripes? No, it comes to the same. The big difference is that there are too many stripes on the US flag and most people have no idea what that stands for. On the contrary everyone knows that the 50 stars represent the United States of America, actually. Why the 50 stars should be in a box at the top left is another matter.

A few other flags are very similar, except for what is inside that box—which is always in blue and at the top left, whatever that means.

It is fair to say that a truly popular flag must be able to be recognised immediately in accurate detail. Neither the US nor the USSR qualify in this regard. Nor does any other flag on the planet, even the simplest of them all, Poland and Indonesia as we said.
Except one.

Club version sample

More Sapienz links:

How to write and spell Cliche

Initial Concept of the Web

Anatomy of a Depression

Meaning of National Flag Symbols

Cynics and Lesser Mortals

Myth & Mythomania

Problems & Solutions

Witnessing Reality

Witnessing History

Facts & Fallacies

Taboos & Platitudes

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