For centuries discoverers have been planting flags to signal that their claim a new land. Now every country in the world has its own design. Flags originated as vexilloids, which were decorated staffs that soldiers carried into battle. Early ones were decorated with symbols to identify the groups the soldiers represented, and set them apart from the others. Over time silk and other fabrics were added to these staffs, thus the birth of flags as we know them.

It wasn't until the eighteenth century that flags began to represent whole countries. Early on they stood for ideas, civilizations, groups, and nations. Today's flags carry symbolism that is only meaningful to the citizen of the particular countries they stand for.

The flag of the United States of America is also known as the stars and stripes. This flag was completed in 1960 when Hawaii joined the USA. Until then it had been constantly revised since 1777. The stripes symbolize the first 13 states that made up the USA and each state is represented by a star, thus showing 50 stars on the flag.

Great Britain's flag is also called the Union Jack. It has been the official flag since 1801. The flag symbolizes the three different countries that are united; England, Scotland, and Ireland. Today it only represents Northern Ireland, as the rest of Ireland became its own state in 1920. The Union Jack is a familiar symbol and is used on many other flags such as Australia.

The Canadian flag has a red maple leaf flanked by stripes of red. Despite the fact that the maple leaf was a Canadian symbol for many years, the design of the current flag was officially adopted only in 1965. The two stripes represent the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that flank the country.

The flag of Barbados is an interesting one. It is represented by two stripes of blue on either side which represent the ocean and the sky, and the center which is yellow represents Barbados' beaches. The interesting part is the trident in the center, which represents Neptune. The trident is broken, which symbolizes Barbados' split from Britain in 1966 when the flag was made official.

The Israeli flag has blue and white stripes. They are the same color used in Jewish prayer shawls. The Star of David takes up the center, another familiar Jewish religious symbol. Their flag became official in 1948.

All flags are rich in heritage, steeped in history, symbolism, and very often religion. There are many flags that have religious sayings or symbols on them. Sometimes, flags go through a transformation owing to shift in territories shift and creation of new nations. The flags of the United Nations and the European Union are two new flags in this impressive galaxy.

People love their national flags and are proud of what they express. The flag tells who the people are and what they value. Flags have proudly flown for thousands of years and will continue to fly throughout the world forever.

George Pascatt is the owner and operator of Flag FX, a fantastic resource for information about http://www.flagfx.com. For more articles on Flags why not visit: http://www.flagfx.com/articles

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