A flag stands for a nation’s land, people, and government. That is why a flag is a major symbol for most countries. We can better understand a country and its culture if we learn what the parts of its flag mean.
As you can see below, most flags use at least one of seven colors. The most common are black, blue, green, orange, red, white, and yellow. Each means something. For example, red is for courage. White is for freedom. A color’s meaning may change from country to country. Stars might stand for states or provinces. In Arab nations, the colors black, green, red, and white show the Arabs’ unity as an ethnic group.
Other flags use pictures or symbols to represent a nation’s identity. Here are two examples. Israel’s flag shows the Star of David. That is a symbol of the Jewish people. The Mexican flag has an eagle on a cactus holding a snake in its mouth. That symbol represents the history of the Aztec Empire in Mexico.
What if you were designing a flag for a country of your own. What would you put on it?