r/vexillology

This was almost the Palestinian flag

This was almost the Palestinian flag

Before the watermelon became the fruit synonymous with Palestine, the orange was often seen as the national fruit instead since the coastline of the region was covered in orange orchards, which became extremely popular in Europe, and were known as the "Jaffa oranges" named after Jaffa, a city in Palestine (also this is where Jaffa Cakes got their name from).

Not only were these oranges extremely popular, but they were also a national symbol for Palestine. Infact, in 1929 someone even proposed remaking the flag with an orange on it (which is the flag that you're currently seeing right now).

The current flag of Palestine was not yet specific to Palestine back in the 1920s, instead it was just a general symbol of Arab resistance (especially against colonialism). But at the same time, many Arab countries were starting to develop national identities, and so they would start with the flag as a base and then modify it slightly to make the flag of their nation. In 1929, the Palestinian newspaper Filastin, remarked that two foreign flags (the British and Israeli flags) were flying on their soil, and yet the British banned them from flying their own flag. They recognized the danger of not having a unifying national symbol, and so they invited the Palestinian people to write into the newspaper with their own proposed flag redesign.

And what would make for a perfect national symbol? The orange. That's where this design comes from. Compare this flag with the Lebanese flag for example, both contain colors that are representative of Arab identity and their resistance against colonialism, but they also both contain distinctive national symbols to set them apart from the rest of the arab world (the orange for Palestine and the cedar for Lebanon).

So now if we look at other flag proposals that were sent into Palestine, you should see that they have similiar symbolism, the four colours representative of Arab indentity (Red, Green, White and Black) but also the color orange, representative of Palestinian identity.

But these redesigns never really stuck around, and though the 4 colors are still broadly associated with Arab identity, this flag has since narrowed and finally has become that national symbol Palestinians have always wanted.

So why isn't the orange a symbol for Palestine anymore? Well to some extent it still is, as a motif used in art, music or literature (Land of the Sad Oranges for example). But it does seem like the orange has generally faded from public consciousness.

That's probably because in 1948, many Palestinian agriculturalists were forcibly evicted from their orchards, and subsequently, Israel adopted the orange as their own national symbol (Just search Israel orange posters).

But let me leave you with one last observation... when Israel first occupied the West Bank and Gaza, they equipped Palestinians with their own identity cards to distinguish them from Israeli citizens, whereas Israelis got blue cards, Palestinians got orange cards (though green Palestinian identity cards still remain the most common).

As for the modern fruit associated with Palestine, the watermelon, it came in use after Israel banned the flying of the Palestinian flag in 1967, and would go on to ban anything even remotely resembling the symbol of the Palestinian flag, even just using the 4 colors (Red, Green, White and Black). Since watermelons typically contains those colors, it's started being used as a resistance symbol, and in the modern day with the internet, it's only exploded in use.

u/YourLocalMoroccan — 4 hours ago
▲ 187 r/vexillology+1 crossposts

Fictional lebanese phoenician flag

A fictional flag of Lebanon referencing its Phoenician heritage. I kept the cedar tree, but instead of red, I used purple, a color classically associated with the ancient Phoenician civilization. Additionally, I added two small gold stripes representing the wealth of its city-states.

u/LuizGuts — 4 hours ago
▲ 1.6k r/vexillology+1 crossposts

My school never took down their old South Vietnam flag

I think its funny how they just covered it up with the flag of modern Vietnam hehehe

u/Crafty_Praline_2211 — 11 hours ago

Pale Blue Dot Flag - for those who speak for Earth

I posted this over in r/solarpunk and was told you all may enjoy it. It's a world flag concept I came up with while writing a story.

It is a flagified version of the pale blue dot image taken by Voyager 1. The, "who speak for earth," is a callback to something said by Carl Sagan, the person who ensured the image's creation, in the last episode of, "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage."

I originally designed it with the black, but later was convinced to give it a smidge of color with the purple.

>Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

- Carl Sagan

u/theBuddhaofGaming — 4 hours ago

Malta Flag Redesign (with the George Cross)

Since some people felt strongly about keeping the George Cross, I gave it more prominence than on the current flag

u/JesusSwag — 5 hours ago

Bicol Regional Flag Design Inspired by the Philippine Flag 🇵🇭

While Bicol (Philippines) currently has no official regional flag, I wanted to create and share a concept of what a flag for my home region could look like. The design aims to serve as a symbol of shared identity, unity, and aspirations, while remaining simple, recognizable, and easy for anyone to draw or sew.

  •  Yellow — joy, resilience, and hospitality of the Bicolano people; inspired by the fiesta of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia and the region’s rich culture and abaca industry.
  •  Cross — solidarity and strength; reflects the deep Christian influence in Bicol.
  •  Red — the land, sacrifice, and the Uragon spirit—bravery, determination, and thriving despite hardship.
  •  Blue — the seas and skies surrounding the peninsula; symbolizes peace and liberty.
  •  White — harmony, dignity and equality.
  •  Six small stars — the six provinces: Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon.
  •  Central star — the Bicol Region, united in identity and shared destiny.

The use of the Philippine flag’s colors indicates the region’s loyalty to the Philippine republic.

feedback and constructive criticisms are welcome! 😊

svg link

u/pennysabio_2000 — 5 hours ago

Flag of Monroe, Michigan

The flag is composed of a red color field with 12 white stripes that reach close but not quite all the way to the right edge. On the left side appears to be an official Seal. Text on top reads "City of Monroe" while text below unexpectedly changes direction and reads "Michigan's Only Port on Lake Erie." A blue silhouette of Michigan's Lower Peninsula sits not-quite-cented in the Seal. The state is surrounded by several symbols including a noseless man wearing a hat, a factory emitting smoke, an atom with 1 proton and 3 ovalid-angled electrons (which cannot exist in nature), and finally what appears to be an acorn, a dreidel, or a butt plug.

u/BadgercIops — 8 hours ago
▲ 403 r/vexillology+3 crossposts

Las Colonias Estelares Mexicanas, ideas base de mi libro

Aun me falta pero ya va quedando mi estructura de este libro, la historia se desarrollara en una colonia lejana del Espacio humano, en la fiebre por expandirse por el universo los diferentes países se pelean las mejores colonias, México llego tarde a esa carrera y le están dejando los habitad menos deseados y más apartados, pero de algún modo las colonias van creciendo a su ritmo y quien sabe, al estar nuestras colonias muy apartadas tal vez, TAL VEZ nos toque a nosotros responder esa pregunta acerca de nuestra soledad en el universo, ¿Qué opinan de la premisa? ¿Cómo creen que actuarían esos mexicanos del futuro?

u/Maya_117 — 21 hours ago

What is this flag hanging outside a garage in my neighborhood (northeast US)?

I saw this flag walking around the neighborhood today. The second image is from Google maps. Obviously, the other flags are the US flag, the flag of Colombia, and what looks like some kind of American sports team, maybe?

u/Pitoeightplaces — 16 hours ago

Malta Flag Redesign

It always irked me that the Maltese flag doesn't use the Maltese cross

I'm curious whether people prefer the first version or the second version, which is closer to the design of the current flag

u/JesusSwag — 21 hours ago

Mosquitia National Flag

The flag of Mosquitia since 8 March 1824. It is the oldest unmodified national flag in the Americas.

u/Joshua-Sjogreen — 12 hours ago

[New flag] Flowood, Mississippi

This flag symbolizes Flowood’s natural beauty, steady growth, and community spirit. The dogwood flower, anchored at the center, represents the city’s character and heritage, as well as its Four Corners retail district, considered the heart of Flowood and often referred to locally as “Dogwood.”

Green reflects growth and progress; Blue represents loyalty, pride, and the surrounding waters, including the Ross Barnett Reservoir and Pearl River; White signifies renewal and new beginnings; A gold dividing line represents Lakeland Drive, a defining corridor of the city

Read more here

u/FlagChronicle — 15 hours ago

A flag I made for my Bedroom Micronation- is it good or no

I made this flag for my little micronation in my bedroom, Purple Represents Me because it is my favorite color, black representing my dog, and white representing the white walls, i went for a nordic style even though it's across the world from there, i kinda made it for fun so don't roast me too hard :/

u/SpotLegitimate9517 — 18 hours ago

For the Sir Doug Nicholls Round of the AFL this fortnight they painted the Aboriginal flag into the goal squares. Were they the correct ratio for this?

u/OMGCluck — 11 hours ago