GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Battle – A battle flag is a flag that is carried by the armed forces on land.
Border – A bordered flag has a distinct border around the entire flag, like that of the Maldives.
Burgee – A burgee is a long, tapered flag or pennant that ends in a swallowtail (having two points, like that of a swallow\’s tail). Burgees are often used by sailing clubs.
Canton – The canton is the upper area of the flag by the flagstaff, or a flag with a design featured in the canton area, like the flag of Taiwan, above. Sometimes, the word canton refers to any of the four quarters of a flag.
Charge – The charge is the emblem or design featured on a flag. For example, the 5 pointed star on the Morocco flag,
Chief – The chief is the top third of the shield of a coat-of-arms.
Civil – A civil flag is a national flag that is displayed on land by private citizens.
Courtesy – When a ship enters a port, it often flies the national flag of the country it is visiting as a courtesy – this is a courtesy flag.
Defacing – Defacing (which is not vandalizing) is when a flag is altered by adding writing, another emblem, and so on.
Ensign – An ensign is a flag that is flown at the back (stern) of a ship noting its nationality. For many countries, the ensign is not the same as the national flag; some countries have a multitude of ensigns, designed for different types of vessels.
Field – The field is the background color of the flag. The only national flag that is a simple field without any designs is the flag of Libya.
Finial – A finial is a decorative element at the top of a flagpole.
Fly – The fly is the part of the flag that is farthest from the flagstaff.
Halyard – A halyard is the rope that is used to raise (hoist) and lower a flag on a flagstaff.
Hoist – The hoist is the vertical measurement of a flag (the height, or the length that runs along the flagpole).
Jack – A jack is a flag that is flown at the front (bow) of a ship.
Pennant – A pennant is a small, long, tapering or triangular flag.
Ratio – The ratio of a flag is its proportions, the height divided by the width. The ratio of a flag\’s dimensions are usually reported as something like 2:3, which would mean that the height is 2/3 of the width, or 1:2, which would mean that the height is half the width.
Shield – The shield is the main part of a coat-of-arms, and is shaped like a shield of armor.
Signal – Signal flags are flags that stand for letters and numbers (forming coded messages). They are used to communicate between ships at sea.
Streamer – A streamer is a long, thin flag.
Swallowtail – A swallowtail is a type of flag or pennant that ends in two (or more) points, like the tail of a swallow.
Union – The blue field with stars in the upper left corner of the United States flag.
Vexillology – Vexillology is the study of flags.