Mexico

I: BACKGROUND

Part 3: Flag Terminology

Excerpted from The Glossary of Flag Terms at Flags of the World at http://fotw.unislabs.com/flags/flagglos.html

Banner

1. A flag-like cloth draped or stretched between two anchor points, usually bearing a slogan.
   
2. A flag with heraldic arms placed on it overall (in other words, not in a small shield shape). Often called a heraldic banner. The U.S. state of Maryland is an example.
   
3. Poetically, any flag carried by a military force.

Charge
an emblem, object, device, or design superimposed on the field(s) of a flag. A coat of arms or simple heraldic device used as a charge is sometimes called a badge.

Color
in heraldry, any hue which is not a metal.

Defacing
differencing a flag by adding something to it, such as a charge, a badge, or writing. Used especially on colonial flags. Note that this term does not have the usual meaning of "vandalizing" when used in vexillology.

Fly
is the free end of a flag, farthest from the staff. The term is also used for the horizontal length of the flag.

Field
is the background (predominant color) of a flag.

Finial
the ornament on the end of a flagstaff or flagpole.

Ground
is the background of a flag.

Hoist
is the part of the flag closest to the staff. The term is also used for the vertical width of a flag.

Honor Point
the place on a flag where the color or charge with the greatest or highest symbolism is placed -- almost always the upper left.

Metal
in heraldry, the colors yellow (or) and white (argent). The rules of heraldry forbid placing color on color, or metal on metal.

National flag
is a flag of a country.

Ratio
the relationship of a flag's width to its length, e.g. France is 2:3; Germany is 3:5, Russia is 1:2.

Standard
a flag around which people rally. Today, term usually refers to the personal flag of a ruler, such as the Royal Standard of a British monarch.

1. an identifying flag, equivalent to a color, carried by mounted or similar units.
2. a flag based on a heraldic shield
3. a flag representing a military unit;
4. the personal flag of a king, president or other high official in the U.S. military, an obsolete term for the regimental flag used by cavalry regiments.

Tricolor
a flag of three stripes, usually equal in size, arranged either horizontally (such as the Netherlands or Lithuania) or vertically (such as France, Italy, or Belgium). Those arranged vertically are sometimes called tribands. Some similarly-arranged two-color designs (such as Canada and Peru) are also called tricolors.

Union
is a design that symbolizes unity. It may appear in the canton, as the stars do in the U.S. flag. Or it may be the entire flag, as in the Union Flag of the United Kingdom.

Vexillology
is the study of flag history and symbolism. The name comes from the Latin word vexillum, which means flag. The word was coined by Dr. Whitney Smith of the Flag Research Center.