An ethnic flag is a
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
that
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
izes a certain
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
. Ethnic flags are often introduced to the ethnic community through the respective cultural or political ethnic movements.
They are popular among
diasporas, ethnic minorities, and some ethnic majorities, especially in
multiethnic countries.
History
Like the concept of a state's
national flag itself, that of an "ethnic flag" is modern,
first arising in the late 19th century; strictly speaking, the national flags of
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may ...
s are themselves "ethnic flags", and often so used by ethnic minorities in neighbouring states, especially in the context of
irredentism (e.g. the flag of the
Republic of Albania used as an "ethnic Albanian flag" by
Kosovar Albanians).
Ethnic flags are often used in irredentism, representing the "national flag" of a proposed or
unrecognized state.
The first such flags were designed at the end of the 19th century, such as the
Basque flag (1894) or the "Flag of Zion" used to symbolize
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
from 1898, which became the national
flag of Israel 50 years later.
Most early ethnic flags imply a connection with an
unrecognized state claimed by the respective ethnicities, such as the
flag of Kurdistan which originates as the flag of the
Republic of Ararat (1927).
A
flag of the Hispanic People was designed in 1932.
Alternatively, an "ethnic flag" may represent a
Pan-nationalism
Pan-nationalism (from gr, πᾶν, "all", and french: nationalisme, "nationalism") is a specific term, used mainly in social sciences as a designation for those forms of nationalism that aim to transcend (overcome, expand) traditional boundari ...
, such as the
Pan-Arab flag which originates as the
flag of the Arab Revolt during World War I, the proposed flag of
Pan-Slavism (1848),
or
Pan-Turkism.
The concept of using ethnic flags to symbolize ethnic groups within a multiethnic state, not necessarily connected with irredentism, became popular in the later 20th century, such as the
Australian Aboriginal flag (1971), the
Assyrian flag (1971),
"The Origins and Description of the Assyrian Flag" by Homer Ashurian, Assyrian Universal Alliance, 03-1999
the flag of the Romani people (1971), the Berber flag (1970s), the Sami flag (1986) or the national Māori flag (1990).
Designing ethnic or tribal flags has become very popular since the 1990s, especially for online use, and mostly do not have any kind of "official" status and must be judged based on ''de facto'' use. In many cases, the national flag of a sovereign state is often seen and used as a ''de facto'' ethnic flag by its people.[
]
Individual flags
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See also
* List of former sovereign states
* Flags of subnational entities
* Flags of unrecognized states
This gallery of sovereign state flags shows the national or state flags of sovereign states that appear on the list of sovereign states. For other flags, please see flags of active autonomist and secessionist movements, flags of extinct state ...
* Flags of micronations
References
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* Flags of the World
This gallery of sovereign state flags shows the national or state flags of sovereign states that appear on the list of sovereign states. For other flags, please see flags of active autonomist and secessionist movements, flags of extinct states ...
FOTW
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethnic Flag
Types of flags
Lists and galleries of flags