A flag of Mars is a concept of a possible

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 ...

design, meant to symbolize the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

or to represent a fictional Martian government, in works of fiction.

Proposed flags

Thomas O. Paine's design

Thomas O. Paine Thomas Otten Paine (November 9, 1921 – May 4, 1992) was an American engineer, scientist and advocate of space exploration, and was the third Administrator of NASA, serving from March 21, 1969, to September 15, 1970. During his administration ...

, who served as the third Administrator of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

, designed a Mars flag in 1984. Paine's Mars flag includes a sliver of Earth near the

hoist Hoist may refer to: * Hoist (device), a machine for lifting loads * Hoist controller, a machine for raising and lowering goods or personnel by means of a cable * Hydraulic hooklift hoist, another machine * Hoist (mining), another machine * Hoist ( ...

side of the flag "as a reminder of where we came from, and a star near to the other side, to remind us of where we are going. In the center of the field is a representation of Mars itself, with an arrow pointing out to the star, acknowledging that Mars is not our destination, merely a way station on a journey that has no ending". Paine's flag design was illustrated by artist Carter Emmart. That illustration was published on the cover of a

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

titled '' The Planetary Report''. According to Emmart, Paine "created the Mars flag as an award to the person or organization that he felt had contributed most to advancing the human exploration of Mars". On November 12, 2005,

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...

received a Mars flag as a part of the "Thomas O. Paine Award for the Advancement of Human Exploration of Mars". The award was presented to Bradbury during The Planetary Society's 25th Anniversary Awards Dinner.

Pascal Lee's design

Pascal Lee Pascal Lee (; born 1964) is co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and the Principal Investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. H ...

, a former NASA research engineer designed a tricolor flag for Mars in 1999. It was flown into space on STS-103 by astronaut

John M. Grunsfeld John Mace Grunsfeld (born 10 October 1958) is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and has served as NASA Chief Scientist. His academic background includes research in high energy astro ...

. The sequence of colors, from red, to green, and finally blue, represent the transformation of Mars from a lifeless planet to one teeming with life, as inspired by

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...

's ''Mars'' trilogy of novels. It is also flown at the

Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is the first of two simulated Mars habitats (or Mars Analog Research Stations) located on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, which is owned and operated by the Mars Society. The station is a member ...

, on behalf of the

Mars Society The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human Mars exploration and colonization, founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998. It is based on Zubrin's Mars Direct plan, which aims to make human mission to Mars as lightweight and ...

In science fiction

In the 1953

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

animated cartoon featuring

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

, ''

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century ''Duck Dodgers in the th Century'' (spoken as "twenty-fourth-and-a-half") is a 1953 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The cartoon was released on July 25, 1953, and stars Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodger ...

'', the character

Marvin the Martian Marvin the Martian is an extraterrestrial character from Warner Bros.' '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons. He frequently appears as a villain in cartoons and video games, and wears a helmet and skirt. The character has been voic ...

caries a pink triangular flag with a red circle. In other depictions, the flag may be rectangular and have the letter M over the circle. In Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 science-fiction novel ''

Stranger in a Strange Land ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by ...

'', a flag of Mars is hastily improvised, consisting of "the field in white and the sigil of Mars in red". In his 1994 science-fiction novel ''

Moving Mars ''Moving Mars'' is a science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exp ...

'',

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict ('' Forge of God'' books), parallel universes ('' The Way'' series), c ...

describes the flag of the fictional Federal Republic of Mars as follows: "red Mars and two moons in blue field above a diagonal, white below". In the 2011 book ''

Leviathan Wakes ''Leviathan Wakes'' is a science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of American writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. It is the first book in the ''Expanse'' series, followed by ''Caliban's War'' (2012), ''Abaddon's Gate'' (2013) ...

'' by

James S. A. Corey James S. A. Corey is the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, authors of the science fiction series '' The Expanse''. The first and last name are taken from Abraham's and Franck's middle names, respectively, and S. A. a ...

, the first part of ''The Expanse'' series, the flag of Mars is described as depicting the "lonely star, and thirty stripes". However, in the 2015 ''

The Expanse Expanse or The Expanse may refer to: Media and entertainment ''The Expanse'' franchise * ''The Expanse'' (novel series), a series of science fiction novels by James S. A. Corey * ''The Expanse'' (TV series), a television adaptation of the ...

'' television series, based on The Expanse novel series, the flag of the Martian Congressional Republic (the governing body that rules over the inhabitants of Mars) is divided horizontally into two equal stripes: orange on top, and black on the bottom. In the centre is placed a hollow red circle, symbolizing Mars, with a thin blue crescent attached to its left inner side, symbolizing the terraforming effort, and the limited resources of water and oxygen of the planet's population. In the top stripe, on the left of the circle, slightly above it, is placed a black dot. Accordingly, in the bottom stripe, on the right of the circle, is placed, a slightly smaller, orange dot. They symbolize the moons of the planet, Phobos and

Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites * Elecnor Deimos, a Spanish aerospace company * ...

. It was created by graphic designer Jonathan Hunter.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Solar System Mars Society The Planetary Society Exploration of Mars