The Historical flags of the British Empire and the overseas territories refers to the various flags that were used across the various

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

s, territories which made up the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and current

overseas territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

. Early flags that were used across the Empire (In particular the then

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centu ...

which would later become the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

) tended to variations of the Red and Blue Ensigns of Great Britain with no colonial badges or coat of arms attached to them. In the first half of the 19th Century, the first colonies started to acquire their own colony badges, but it was not until the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

passed the

Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865 The Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865 (28 and 29 Vict., c. 14.) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Background During the Invasion of the Waikato (July 1863 – April 1864) period of the New Zealand Wars the Imperial British forc ...

that the colonies were required to apply their own emblems. The following list contains all former and current flags that were used across the Empire and as well as current

British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...

until 1999.

Historical Flags of the British Empire and the overseas territories

Aden

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

* ''Note: Australia formally became an independent country from the United Kingdom under the

Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 is an act of the Australian Parliament that formally adopted sections 2–6 of the Statute of Westminster 1931, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enabling the total legislative independ ...

which formally adopted the

Statute of Westminster 1931 The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown. Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of the ...

and backdated the adoption to 3 September 1939. ''

Australian States

Bahama Islands

Bahrain

Barbados

Basutoland

Bermuda

British America

British Antarctic Territory

British Cameroon

British Central Africa Protectorate

British Ceylon

British Columbia Colony

British East Africa

British Guiana

British Hong Kong

British Honduras

British India

British Indian Ocean Territory

British Leeward Islands

British New Hebrides

British Malaya

}) leaping, face to the left. , - , , , 1895–1946 , ,

Federated Malay States )Under God's Protection , capital = Kuala Lumpur1 , religion = Islam , legislature = Federal Legislative Council , type_house1 = State level , common_languages = , title_leader = Monarch , leader1 ...

(Civil Ensign) , , The flag was striped horizontally with an overall 1:2 to ratio with white stripe at the top, red, yellow and black at the bottom with the Union Jack in the canton.

British Straits Settlements

British Mauritius

British Nigeria (Northern & Southern)

British Solomon Islands

British Somaliland

British Virgin Islands

British West Africa

British Windward Islands

Burma

Brunei

Canada

*''Note: Canada formally became an independent country from the United Kingdom under the Statute of Westminster 1931.''

Cayman Islands

Cape Colony

Cook Islands

Cyprus

Dominica

Falkland Islands & Dependencies

Fiji

Gambia Colony and Protectorate

Gibraltar

Grenada

Gilbert and Ellice Islands

Gilbert Islands

Gold Coast

Heligoland

Ionian Islands

Iraq

Ireland

Jamaica

Kedah

Kenya

Kuwait

Labuan

Lagos Colony

Lower Canada

Malacca

Maldives

Malta

Montserrat

Mosquito Coast

Muscat and Oman

Natal Colony

New Guinea

New South Wales Colony

Newfoundland

New Zealand

* ''Note: Although it had been self-governing since 1852, New Zealand formally became an independent country from the United Kingdom under the

Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 (Public Act no. 38 of 1947) was a constitutional Act of the New Zealand Parliament that formally accepted the full external autonomy offered by the British Parliament. By passing the Act on 25 November ...

, which adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931. ''

Niger Coast Protectorate

North Borneo

Nova Scotia

Nyasaland

Orange River Colony

Palestine

Territory of Papua

Penang

Pitcairn Islands

Province of Canada

Qatar

Queensland Colony

Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla

Saint Helena and Dependencies

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

South Australia Colony

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

South Africa

* ''Note: South Africa formally became an independent country from the United Kingdom in 1931 after formally adopting the Statute of Westminster. ''

Rhodesia (Northern & Southern)

Sarawak

Singapore

Egypt

Tanganyika

Tasmania Colony

Jordan

Transvaal Colony

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

Turks and Caicos Islands

Trucial States

Uganda

Upper Canada

Victoria Colony

Weihaiwei

Western Australia Colony

Western Samoa

West Indies Federation

Zanzibar

Historical Governor's flags

Others

References

{{Authority control Flags of the British Empire Flags of the United Kingdom Flags of Australia National symbols of Australia Flags of Canada National symbols of Canada Flags of New Zealand National symbols of New Zealand Governance of the British Empire National symbols of the United Kingdom History of the Commonwealth of Nations

Historical flags