The United Nations Honour Flag (also termed the United Nations Flag, the Honour Flag, or the Four Freedoms Flag, with alternate spelling "Honor" also used) was a flag symbolizing the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...

and their goal of world peace. It was designed in October 1942 by Brooks Harding (who was inspired by

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...

speech of January 1941), and it had some degree of use as a flag from 13 June 1943 to c. 1948 to represent the "United Nations" in the sense of the January 1942

Declaration by United Nations The Declaration by United Nations was the main treaty that formalized the Allies of World War II and was signed by 47 national governments between 1942 and 1945. On 1 January 1942, during the Arcadia Conference, the Allied " Big Four"—the Unite ...

. However, it was never an official flag of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

as an organization (which was founded in 1945, and adopted a different flag of the United Nations in 1946).

History

Four United States soldiers with US flag and United Nations Honor flag 1943

Brooks B. Harding (1896–1959), an American, made the acquaintance of

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

in December 1941 by presenting each with a Victory V symbol embossed in leather with the slogan Absolute Victory by delivery at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

at a time when Churchill was in the United States for the

Arcadia Conference The First Washington Conference, also known as the Arcadia Conference (ARCADIA was the code name used for the conference), was held in Washington, D.C., from December 22, 1941, to January 14, 1942. President Roosevelt of the United States and Prime ...

to sign the

. Churchill's recognition of Harding noted a need for a symbol of the wartime Allies. In October 1942, Harding traveled to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

with six cloth designs. In his meeting at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

, he learned that since there was no United Nations committee to present his designs to, he would have to obtain approvals from all 29 signatory nations individually. Upon meeting with Dr. Vladimir Palic, First Secretary of the Czechoslovakian Embassy, a single specific design involving four bars was determined to be the appropriate candidate to put forth. All 29 nations subsequently agreed to the four vertical bar design. However, the flag was determined not to be used as an official emblem of the organization, but rather a symbol of the people and governments. It was flown at

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, ...

in June 1943 in the presence of United Nations

military attache A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

s from all United Nations embassies in full uniform. The Honour flag was also flown throughout Washington at private buildings in August 1943 during the Atlantic Charter week, where it also flew as a secondary flag to national emblems throughout the war. It gradually flew at more and more government offices and was distributed to various of the United Nations, and it was officially adopted in several countries starting with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. By a motion in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, the flag was flown in thousands of towns to celebrate

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...

. At the

United Nations Conference on International Organization The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cali ...

, where there was a golden motif, the red bars were substituted with gold, while some nations preferred green and blue bars. Additional names include Friendship Flag, Freedom Flag, Goodwill Flag, and Flag of Four Freedoms. It is regarded as a symbol of the Allied Forces of World War II. The flag is listed in the online Dictionary of Vexillology at "HONOUR (or HONOR) FLAG" with the following primary definition "The flag, now obsolete, that was selected to represent those nations which were working towards world peace prior to the foundation of the United Nations Organization, and in official/semi-official use (particularly, but not exclusively, in the USA) from 1943 to c1948 – the

four freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...

flag." The United Nations Honour Flag served as the background for a 1947 United Nations flag proposal that also included the Seal of the United Nations. The final version of the Flag of the United Nations used a light blue background. Harding submitted a proposal for a "United Nations Authority Flag" to the United Nations on 20 January 1947 combining the seal of the United Nations and the earlier Four Freedoms Flag. This proposal was withdrawn in August 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honour Flag

Honour Flag Historical flags