This article contains a list of

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

s for which the reverse (back ) is different from the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

(front ). It includes current as well as historic flags of both nations and national subdivisions such as provinces, states, territories, cities and other administrations (including a few that are not recognized by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

or whose sovereignty is in dispute). When the flag is that of a nation, the Subdivision column is blank ( — ). The list below does not include flags for which the reverse side is congruent (identical ) nor is it a mirror image of the obverse side (horizontally flipped ). Flag sides are usually mirror copy to satisfy manufacturing constraints. Identical flags are much less common and contain an element for which a simple mirror image would be problematic, such as text (e.g. The flag of Saudi Arabia includes the

Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...

, an Islamic creed; The

flag of Iraq Since the 14 July Revolution, 1958 Iraqi coup d'état, the various republican governments of Iraq have used a number of different flags, all featuring the Pan-Arab colours, pan-Arab colors of green, black, white, and red. The current official and ...

includes the Takbir) or a geographic feature (e.g. The

flag of the United Nations The flag of the United Nations is a sky blue banner containing the United Nations' emblem in the centre. The emblem on the flag is coloured white; it is a depiction of the world map in the azimuthal equidistant projection (centred on the North ...

includes an

azimuthal equidistant projection The azimuthal equidistant projection is an azimuthal map projection. It has the useful properties that all points on the map are at proportionally correct distances from the center point, and that all points on the map are at the correct azimuth ...

of the earth). Flags having a truly different designs on both their sides (two-sided ) differ from the norm. The only UN-recognized nation whose present-day flag officially contains a unique image on each side is

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Not all impression of two-sided flags are ''de facto'' two-sided because of practical manufacturing constraints or, judging from how often it was disregarded in practice, some formal concern of heraldic nature. As such it may very well be prescribed legally from the very beginning and ever ignored in practice by institutions of every type. Many of those flags are reconstructions based on various degree of evidence.

Flags by nation

Citations

{{Lists of flags reverse

Flags by nation

See also

Citations