The flag of the United Nations is a sky blue banner containing 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 ...

' 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 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 ...

(centred on the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

and the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is the line extending between the South and North Poles that is the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and de ...

), surrounded by a pair of

olive branch The olive branch, a ramus of '' Olea europaea'', is a symbol of peace. It is generally associated with the customs of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and is connected with supplication to divine beings and persons in power. Likewise, it is f ...

es, a symbol of peace. The emblem was officially adopted on 7 December 1946, and the flag containing the emblem was officially adopted on 20 October 1947.

Design

The flag of the

consists of the white emblem on the

sky blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...

background. The emblem depicts a

of the world map, centred on the

, with the globe being orientated to the

. The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles. The map is inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree.General Assembly A/107, Official Seal and Emblem of the United Nations, 15 October 1946
/ref> The size of the emblem on the flag is one half the width of the flag itself. The flag proportions of the

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

of the flag height to its width, are equal 2:3, 3:5 or to the same proportions as the national flag of any country in which the UN flag is flown. White and blue are the official colours of the

. The light blue background colour code is Pantone Matching System 2925. It approximates

. The

es are a symbol for peace, and the world map represents all the people and the countries of the world.

History

The organizers of the 1945

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 Allies of World War II, Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 194 ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

wanted an insignia that could be made into a pin to identify delegates.

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Edward Stettinius, Jr. Edward Reilly Stettinius Jr. (October 22, 1900 – October 31, 1949) was an American businessman who served as United States Secretary of State under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman from 1944 to 1945, and as U.S. Ambassador ...

was chairperson of the U.S. delegation, and realized that a temporary design might become the permanent symbol of the United Nations. He formed a committee headed by

Oliver Lundquist Oliver Lincoln Lundquist (September 20, 1916 – December 28, 2008) was an American architect and industrial designer who headed the team which was responsible for the design of the United Nations logo and who himself designed the Q-Tip box. B ...

that developed a design consisting of a world map surrounded by leaves from a design created by

Donal McLaughlin Donal McLaughlin (July 26, 1907 – September 27, 2009) was an American architect who played a major role in the design of the flag of the United Nations. Early life and education McLaughlin was born on July 26, 1907, in Manhattan and was rai ...

.Lyons, Catherine
"UN Logo Designer Celebrates His Centennial"
,

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exists in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promo ...

, c. 1975. Accessed January 4, 2009. McLaughlin had previously worked as chief of graphics for the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

that preceded the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. The

used in his design was heavily influenced by the maps created during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Richard Edes Harrison Richard Edes Harrison (March 11, 1901 – January 5, 1994) was an American scientific illustrator and cartographer. He was the house cartographer of ''Fortune'' and a consultant at ''Life'' for almost two decades. He played a key role in "challe ...

, a popular cartographer working for ''Fortune'' and ''Life.''''''. The

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

that appears in the background of the insignia was chosen to be "the opposite of red, the war colour", although the exact shade has never been officially specified by the United Nations. The original colour the group chose in 1945 was a gray blue that differs from the current United Nations flag, unofficially called "Stettinius Blue", and it was selected because at that time it was not in use in any national flag The globe used in the original design was an

azimuthal projection In cartography, a map projection is any of a broad set of transformations employed to represent the curved two-dimensional surface of a globe on a plane. In a map projection, coordinates, often expressed as latitude and longitude, of locations ...

focused on the

with the United States, the host nation of the conference, at the centre. The projection that was used cut off portions of the Southern Hemisphere below 40 degrees south latitude, because that's where the

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...

map used as a model cut off, and the designers did not have time to find another map; this was considered acceptable because Argentina, Chile and New Zealand were not yet planned to be members of the United Nations.Heller, Steven
"Oliver Lincoln Lundquist, Designer, Is Dead at 92 "
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 3 January 2009. Accessed 4 January 2009. The projection was later altered so that the globe was centered on the

and extend to 60 degrees south. According to official explanations, the change was made to represent countries "as far as possible in their proper relationship to the cardinal points" and "so the east and west were in balance". In 1946, a UNO committee was tasked to make a definite design, which was presented 2 December 1946. The emblem was adopted by the plenary session of the UNO on 7 December 1946, and the flag was officially adopted on 20 October 1947.

Use

According to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, the emblem and the flag of the United Nations can be used by the personnel and material of UN

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed w ...

missions as a

protective sign Protective signs are legally protected symbols to be used during an armed conflict to mark persons and objects under the protection of various treaties of international humanitarian law. While their essential meaning can be summarized as "don't sho ...

to prevent attacks during an

armed conflict War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. The United Nations flag may also be flown as a garrison flag with other country flags. Garrison size is 10 feet by 30 feet.

Derived flags

Agencies and organizations

National flags

The UN flag is the origin of a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of national flags. Because of the UN's association with peace and cooperation, UN-inspired flags are often adopted by states that have experienced conflict or instability. Many states with UN-inspired flags either were or were a part of United Nations trust territories.

Subnational flags

The subnational flags, flags of constituent political entities of some states with UN-inspired flags, states that either were or were a part of United Nations trust territories, sometimes also derive inspiration from the flag of the United Nations.

Municipal flags

The municipal flags of constituent political entities of some states with UN-inspired flags, states that either were or were a part of United Nations trust territories, sometimes also derive inspiration from the flag of the United Nations.

Usage outside of the United Nations

* The UN flag is depicted in the background of former

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (English: ,; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second secretary-general of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in Septe ...

on Sweden's 1,000 SEK banknote, the currency's highest denomination. The banknotes have been in circulation since October 2015.

Notes

References

External links

UN Flag Code, 20 November 2020

United Nations Flag Code
* {{DEFAULTSORT:United Nations, Flag 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 ...

Flags introduced in 1947 Flags of international organizations Blue flags