MEPX
Chapter 4 of 10All chapters
  1. 1The vocabulary
  2. 2Design principles
  3. 3Colours and their families
  4. 4Symbols
  5. 5Flags of Europe
  6. 6Flags of Asia
  7. 7Flags of Africa
  8. 8Flags of the Americas
  9. 9Flags of Oceania
  10. 10Beyond national flags

Chapter 4 of 10

Symbols

What the charges mean.

Common charges

Stars for states, provinces or ideals; crescents associated with Islamic tradition; crosses with Christian history; suns, eagles and lions for sovereignty and strength.

  • Fifty stars for states and thirteen stripes for the original colonies.
  • Some symbols predate the religion now associated with them.

Unique cases

Cyprus shows the island itself, Brazil carries a sky over Rio at a specific moment in 1889, and Mozambique includes a rifle, which remains contested domestically.