The Origins of Flags

When did the first flags appear?

There is no single known moment when the first flag was invented. The earliest forms were not necessarily flags in the modern sense. They were often standards or flag-like objects attached to poles, carried by soldiers or displayed to identify a ruler, army, religious group or community.

Ancient Egyptian art provides some of the earliest surviving evidence of such standards. Egyptian military units used objects mounted on poles, including sacred animals, boats, emblems and other symbols. Similar standards were used by other ancient peoples in the Near East.

Ancient China also developed military banners and standards. Historical records describe banners being used to identify parts of armies, while surviving artistic representations show flag-like objects carried on poles.

Why did people need standards?

Imagine a battlefield several thousand years ago. There are no radios, loudspeakers or electronic maps. Dust, noise and confusion make it difficult for soldiers to know where their commander or unit is.

A tall, visible symbol provides a simple solution. A standard can act as a rallying point, show the position of a commander and help soldiers recognise their own group.

This practical purpose became one of the most important foundations of flag history. Standards were also symbols of authority and could acquire a powerful emotional or religious significance.

Ancient standards could therefore serve several purposes at once: identification, communication, authority, ceremony and morale.

Ancient Egypt and the earliest standards

Ancient Egyptian armies used standards bearing recognisable symbols. Evidence from Egyptian carvings and paintings shows figures and sacred objects mounted on poles, including animals, boats and royal or religious emblems.

The symbols were meaningful to the people carrying them. They could represent a particular group, deity, ruler or military formation.

These standards were closer to what historians call vexilloids — objects that functioned like flags but were not necessarily made from cloth.

This is an important part of the story because it shows that the basic idea behind a flag — putting a distinctive symbol somewhere visible so a group can be identified — is much older than the modern rectangular national flag.

Ancient China and military banners

China has a very long tradition of using banners and standards. Historical accounts describe military banners being used to identify units and communicate on the battlefield.

Some early Chinese banners were associated with particular colours or symbols, while later traditions developed increasingly elaborate ceremonial and military flags.

As in Egypt and elsewhere, the original purpose was not to create a national flag in the modern sense. The important idea was that a visible emblem could represent a particular authority or group.

Greek and Persian standards

The ancient Greeks used a variety of symbols associated with cities and military forces. Religious and civic imagery could be placed on standards or carried into battle.

Persian armies also used distinctive standards. One famous later example is the Derafsh Kaviani, a legendary royal standard associated with the Sasanian Persian Empire.

Across the ancient world, the exact form varied considerably. Some standards were animals or figures mounted on poles; others included cloth or other materials. The common idea was the same: a visible symbol represented authority or identity.

Roman standards

The Romans took military standards to a particularly organised level. Different units of the Roman army had their own insignia and standards, which were carried by specially designated standard-bearers.

One of the best-known was the aquila, the eagle standard associated with the Roman legion. Other standards included the signum and the vexillum.

The vexillum was especially important in the development of flag-like objects. It consisted of a piece of cloth suspended from a horizontal crossbar attached to a pole. The name is connected with the Latin word velum, meaning a piece of cloth, sail or awning.

Roman standards were not simply practical equipment. They could be treated with enormous reverence. Losing a standard in battle was a serious matter, and recovering a captured standard could become a matter of military honour.

The Roman vexillum

The vexillum is one of the most useful objects for understanding the transition from ancient standards to flags.

Unlike a modern flag, the cloth was suspended from a crossbar rather than attached along one vertical edge. It looked rather like a small rectangular sail.

Roman vexilla were used by military units and detachments, and examples are represented on coins, monuments and sculptures. The design also helped establish the word vexillology, the study of flags.

From standards to banners

For much of antiquity, a flag-like object did not necessarily represent a country. It represented a person, ruler, army, military unit, religious institution or community.

During the Middle Ages, cloth banners became increasingly important in Europe. Heraldry developed into a sophisticated system of colours, shapes and symbols, allowing the arms of a king, noble family or institution to be recognised from a distance.

The Bayeux Tapestry, for example, contains numerous representations of banners and standards associated with the Norman Conquest. Medieval flags could be pointed, swallow-tailed or otherwise shaped rather than simply rectangular.

This period is an important bridge between the ancient military standard and the later national flag.

Religion and the development of flags

Religious symbols became closely connected with banners in medieval Europe. Christian crosses and saints' symbols appeared on military and ceremonial banners, sometimes giving them a significance far beyond simple identification.

The red cross associated with St George, for example, eventually became one of the defining symbols of England. The Danish Dannebrog is traditionally associated with a legendary appearance of a cross in the sky, although the historical development of the flag is more complicated than the legend suggests.

Religious banners helped establish the idea that a flag could represent not merely a military unit or ruler, but a much wider community sharing an identity.

When did flags become national symbols?

The development was gradual. Medieval rulers generally had personal or dynastic standards, while cities, armies and religious institutions could have their own banners.

The rise of stronger states, maritime trade, printing, diplomacy and eventually modern nationalism helped flags acquire a broader territorial meaning.

By the early modern period, flags were increasingly used to identify ships and states. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, revolutions and nationalism accelerated the development of recognisable national flags.

The French Tricolour and the American Stars and Stripes are important examples of this transition. Their designs helped establish the idea that a flag could represent the people and political identity of a nation, rather than simply its ruler.

From battlefield symbol to national identity

The modern national flag is therefore the result of a very long evolution.

What is the difference between a flag, banner and standard?

The terms overlap, and their meanings have changed over time, but they can be useful for understanding flag history.

Flag: a general term for a piece of cloth or similar material displayed from a staff, pole, mast or cord.

Banner: historically, a flag associated particularly with a person, ruler, military leader or heraldic identity. Medieval banners could have distinctive shapes.

Standard: traditionally associated with identifying a commander, position or military formation. The term is also used today for certain ceremonial and military flags.

Modern usage is much less rigid, and the words are often used interchangeably.

Why the origins of flags still matter

Understanding where flags came from helps explain why modern flags contain so many recurring features. Crosses, animals, stars, heraldic shields, colours and geometric patterns all have histories that stretch back long before the modern nation-state.

A national flag may look simple, but behind that design can be centuries of military tradition, religion, dynastic history, revolution and national identity.

That is what makes flag history so interesting: a flag is not just a piece of coloured cloth. It is a compact record of history.

Continue exploring Flag History

Sources & further reading

This article draws on historical material concerning ancient standards, Roman military insignia and the development of medieval banners. Terminology and early history can be complex, and the boundary between a standard, banner and modern flag is not always clear.

Further reading: Encyclopaedia Britannica and historical studies of vexillology and military standards.