SOCIETYMOST EXPENSIVE
FLAG SOLD AT AUCTION
An American Revolutionary
War battle flag sold to
an anonymous buyer
on 14 Jun 2006 for
$12,336,000 (£6,707,264),
including the buyer’s
premium, at Sotheby’s
in New York City, USA.
The regimental standard
of the 2nd Continental
Light Dragoons was
captured by British cavalry
officer Lt Col Banastre
Tarleton at Pound Ridge in
Westchester County, New
York, USA, on 2 Jul 1779.
Put up for auction by one
of his descendants, it is the
earliest surviving American
flag of any kind with a field
of 13 red and white stripes.MOST COLOURS IN A NATIONAL FLAG
When considering only the flags of those countries that are
members of the United Nations, the flag of South Africa,
adopted on 27 Apr 1994, has more colours (excluding badges)
than those of any other country: six. They symbolize unity:
the red, white and blue colours are taken from the colours
of the Boer Republics, while the yellow, black and green are
taken from the banner of the African National Congress.LARGEST FLAG FLOWN
WHILE SKYDIVING
On 10 Dec 2015, Larry Compton (USA)
flew a 1,436.22‑m² (15,459‑sq‑ft)
Al Adaam – the national flag of Qatar –
while skydiving at an event organized by
Lekhwiya in Doha, Qatar. The flag measured
60.6 m (198 ft 9 in) long and 23.7 m (77 ft
9 in) wide, making it around three times
the size of a basketball court.
MOST CHANGES TO A NATIONAL FLAG
The flag of the USA, which added a star every time a state
joined the Union, has undergone 26 alterations since its
adoption on 14 Jun 1777, when the Second Continental
Congress passed the Flag Resolution. The Birth of the Flag
(1911), shown above, was painted by Henry Mosler. The figure
standing is Betsy Ross, who reportedly sewed the first US
flag. Ross did sew flags in the Revolutionary War, but there
is still debate about whether she worked on the first US flag.OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY USED NATIONAL FLAG
A white Scandinavian cross on a red background was
adopted as the official stage flag of Denmark in 1625, while
the proportions of the cross were established in 1748. In
Denmark it is known as the “Dannebrog” or “Danish Cloth”.
Aside from Greenland, all Nordic countries have the off‑
centre “Nordic cross” as part of their national flag.LARGEST HUMAN NATIONAL FLAG
On 7 Dec 2014, a total of 43,830 participants assembled to
produce a gigantic image of the Indian national flag. The
event was arranged by Rotary International District 3230
and News7 Tamil (both IND) at the YMCA Ground Nandanam
in Chennai, India. The organizers stated that the event was
intended to celebrate “unity in diversity in India”.MOST PEOPLE DEPICTED ON A FLAG
The civil and state flag of Belize depicts two male
woodcutters standing in front of a mahogany tree,
symbolizing the country’s logging industry. Adopted on
21 Sep 1981, when the country gained its independence
from the UK, it is the only national flag that features a
depiction of human beings as the central part of the design.LARGEST FLAG FLOWN
A Mexican national flag measuring 34.3 x 60 m (112 ft 6.3 in
x 196 ft 10.2 in) – larger than eight tennis courts – was
flown on 2 Dec 2011 at an event coordinated by the city of
Piedras Negras in Coahuila, Mexico. It took 40 members of
Mexico’s armed forces to handle this gargantuan flag and
hoist it up its 100‑m (3 28 ‑ft) pole.