State flag

There are two separate meanings for the term state flag in vexillology - the flag of state of a government, and the flag of an individual subnational state.

Government flag

A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occasionally a completely different design) specifically designated and restricted by law or custom (theoretically or actually) to use by a country's government or its agencies. For this reason they are sometimes referred to as government flags. In many countries the state flag and the civil flag (as flown by the general public) are identical, but in other countries, notably those in Latin America, central Europe, and Scandinavia, the state flag is a more complex version of the national flag, often featuring the national coat of arms or some other emblem as part of the design. Scandinavian countries also use swallowtailed state flags, to further differentiate them from civil flags.

In addition, some countries have separate flags for use by government shipping - technically called state ensigns. These are a rarity, but one country which has such a flag is the United Kingdom, whose governmental ships fly the blue ensign.

State flags should not be confused with the national flag as used by military organisations - these are referred to as war flags and naval ensigns.

Countries with different state flags to civil flags

• Argentina
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Denmark
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Finland
• Germany
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• Iceland
• India
• Liechtenstein
• Monaco
• Norway
• Peru
• Poland
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Thailand
• Tuvalu
• Venezuela

Flag of a subnational state

In the United States, Australia and some other federal countries, the term state flag can have a different usage, as it frequently refers to an official flag of any of the individual states or territorial sub-divisions that make up the nation. To avoid confusion with the first meaning of the term, however, such a flag would normally be more precisely referred to as "the flag of the state of X", rather than "the state flag of X". For this usage, see also:

• Flags of the U.S. states
• Flags of the Confederate States of America
• Flags of the Australian states and territories