Talk:Flag of Washington, D.C.

DC vs Wash
Is this the DC flag or the flag of the city?
 * It is the flag for both. D.C. and Washington, D.C. are two names for the same thing. Legally, it is "the District of Columbia." Washington, D.C. is merely the mailing address and the colloquial name for the same place. Because most people call it Washington, D.C., that is what Wikipedia should use. Washington, D.C. discusses the various names for the city in detail. --Polynova 15:13, August 19, 2005 (UTC)
 * If it's legally the flag for the district, the name of the article, and the article contents are wrong. Even if it is colloquially known as the Washington flag, it's not. As for the equivalence of DC with Washington DC, that's wrong too. 132.205.45.110 09:04, 22 August 2005 (UTC)
 * An entity's legal name is not its only name. "Washington, D.C." may not be the legal name, but it is clearly a correct name and the most commonly used name as well. --Polynova 14:45, August 22, 2005 (UTC)
 * Same thing. Like how "Commonwealth of Kentucky" and Kentucky is the same thing. – Illegitimate Barrister (talk • contribs), 05:42, 16 October 2016 (UTC)

On proposed move by anonymous user 132.205.45.110

 * I am opposed to the move. From the introduction to Naming conventions:
 * Generally, article naming should give priority to what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity, while at the same time making linking to those articles easy and second nature.
 * Hence the article Jimmy Carter, not "James Earl Carter, Jr." Or for that matter, Washington, D.C. and not "District of Columbia". See Naming conventions (common names). --Polynova 14:45, August 22, 2005 (UTC)


 * Being that I am the only one to vote on this issue, I'm declaring the vote closed after one week and removing the proposal. Result: no change. --Polynova 21:39, August 29, 2005 (UTC)


 * Just to add my thoughts, even tho the move isn't an issue at present...I think that Flag of the District of Columbia sounds more natural to me, altho I'm from near DC. But I think I'd agree that Washington, DC is more common elsewhere. I'm fine with either name for the article, anyway. --Mairi 03:40, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 15:29, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Official specs
Is there an official (DC government?) source for the dimensions etc.? I couldn't find one. PRRfan (talk) 22:08, 5 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Flags of the World has construction details here. Construction details should be incorporated into the article. --D. Monack | talk 22:45, 5 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks, done. PRRfan (talk) 19:49, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

The definition on crwflags.com is straight from DC Code, but there appears to be an oversight in the statute in that the aspect ratio of the flag isn't defined. This article lists proportions as 1:2, but I'm curious about where that comes from. (I just bought a new DC flag and was curious about the dimensions. Theoretically, the flag could be 20 feet by 1 foot, and, as long as the stripes and stars are laid out correctly in the proportions in the statute, it would be an official DC flag.)  Adamskj (talk) 15:58, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Three stars three axees of Empire?
Is this true?>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5L_x6RHE4s&feature=related —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.164.52.89 (talk) 15:30, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * The flag is based on the medieval British Washington family coat of arms, so it's hard to imagine how it could be true. AnonMoos (talk) 19:10, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Interesting coincidence
Three dots and two bars is the Aztec number 13. Is there an apropriate way to put this in the article without "original research" or a "trivia" section?

Virginia-American (talk) 16:30, 28 May 2012 (UTC) (who lives in the District)


 * It's really just a vague coincidence without meaning (and the Maya numeral has three circles, not stars, anyway), so I think it would really better be left off the article. AnonMoos (talk) 19:08, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

flag of the district, not of the city
This is the flag of Columbia, the federal district, not of Washington City. Common usage is about evenly divided, but facts count for something in an encyclopedia. — kwami (talk) 05:57, 27 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Washington City doesn't exist. – Illegitimate Barrister (talk • contribs), 16:41, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Pantone colors?
What's the Pantone number of the red used in the flag? --108.60.36.58 (talk) 18:13, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Requested move 6 October 2016

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: page moved as unopposed. (non-admin closure) GeoffreyT2000  ( talk,  contribs ) 16:53, 15 October 2016 (UTC)

Flag of the District of Columbia → Flag of Washington, D.C. – Old title, matches main article. Also, page was moved without discussion. – Illegitimate Barrister (talk • contribs), 16:43, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.
 * The flag is from the District of Columbia, according to the Code of the District of Columbia -> https://beta.code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/titles/1/chapters/1/subchapters/III/index.html.Napleabeau (talk) 20:57, 4 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Flags, coats of arms, and the like represent the federation unit that in this case is the "District of Columbia".177.176.96.231 (talk) 17:47, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Can an administrator move the page back to Flag of Washington, D.C.? User:Napleabeau moved the page without discussing first, and now I am unable to move the page back. --- Another Believer ( Talk ) 22:09, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Are you able to help? -- Another Believer ( Talk ) 22:10, 6 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Done. - BilCat (talk) 22:18, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks! --- Another Believer ( Talk ) 22:21, 6 November 2017 (UTC)


 * I believe the name should continue Flag of the District of Columbia, since the flag represents the government and the entity of the nation, which as was previously mentioned is the - District of Columbia -.196.202.194.127 (talk) 22:41, 6 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Actually, Wikipedia doesn't use official or legal names, but the most common name. - BilCat (talk) 23:45, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Problems with heraldry section of expanded article (law of arms / heraldry)
The supposed principle that "No two individuals can have the same coat of arms" has been enforced much, much more strictly in Scottish heraldry than in English heraldry. In English heraldry, some authors of books on heraldry think that's the way theoretically should have been in England, but as a matter of attested history, it's simply not the way that things actually worked in English heraldry for long periods of time. This section of the article unfortunately appears to contain a lot of dubious facts and original research... AnonMoos (talk) 14:34, 10 September 2019 (UTC)


 * No reply after a week, so I'm removing the content based on the ostensible principle that "No two individuals can have the same coat of arms". The truth is that this is not a universal principle -- it's in fact completely irrelevant to some national traditions (such as Polish heraldry), while it has been fairly strictly enforced in a few others (most conspicuously in Scotland).  England is an intermediate case -- in the special case of "Arms of sovereignty" (the national royal arms), displaying the undifferenced arms is equivalent to claiming to be the king or queen, so only the actual monarch can have the undifferenced arms, and other members of the royal family must have differenced arms.  However, below the level of the royal family, the alleged "No two individuals can have the same coat of arms" principle simply has not been consistently applied.  Some people have thought that it should be consistently applied, but the historical fact is that it hasn't been... AnonMoos (talk) 02:15, 19 September 2019 (UTC)


 * P.S. Differencing is sometimes used in English heraldry to distinguish the arms of sons from that of their father while the father is still alive, but such differencing marks are not usually hereditary. Non-royal English heraldry conspicuously lacks the concatenated marks (a crescent on a mullet on a label or whatever) which would result from cumulative differencing of that type.  In the case of noblemen, the coat of arms  of the inheritor of the title would be differentiated from those of his younger brothers by the fact only the nobleman's had supporters... AnonMoos (talk) 02:40, 19 September 2019 (UTC)