Talk:List of flags with reverses that differ from the obverse

No deletion
My fellow Wikipedians i don't even know where to start, for various reasons, starting by the fact that i am not a native speaker of English.

Not everybody knows that some flags have different sides. That don't even come to mind to start looking in the first place. Someone who doesn't know that, doesn't suddenly have the idea that flags can have two different sides. You have to learn it somewhere or someone has to tell you (unless you live in a country or region that have that kind of flags).

Here, there are lists of flags that provide the same kind of information that this article provides. Differentiation of shape, color, content etc., so i don't see where this article is different.

Concerning vexillology, the article has all the importance.

About adding more text, on my behalf, it has to be slowly, because as i said, i'm not a native speaker of English, but hopefully i'm not the only Wikipedian interested in flags. The number of flags can grow also, because the current ones are just the ones i have found so far, but again, hopefully, i won't be the only one to edit.

From my point of view, this is an encyclopedic matter.

I'm going to remove that template of deletion because i don't agree with the deletion of the article, and i think it deserves to be at least discussed.

A hug, and a good year to all. -- Bluedenim 04:45, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Dubious Flags
Numerous two-sided flags are circulating on the Internet. Their verifiably varies widely. While the main article lists the best-proven flags, there are still a few that range from dubious to probably false. In the interests of completeness, I intend to list them here. This will make it easier to approve them if new evidence comes to light. It will also prevent them from being wrongly included in the main article. I hope this list will stimulate further enlightened research and discussion.

-- Uspec 21:44, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

Remark from a casual reader
I simply could not guess the meaning of the hieroglyphs used within this article (  and many others). They should be replaced by some textual information, or suppressed. French Tourist (talk) 13:56, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh sorry, I clicked later on Flag terminology - now it is a bit clearer, but I don't erase my initial remark : this was nonetheless a curious experience for a reader unused to vexillology. French Tourist (talk) 13:57, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Comment from a distinct casual reader: I was a student in the Springfield, Massachusetts public school system in the 1940s, and the state flag reverse was a green pine tree directly on the white field –– without a blue shield. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Isaak Josefsohn (talk • contribs) 23:18, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

.sa?
Does the SA flag count, since its reverse is designed so the text reads the right way on either side? 76.117.247.55 (talk) 02:48, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, it does count. I just added it. -- Zyido (talk) 08:49, 24 September 2010 (UTC)


 * What is SA? South Africa? Saudi Arabia? Either way, they are both missing from the list. 82.141.67.208 (talk) 13:27, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Mirrored reverse or not
The flag of Moldova (2011) does not come into this category - its reverse is exactly what one should expect - the mirror image of the obverse. Mexico as well - how it is different on reverse from the obverse? On both sides (in both examples) the eagle looks towards the hoist, just as it should.

The flag of Mari El mirrors most of the flag field, except of the emblem (coat of arms) - but this is not at all unusual either - the number of such examples is great, greater then this page could hold. Even yet, many a flag do not have defined reverse in such details so it depends on the manufacturer (or the manufacturing process - silk screen printing, embroidery, appliqué...) whether the emblem shall be mirrored on the reverse or not. The flags with inscriptions, which are "reversed back" to be readable on both sides should, also, not be counted in here (so also Saudi Arabia, which is on the edge of this issue, the inscription being so large and important part of the design). Therefore this page should concentrate first of all to those flags that have entirely different designs on the obverse and the reverse, such as Oregon and Paraguay (when one comes to military colours, there may be a number of examples there all over the world, especially in historical examples) and then on those flags where the reverse is specifically designed to omit certain element for the ease of production (as USSR and its numerous subdivisions had, and until recently Moldova...)

There are quite enough valid examples to flags with different obverse/reverse, not to "invent" those where they are not... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.138.26.105 (talk) 22:39, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps we could break it into separate tables? One for flags with completely different designs, a second for flags with reversed text, and a third for flags where a design element is left off of the reverse. — Octavo (talk) 15:54, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

Symbol key
Why isn't there a symbol key on the page. I am sure the person who wrote it knows, and some flag experts ... to everyone else it is just gibberish. How about a key? --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 23:57, 12 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Agree! I would put it myself but I wouldn't do a great work on a graphic. Meanwhile there's Glossary of vexillology in the "See also" section. -- Bluedenim (talk) 13:48, 16 August 2014 (UTC)


 * I have tried my best to add a symbol key, please double check it for errors, or arrange it to be in a more useful order. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 16:41, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Images for Saudi flag differ
The images illustrating the flag of Saudi Arabia present significantly different renderings of both the calligraphy and the sword. While I'm sure there's variation among different manufacturers, on an individual flag the calligraphy would likely be identical on both sides, and the sword simply reflected. Can we update the images so that the obverse and reverse are more similar? Pburka (talk) 23:06, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
 * An SVG file of the reverse was apparently deleted because the sword isn't actually mirrored on the reverse side by law according to Flags of the World. Lacking a source that the reverse is different, it may be better to just remove Saudi Arabia from this page. SiBr4 (talk ) 20:14, 31 May 2016 (UTC)
 * ✅. Pburka (talk) 22:22, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

I corrected this mistake again just now, but I "corrected" it by showing the same image for obverse and reverse (adn added Brazil, which similarly has indentical sides despite being asymmetric). However, I now realise that maybe I misunderstood the text at the top of the list about what is included. Maybe these two shouldn't be here, but eitehr way, can we make the description clearer than saying "mirrored reverse" flags are included? JPD (talk) 04:19, 23 February 2019 (UTC)


 * The distinction has been made. Now we exclude flags in which the reverse side is congruent, or is it a mirror image of the obverse side.
 * The Saudi Arabia Civil ensign qualify for these criteria, but not the national flag. Uspec (talk) 22:08, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

not different
brazil and bangladesh seem to be the same on both sides, I don't get it  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.205.199.32 (talk) 23:05, 15 July 2019 (UTC)


 * The reverse of the flag of Bangladesh is not exactly the same as its obverse. The red circle is shifted slightly to the right in one case and to the left in the other. It could be a case of mirror image between the two sides except for the yellow map of the country in the middle.
 * It is the same for the three flags of Brazil's provinces, except the shift is more pronounced and the presence of text instead of map. Uspec (talk) 22:02, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

added flag of Raleigh NC, need image of reverse (none on the 'Pedia yet)
Subject heading says it all. Both this page and the flag's page need an image of the reverse. -   Metalello    talk 21:17, 18 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Now the flag of Raleigh have a reverse. Uspec (talk) 21:54, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

Soviet Union doesn't count
I don't think the flag of the Soviet Union counts as two-sided, as it was only two-sided for practicality and not actually the official design. WriterArtistCoder (talk) 01:51, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

San Juan, Argentina
Why does the obverse, and reverse have different proportions? WikiMakersOfOurTime (talk) 06:45, 5 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Now the flags of San Juan have the same proportions. Uspec (talk) 21:52, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)
I don't think the currently displayed images for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic are correct. WorldAtlas (and the Wikipedia article Flag of Western Sahara) indicate that the red triangle should always be on the hoist side; presumably it's an oversight that one of the triangles here has moved to the other side. Also, the coat of arms (WorldAtlas again) shows the star and crescent appearing on both sides of the flag, not only one. —Octavo (talk) 15:52, 3 May 2022 (UTC)


 * I removed the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from the main article and added it to the list of dubious two-sided flags. Uspec (talk) 21:51, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

KPD (Communist Party of Germany)
this is wrong, there is no source that shows the KPD flag having different obverse and reverse. Sukaq (talk) 15:51, 21 May 2023 (UTC)


 * I added the flag of the KPD to the list of dubious two-sided flags. Uspec (talk) 21:50, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

Brazilian flags and others are identical
The explanation says that identical flags where it was simply maintained for symmetry reasons, are not regarded as different. Yet there are a number of other Brazilian and such flags which are either same or mirrored (for example, the nazi flag to maintain the orientation of the swastika)... either remove the clarification, or remove those flags. 190.195.241.166 (talk) 03:21, 8 January 2024 (UTC)