Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of countries by style of national flags


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus. North America1000 01:09, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

List of countries by style of national flags

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Completely arbitrary classification of flags by numbers of stars, triangles and other squiggles. I bet not a single reliable source does such classification. Staszek Lem (talk) 23:09, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Keep I think we have some organic growth between List of countries by style of national flags and List of flags by design there needs to be some consolidation, but I think merges will be better than deletion in this particular scenario. Bryce Carmony (talk) 01:19, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. WOW. Who categorizes flags by, for example, "one four-pointed star in upper left corner"? Maybe Sheldon Cooper, but nobody else of note. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:04, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Lists-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 03:04, 15 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Delete per Sheldon, er I mean, Clarityfiend. Bazinga.  Lugnuts  Dick Laurent is dead 07:03, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Keep List are not bound by the same standards as articles, do not need references. -- IamM1rv (talk) 12:12, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Lists do not need references, but the classification does. I can invent thousands of random criteria, like, List countries by the number of wars waged, List of cities by the number of letters in their names, etc. WP:NOT. Staszek Lem (talk) 16:43, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Consult needed - I suggest that WP:VEX be consulted about whether this is truly significant. This seems random to some people, but for the vexillologists, I think this it could be significant. I notice this kind of very specific sorting at Commons.  —Мандичка YO 😜 23:40, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached. Relisting comment: Relisting to see whether any consensus at all exists. Please specifically address the notability (WP:GNG) issues.--Ymblanter (talk) 08:11, 30 April 2015 (UTC)
 * NOTE: This debate has been relisted for further input. Snuggums (talk / edits) 00:24, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Keep - seems like a typical Wikipedia list. VMS Mosaic (talk) 00:35, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Keep - atypical, but interesting.--Jack Upland (talk) 11:29, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Keep - Seems like a normal standard article, I admit it's long but then again it's better than a one liner. – Davey 2010 Talk 13:56, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Comment Current state appearss to be of rather poor style and technically constitutes WP:OR: does anyone actually formally classify flags like that? But with vexillology expert attention, using more recognized vexillology terms like the "canton" and adding more sources discussing in vexillology contexts might help the case.  野狼院ひさし  u/t/c 14:08, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Delete - Unencyclopedic trivia. Zero sources on this "topic" out there, which is what we need to see for a GNG pass. Carrite (talk) 02:51, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Ymblanter (talk) 08:11, 30 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Delete – Per nom. With list articles, the question is the criteria for inclusion in the list. Looks to me like this is a collaborative Original Research effort by Wikipedia editors. Are there any secondary sources on this at all? (The same goes for List of flags by design, and all the other articles proposed for merging into that article. If there was a website about national flag designs... ) – Margin1522 (talk) 08:55, 30 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Keep Certain styles are undeniably notable, such as Tricolour (flag), and this page contains the only list of nations with tricolours. Likewise non-rectangular flags and maybe suns or others. Maybe some of the more tenuous descriptions could be removed. If it is deleted, then notable flag-shapes should be separated into their own lists. --Colapeninsula (talk) 16:53, 30 April 2015 (UTC)
 * I'll take that bet The nay-sayers claim that there are no sources but provide no evidence. A quick browse soon turns up typologies and analyses including:
 * Flag, Nation and Symbolism
 * Identity Designs
 * Applying Sebeok's Typology of Signs to the Study of Flags

There seems to be plenty of vexillologists out there writing about such stuff and so the topic passes WP:LISTN. Whether our typology is the right one is another question but that's not really a matter for AFD. Andrew D. (talk) 18:15, 30 April 2015 (UTC)  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached. Relisting comment: Several of the keep !votes do not provide a guideline- or policy-based rationale for article retention, stating notions such as that it's “interesting”, “typical”, “atypical” and a “normal standard article”. Some of the delete !votes, and the nomination, suggest that no sources cover this topic, but do not directly state that source searches did not provide any coverage. Without directly stating such, it comes across as the notion being posited, rather than confirmed. Of note is that some delete !votes do state directly that no coverage exists. This has been refuted by a recent !vote to the contrary that provides three book sources. The notion about potentially merging content has also been presented in the discussion.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, North America1000 04:20, 7 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Comment - Interesting. Vexillology is a thing, with notable institutions such as the Flag Institute, so to say there's no study or sourcing to be found out there seems a bit unbelievable. At the same time, much of this is already found at the Commons, Gallery of flags by design.  How about a soft redirect there? Tarc (talk) 13:40, 7 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Keep but it must be renamed. It is a list of FLAGS, not countries.  And like List of flags by design it should be open to inclusion of state, province, other entities' flags.  So "List of flags by style"???  The article is really about star points, etc., the symbols on the flags.  So List of flags by symbols included would be much more descriptive. -- do  ncr  am  23:04, 7 May 2015 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.