Loki-L ยท 493 points ยท Posted at 14:33:27 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That is not really all that complicated compared to other flags.
The thing that makes it different is that they put the instructions into their constitution instead of some less prominent law and that the flag has such an unusual shape and that it can be constructed entirely with simple geometric means.
You could give similar instructions to create easy flags like your basic tricolor or nordic cross type of flags, but if your flag has words or complicated drawings on it things will get a whole lot harder than just 24 easy steps.
faboo978 ยท 93 points ยท Posted at 15:15:20 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Seriously - especially provincial flags. The California state flag would take quite a lot of steps to breakdown completely.
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:04:21 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Red stripe? Red Star? Words? Come on, dude.
Loki-L ยท 53 points ยท Posted at 16:43:13 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Actually since the SVG file format used in Wikipedia for flags actually sort of consist of drawing instructions and you can tell how complicated the flags are by looking at the svg files' source.
The actual drawing of the flag is just three lines telling you to make three rectangles each in a different color and that the stripes are five times as long as they are tall.
Simple.
With the British Union Jack you can even see how the different parts of the drawing instructions related to the different flags that got combined into it.
Remove the lines 7 to 9 and you end up with the Scottish flag.
By comparison the flag of California is has an SVG that 365kb big which means that the description takes up 365 thousand characters and even that is just an approximation.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<svg version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="900" height="600">
<rect width="900" height="600" fill="#000"/>
<rect width="900" height="206.25" fill="#fff"/>
<rect width="900" height="187.5" fill="#007168"/>
<rect y="393.5" width="900" height="206.5" fill="#fff"/>
<rect y="412.5" width="900" height="187.5" fill="#fce100"/>
<path d="M 0,0 V 600 L 393.75,300 z" fill="#d21034"/>
<path d="M 189.54603,214.56867 L 128.78569,171.99623 L 69.930531,217.0706 L 91.643351,146.12847 L 30.587837,104.08263 L 104.76744,102.81043 L 125.88822,31.750306 L 150.02091,101.90617 L 224.12978,100.03443 L 164.86501,144.66535 z" transform="matrix(1.221793,2.542786e-2,-2.542786e-2,1.221793,-21.7604,145.5065)" fill="#fce100"/>
<path d="M 77.1122,167.913 L 118.946,167.913 C 122.312,171.689 129.822,173.229 136.975,167.868 C 150.087,160.688 175.454,167.913 175.454,167.913 L 180.449,162.606 L 168.273,122.645 L 163.902,117.962 C 163.902,117.962 154.537,112.343 136.741,114.216 C 118.946,116.089 112.702,113.592 112.702,113.592 C 112.702,113.592 97.0927,115.465 92.7219,117.65 C 92.2414,118.039 87.7268,122.645 87.7268,122.645 z" transform="matrix(1.259719,0,0,1.259719,-29.41569,140.9042)" fill="#fff" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="#000" stroke-width="1.25" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"/>
<path d="M 85.5415,157.611 C 85.5415,157.611 125.502,152.616 137.054,167.913 C 130.53,172.377 124.786,172.745 118.634,168.226 C 119.614,166.593 132.995,152.616 167.024,157.299" transform="matrix(1.259719,0,0,1.259719,-29.41569,140.9042)" fill="none" stroke="#000" stroke-width="1.25" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"/>
<path d="M 128.312,117.65 L 128,161.67 M 163.902,118.274 L 171.395,153.24 M 93.1339,117.725 L 88.9756,135.757" transform="matrix(1.259719,0,0,1.259719,-29.41569,140.9042)" stroke="#000" stroke-width="1.25" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"/>
<path d="M 49.9417,172.706 L 59.7799,184.241 C 60.9352,184.93 61.9614,184.886 62.9876,184.241 L 77.5681,166.745 L 83.6919,159.163 C 84.6401,158.04 84.9428,156.787 84.8583,155.664 L 96.5657,145.261 C 97.5234,145.327 98.0938,145.435 99.0515,145.5 C 97.92,145.207 97.0898,144.656 97.9807,143.416 L 100.605,141.375 L 102.646,143.999 C 102.646,143.999 99.7304,147.79 99.4388,147.79 C 99.1472,147.79 96.2311,147.79 96.2311,147.79 L 90.1073,153.331 L 92.7843,155.697 L 96.8143,166.745 L 101.772,163.245 L 98.5639,151.873 L 105.563,144.291 L 102.938,140.208 L 104.688,137.875 C 104.688,137.875 128.91,153.125 138.242,149.043 C 138.494,149.134 138.806,138.167 138.806,138.167 C 138.806,138.167 113.728,135.543 113.144,130.585 C 112.561,125.628 118.685,125.045 118.685,125.045 L 116.06,121.254 L 116.644,119.212 L 121.018,124.753 L 130.933,116.296 L 189.254,182.783 C 192.438,181.492 193.118,180.713 193.337,177.534 C 193.255,177.454 136.182,111.922 136.182,111.922 L 140.556,107.257 C 141.418,106.285 141.721,105.872 141.722,104.34 L 148.429,98.5082 C 150.446,99.2011 151.732,100.41 152.803,102.007 L 171.242,86.3801 C 171.728,86.8661 173.204,87.3521 174.206,86.8055 L 204.691,57.5442 L 171.466,81.0116 L 170.3,80.1368 C 170.3,79.1647 171.505,78.9243 170.3,77.2207 C 169.009,75.6716 167.092,78.6788 166.801,78.6788 C 166.509,78.6788 161.992,77.0824 161.002,75.06 L 160.677,80.4284 L 152.22,88.3019 L 145.805,88.0103 L 136.473,97.0501 L 135.307,100.549 L 136.765,103.466 C 136.765,103.466 131.807,107.84 131.807,107.548 C 131.807,107.257 130.805,106.259 130.762,106.13 L 135.015,102.299 L 135.598,99.6747 L 134.179,97.4589 C 133.749,97.7714 128.308,103.466 128.016,102.882 C 127.53,102.338 112.27,85.0942 112.27,85.0942 L 113.144,81.8865 L 103.23,71.0969 C 99.6155,69.849 93.8982,69.6389 92.7318,77.5123 C 91.8235,79.3616 84.2751,77.8039 84.2751,77.8039 L 80.1926,78.6788 L 57.1554,111.339 L 69.9862,126.794 L 96.2311,93.5508 L 97.0102,84.1332 L 102.517,90.2905 C 104.353,90.5264 106.102,90.5471 107.766,89.7073 L 123.315,107.063 L 120.726,109.589 C 121.601,110.561 122.203,111.182 123.078,112.154 C 123.953,111.571 124.788,110.871 125.663,110.287 C 125.955,110.677 126.441,111.416 126.733,111.805 C 125.43,112.514 124.516,113.458 123.213,114.167 C 121.128,112.808 119.115,111.116 119.268,108.423 L 110.52,115.713 L 110.228,117.171 L 84.2751,138.75 L 81.9422,139.042 L 81.359,145.749 L 98.2723,131.752 L 98.2723,129.71 L 100.022,131.168 L 113.144,120.671 C 113.144,120.671 114.019,121.837 113.728,121.837 C 113.436,121.837 102.063,132.335 102.063,132.335 L 101.772,133.501 L 99.7304,135.251 L 98.5639,134.376 L 82.817,148.373 L 80.4842,148.373 L 71.7359,157.122 C 69.4795,157.318 67.5243,157.557 65.6121,158.871 z" transform="matrix(1.259719,0,0,1.259719,-29.41569,140.9042)" fill="#000" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="#000" stroke-width="1.25" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"/>
</svg>
The long penultimate line codes for both the hoe and the AK-47.
If you liked it is highly suggest checking out Roman Mars' (the presenter) podcast. It really is fantastic and will alter the way you see the built world.
The image is a png with transparent background, seems a bug in Alien Blue
Beru73 ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 19:33:12 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)*
Only two three flags are not rectangular : Switzerland and Nepal (and Vatican) I believe. Swiss is originally a square. But we always see it rectangular now.
Edit: Added Vatican, if you think it is a country
Pahk0 ยท 9 points ยท Posted at 19:47:21 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I've only seen the Swiss flag as a square. ...Which is still a type of rectangle, by the way. Vatican City also has a square flag.
Beru73 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 04:26:21 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Yes Vatican as well! You are right about the swiss flag. All the time it is a square. The rectangle is on the stock photos on the Internet.
GeebusNZ ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 00:01:46 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
And for reasons I don't entirely understand, New Zealand, having an opportunity to change our flag, are going for something about as complicated and difficult to replicate.
And looks almost exactly the same as the aussie/one or two other ones
utkun ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 01:56:37 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
There's a 12-article law called Turkish Flag Law (Law 2893 [1]) regulating what can be done and what cannot be done with a Turkish Flag and also there's the highly-detailed 41-article bylaws (Turkish Flag Bylaws [2]) that regulate usage, production and respectful destruction of the Flag.
Pretty certain we got taught how to do the UK flag.
Anywho, being aesthetically pleasing does not make it a good flag.
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:11:10 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
What does symmetry have to do with reproducibilty?
You can't draw China's flag?
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:40:09 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I could easily make one that looks roughly South Korea's flag, and you would probably understand that's what I intend, but I couldn't tell you which corner of SK's flag has which lines
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 17:52:35 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If you were South Korean, you probably would know, just like US kids know how many stripes are on the US flag even though kids from, say, Russia might not.
Yeah but why does a source have to be in the constitution?
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 19:02:47 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I was not complaining I was just pointing out, and in addition I personally find this quite amazing, and to answer your question, don't ask me, because I don't know
geniice ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 20:17:19 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You'd be surprised. Super formal rules are fairly recent and the UK doesn't have them.
There is a spec for the Union Jack at page 16 in this document. I don't know if that counts as "super formal", but it is the Parliament approved flag design.
Being a Nepalese, I didn't know that. It's not that complicated, our teachers wanted us to draw our country flag and maps in our test when we were kids, fun times.
The flag is complicated and that's why it has its constructions in the Constitution?
[deleted] ยท -1 points ยท Posted at 21:20:16 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Step 1: "On the lower portion of a crimson cloth draw a line AB of the required length from left to right." - Fails to list said required length, which assume must be exactly 8,848 meters.
Saved comment
Loki-L ยท 493 points ยท Posted at 14:33:27 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That is not really all that complicated compared to other flags.
The thing that makes it different is that they put the instructions into their constitution instead of some less prominent law and that the flag has such an unusual shape and that it can be constructed entirely with simple geometric means.
You could give similar instructions to create easy flags like your basic tricolor or nordic cross type of flags, but if your flag has words or complicated drawings on it things will get a whole lot harder than just 24 easy steps.
faboo978 ยท 93 points ยท Posted at 15:15:20 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Seriously - especially provincial flags. The California state flag would take quite a lot of steps to breakdown completely.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_California
ikinone ยท 165 points ยท Posted at 16:14:36 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
White
Add bear
productivewinks ยท 293 points ยท Posted at 16:47:26 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Did it But was not easy.
Dikhoofd ยท 30 points ยท Posted at 19:03:34 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Do this one!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Flag_of_Zeeland.svg/250px-Flag_of_Zeeland.svg.png
productivewinks ยท 111 points ยท Posted at 19:47:26 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
All the details is stretching my ability.
Torchedkiwi ยท 23 points ยท Posted at 20:00:37 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Try and do the Welsh flag! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Flag_of_Wales_2.svg/2000px-Flag_of_Wales_2.svg.png
productivewinks ยท 100 points ยท Posted at 20:22:25 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Going crosseyed from all those lines
Torchedkiwi ยท 45 points ยท Posted at 20:26:24 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If I were your dad, I'd put that on the fridge, well done /u/productivewinks ruffles hair
FoxtrotBeta6 ยท 16 points ยท Posted at 20:32:40 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You now have the RES tag of "Flag Drawing Guy".
LUDSK ยท 12 points ยท Posted at 20:43:26 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You gotta do Croatia next!
productivewinks ยท 50 points ยท Posted at 21:12:49 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Boom, piece of cake
thijser2 ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 22:25:46 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
What about this one
productivewinks ยท 17 points ยท Posted at 22:49:30 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Its like they dont even want to be copied
czer81 ยท 4 points ยท Posted at 23:11:57 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I'm gonna need you to take a crack at the flag of Libya before 2011
Six_O_Sick ยท 8 points ยท Posted at 23:16:10 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Give this man a Link
productivewinks ยท 15 points ยท Posted at 00:01:02 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Itยดs getting the color right thats the tricky part
Rincewind_57 ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 00:35:37 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Does it need to be from a country that still exists?
productivewinks ยท 15 points ยท Posted at 01:13:43 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Regretting life choices
HHcougar ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 01:19:14 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Bavaria's Flag needs a tribute!
productivewinks ยท 15 points ยท Posted at 01:37:40 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Im calling it a night with this one
__2BR02B__ ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 04:48:25 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Get some sleep. We'll need you bright and remarks tomorrow morning so you can finish all the flags.
Jon_Ham_Cock ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 05:16:01 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
This is how it feels when your friends first learn that you are doing tattoos. Heh.
Jon_Ham_Cock ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 05:10:38 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Dude, it looks just like it. The highlights in the hair of the green part where the green meets the green is super detailed.
Nailed it brah.
SonicFrost ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 22:37:06 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You belong in a certain circular political cartoon subreddit.
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 03:57:33 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
one of eastern european spheres?
FoxtrotBeta6 ยท 68 points ยท Posted at 17:42:56 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That's honestly not that bad. Make more flags!
eyemadeanaccount ยท 27 points ยท Posted at 20:26:15 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
On the next episode of fun with flags...
PM___urtits ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 08:25:35 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Can we make this a thing?!?
eyemadeanaccount ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 09:09:20 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That'd be awesome
chronoserpent ยท 9 points ยท Posted at 17:56:59 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That looks just like our work when we had to draw the flag in elementary school.
DrKnowsNothing_MD ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 18:41:24 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Never been more proud of being a Californian :')
CaptnYossarian ยท 6 points ยท Posted at 00:48:55 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
/r/vexillology meets /r/eli5
axilidade ยท 4 points ยท Posted at 18:14:33 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
now do the new california republic!
[deleted] ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 18:48:19 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Good one! I really like it.
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 21:05:37 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Meh. Close enough
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:05:28 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You did not follow the instructions. It says nothing about star, stripe, or words.
namesareforlosers ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 17:23:20 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
5/7 artwork! Great job!
Thereminz ยท 38 points ยท Posted at 18:24:55 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
NCR:
White
Add bear
Add second head to bear
Pavel63 ยท 27 points ยท Posted at 19:38:19 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
100% from /u/productivewinks
NCR
productivewinks ยท 12 points ยท Posted at 19:50:46 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I approve.
Thereminz ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 22:17:36 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
the directions worked
Wasteland_Ranger ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 13:38:01 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Looking at that Flag makes me wish for a Nuclear Winter...
Imperium_Dragon ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 03:37:06 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You mean two bear heads while a red bull eats the body?
IlliterateJedi ยท 4 points ยท Posted at 18:00:12 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Imperium_Dragon ยท 4 points ยท Posted at 03:36:15 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I think I messed up
[deleted] ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 10:12:32 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
no you just joined the NCR.
stares at you without blinking
patrolling the mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter
Imperium_Dragon ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 13:35:04 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
But Ulysses told me I shouldn't join the Bear.
God_Damnit_Nappa ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 21:46:15 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
3: Add star
Debaadmina ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 04:47:56 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
3 add communist star
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:04:21 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Red stripe? Red Star? Words? Come on, dude.
Loki-L ยท 53 points ยท Posted at 16:43:13 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Actually since the SVG file format used in Wikipedia for flags actually sort of consist of drawing instructions and you can tell how complicated the flags are by looking at the svg files' source.
The Flag of Germany goes like this:
The actual drawing of the flag is just three lines telling you to make three rectangles each in a different color and that the stripes are five times as long as they are tall.
Simple.
With the British Union Jack you can even see how the different parts of the drawing instructions related to the different flags that got combined into it.
Flag of the UK:
Remove the lines 7 to 9 and you end up with the Scottish flag.
By comparison the flag of California is has an SVG that 365kb big which means that the description takes up 365 thousand characters and even that is just an approximation.
BitchinTechnology ยท 11 points ยท Posted at 19:26:52 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I can only imagine how long a flag with an ak47 or something looks. So many polygons
Loki-L ยท 25 points ยท Posted at 19:34:24 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)*
Actually the svg for the flag of Mozambique appears to fairly compact:
The long penultimate line codes for both the hoe and the AK-47.
Dsmario64 ยท 10 points ยท Posted at 22:28:22 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Needs more Ak-47
jaked122 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 17:27:06 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You've got it.
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 01:37:01 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Where do the people making the SVGs on Wikipedia get their instructions from?
MagnusTheGreat ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 20:41:24 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
It basically should just be a simple bear, maybe just the head even...But no, instead they go for the whole animal and add tons of colors.
brekkabek ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 00:30:28 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
'Murrland
shadovvvvalker ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:02:04 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Missouri
nuhorizon ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 13:36:10 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Soviet California.
Edit: Or maybe Chinese California.
T3canolis ยท 14 points ยท Posted at 16:01:43 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I wish there were step-by-step instructions to draw the Flag of Bhutan.
me1505 ยท 9 points ยท Posted at 19:35:22 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
http://pastebin.com/R8UqvwjC
That's just for the dragon. Another few lines for the background.
[deleted] ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 20:37:09 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Feel free to follow along with my simple step by step instructions
Burninator05 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 01:26:12 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Jeez. The guy wouldn't know majesty if it came up and bit him the face.
pauljs75 ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 21:53:47 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Gotta collect all seven dragon-balls. I suspect there must be three hidden behind the dragon.
[deleted] ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 01:23:53 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
the american flag would be impossible with a compass and straight edge.
"divide into 13 equal bars"
Uh.....ruler please!
then you have to construct a pentagram...50 times. totally doable with a compass and straight edge, but what a bitch.
RandomRDP ยท 61 points ยท Posted at 14:51:02 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You can find a video walk though here
Spamakin ยท 12 points ยท Posted at 16:06:52 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Damn it I came here to link it
thataccountforporn ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 18:13:00 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Me too...
mancow533 ยท -20 points ยท Posted at 17:44:26 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
oh no! you missed out on 1 comment karma!!! (at the time of this post at least) curse the heavens!!
Spamakin ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 18:55:07 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
No I just thought people would like to see it made
mancow533 ยท -8 points ยท Posted at 19:05:09 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
But they will!!! I was just razzin you anyway haha
Spamakin ยท 6 points ยท Posted at 19:31:45 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Yea I know you were razzing me
mancow533 ยท -5 points ยท Posted at 19:40:26 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
So it's settled.
DannySpud2 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 22:16:51 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That video is so frustrating, can't they just show the guy drawing the flag at an angle that you can actually see what's going on.
SeabassKings ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 10:08:25 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Dangit, was just about to do that. Take my upvote.
msstark ยท 176 points ยท Posted at 13:56:24 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Then there's the old flag of Libya.
scottishdrunkard ยท 80 points ยท Posted at 14:03:53 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Shit man, only Bob Ross could replicate such a complicated flag.
FunkMetalBass ยท 25 points ยท Posted at 16:39:24 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
"And here we'll place a happy dragon-thing"
scottishdrunkard ยท 21 points ยท Posted at 16:41:22 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Welsh flag or Bhutan flag?
FunkMetalBass ยท 20 points ยท Posted at 16:59:51 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Shit, I responded to the wrong comment.
Maybe Libya will put a dragon on their flag in the next 20 min so that no one will notice my mistake.
holocaustic_soda ยท 21 points ยท Posted at 17:42:54 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
It's a green dragon on a green field.
msstark ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 00:33:38 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Well, that one hasn't been their flag since 2011, so I think you're okay. They didn't add a dragon, though.
Robo-Coffee ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 20:49:59 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Stared at the picture for about a minute, not quite sure what I was looking at, then realised that the green rectangle IS the flag.
[deleted] ยท 31 points ยท Posted at 21:23:01 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)*
[deleted]
Robo-Coffee ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:17:33 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
D:
solips_sonder ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 03:26:56 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Wait, what is it now?
Madbrad200 ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 07:49:49 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Following the revolution they decided to change it to a flag that had been in use by the rebels for some time now. This flag is the same flag as the one used by the Kingdom of Libya way back in the 50s'.
It's worth noting however that Libya is still experiencing a civil war and as such there are many groups that hold claims to land which do not use this flag.
msstark ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 10:33:17 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
This is from when Gaddafi ruled the country, now it's three stripes with a moon and star.
walrus_gumboot ยท 123 points ยท Posted at 17:11:17 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
It's better than this monstrosity!
[1][1]
dangerbird2 ยท 97 points ยท Posted at 17:49:02 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Honorable mention to the old flag of Mormonism's spiritual capital, Provo Utah
[1], featuring the city's name underlined by a quite Freudian rainbow stripe.[1]
Lamedonyx ยท 101 points ยท Posted at 18:04:20 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That looks like it was made by a twelve years old using Word.
DrKnowsNothing_MD ยท 52 points ยท Posted at 18:43:15 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Or a company that sells paint
yodamaster103 ยท 13 points ยท Posted at 23:11:10 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Looks like a recordable vhs
Canucker22 ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:48:18 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
ClarisWorks I think.
neocommenter ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 20:31:31 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
DM;HGF
[deleted] ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 00:48:28 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Had gay fun?
neocommenter ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 02:57:41 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Had Google fiber
Strawberry_Lightning ยท 18 points ยท Posted at 18:49:52 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Pocatello, Idaho looks like something from a Dixie cup.
FoxtrotBeta6 ยท 30 points ยท Posted at 20:35:08 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
For reference.
They actually put trademarks and copyright marks on it...
[deleted] ยท 4 points ยท Posted at 08:09:44 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I'm glad it's copyrighted otherwise everyone would be out to steal their design /s
FoxtrotBeta6 ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 01:27:49 on January 19, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Original flag, do not steal.
EchoTheRat ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 20:32:50 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Looks like a box of cough syrup.
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 00:21:46 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)*
[deleted]
[deleted] ยท 18 points ยท Posted at 17:25:17 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)*
[deleted]
KE0BVT ยท 13 points ยท Posted at 17:31:19 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Seven, if you count the pennants!
theworsttasteinmusic ยท 10 points ยท Posted at 17:34:08 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Yo dawg, there are seven flags in that flag.
queenpurplepotato ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 22:32:31 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
New Hampshire's flag has the American Flag within it.
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 03:59:44 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
yo dawg, we heard you liked flags...
BitchinTechnology ยท 8 points ยท Posted at 19:27:38 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
What a horrible flag. Has anyone seen the TedTalkx about city flags?
BrohanGutenburg ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 19:34:44 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If you liked it is highly suggest checking out Roman Mars' (the presenter) podcast. It really is fantastic and will alter the way you see the built world.
AFlyingToaster ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 23:36:53 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Roman Mars is the one that did the TED Talk on flags. His podcast (99 Percent Invisible) on the same topic is fascinating, as well.
lys_blanc ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 08:08:23 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
The flag of Brown County, Nebraska is even worse.
Insert_Nickname ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 10:39:56 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That has to be one of the laziest flag designs in the history of flag designs...
walrus_gumboot ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 15:18:45 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Holy hell... it looks like it was made in MS Paint. Is that for real?
Derpese_Simplex ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 18:20:00 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Hey they tried. I mean you have already seen that things don't go well when they do their best.
Voyager_Nomadique ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 04:54:57 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I, too, watch TedTalks
wrainedaxx ยท 35 points ยท Posted at 17:30:42 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I chose Nepal as my country for a report in grade 3 because I thought the flag was so unique.
[deleted] ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 22:37:15 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That sounds like something Wayne said to the Swedish girl in Wayne's World 2.
Schmergen!
anything-for-a-buck ยท -22 points ยท Posted at 20:02:46 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Cool story bro
wrainedaxx ยท 26 points ยท Posted at 20:16:23 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Thanks!
aza9999 ยท 37 points ยท Posted at 19:06:57 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Step 1:
Draw a red Christmas tree then zoom in until only two branches on one side are showing.
Step2:
On the top branch draw Lisa Simpsons hair on top of a cowboy hat with the brim turned up at the sides
Step 3:
Draw a star with lots of points on the bottom branch, no one will ever bother counting to check if you did the right amount or not.
EchoTheRat ยท 10 points ยท Posted at 20:34:27 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Be careful, it can bite
The_Sultan_of_Swing ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 07:24:45 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
When you preview this on alien blue it overlays an out of focus copy of itself on a black background. Do you know why that is?
EchoTheRat ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 07:27:15 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
The image is a png with transparent background, seems a bug in Alien Blue
Beru73 ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 19:33:12 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)*
Only
twothree flags are not rectangular : Switzerland and Nepal (and Vatican) I believe. Swiss is originally a square. But we always see it rectangular now. Edit: Added Vatican, if you think it is a countryPahk0 ยท 9 points ยท Posted at 19:47:21 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I've only seen the Swiss flag as a square. ...Which is still a type of rectangle, by the way. Vatican City also has a square flag.
Beru73 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 04:26:21 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Yes Vatican as well! You are right about the swiss flag. All the time it is a square. The rectangle is on the stock photos on the Internet.
SaxifrageRussel ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 23:26:23 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
What's so great about Switzerland? Well, the flag is a big plus!
I'll see myself out.
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:52:49 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
the mountains badum tss
ItoXICI ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 01:55:03 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Squares are rectangles
Beru73 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 04:20:21 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
True but you get the point.
[deleted] ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 07:53:36 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
[deleted]
Beru73 ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 08:12:46 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You said it. It is a city!
[deleted] ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 08:20:01 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
[deleted]
Beru73 ยท -1 points ยท Posted at 08:27:09 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I counted it as a country in my original post. Talking about semantic?
Splarnst ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 16:09:51 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
As it were?
ProfBatman ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 22:40:49 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
At first I thought that the flag was silly and overcomplicated (why not just a rectangle?!). Then I remembered I'm from Ohio.
hmphargh ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 21:16:20 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
It's like a piece of Sol LeWitt Wall Art
GeebusNZ ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 00:01:46 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
And for reasons I don't entirely understand, New Zealand, having an opportunity to change our flag, are going for something about as complicated and difficult to replicate.
_Bad_Apple ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 06:45:22 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
And looks almost exactly the same as the aussie/one or two other ones
utkun ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 01:56:37 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
There's a 12-article law called Turkish Flag Law (Law 2893 [1]) regulating what can be done and what cannot be done with a Turkish Flag and also there's the highly-detailed 41-article bylaws (Turkish Flag Bylaws [2]) that regulate usage, production and respectful destruction of the Flag.
[1] Turkish Flag Law - Law 2893 on WikisourceTR
[2] Turkish Flag Bylaws on WikisourceTR
However the flag itself seems fairly easy in terms of SVG, not sure if it's a proper representation of how complicated a flag is though.
Seyss ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 17:36:47 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
doesn't look complicated
goodeyedears ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 17:46:59 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
its cool cause theres no measurements, all ratio if memory serves...
eduardog3000 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 19:15:21 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If it was measurements, you could still turn them into ratios.
zero_space ยท 5 points ยท Posted at 20:31:34 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If a child can't draw your flag from memory, you've made a subpar flag
Here is a great TED Talk on flags and what makes a good flag good and a bad flag bad.
https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en
[deleted] ยท 3 points ยท Posted at 00:50:40 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Ehh, the flags of the UK and South Korea are really nice looking, but I wouldn't be able to reproduce them because they're not symmetrical.
Madbrad200 ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 07:54:32 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Pretty certain we got taught how to do the UK flag.
Anywho, being aesthetically pleasing does not make it a good flag.
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:11:10 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
What does symmetry have to do with reproducibilty?
You can't draw China's flag?
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 16:40:09 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I could easily make one that looks roughly South Korea's flag, and you would probably understand that's what I intend, but I couldn't tell you which corner of SK's flag has which lines
Splarnst ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 17:52:35 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If you were South Korean, you probably would know, just like US kids know how many stripes are on the US flag even though kids from, say, Russia might not.
NoxDominus ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 20:55:02 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
This looks more like a flag of some obscure one-episode race in star trek tng.
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 06:26:45 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Darmok.
L0G96 ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 19:06:02 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Remember kids, the top triangle is smaller than the bottom one.
TotesMessenger ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 20:51:42 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:
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TooMuchToProcess ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 21:06:31 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I'd like to see a country make a new flag and go all out with a hologram, watermark and complex geometric patterns.
ElagabalusRex ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 23:18:14 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
It's not "complicated". The instructions are there so that it can be perfectly reproduced without ambiguity.
FatQuack ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 23:37:27 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
"You shall make two triangles. The number of triangles you shall make is two..."
vote4boat ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:30:09 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
There seems to be some sort of tradition around describing crests
Imperium_Dragon ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 03:35:06 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That's easy.
Try to draw all 50 stars on the flag as a 10 year old.
khaphon ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 09:00:48 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
http://imgur.com/1xbGKgp
How to draw a flag of Japan is just one step
It's all of this
circlingldn ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 10:44:29 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Easier than the Saudi flag?
i dont think so
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 18:00:54 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
its also the only flag that can be made if there was no other source, because its the only flag which is explained in the constitution
BitchinTechnology ยท 7 points ยท Posted at 19:28:37 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That doesn't even make sense. All countries have a official way of making their flag
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 01:28:24 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I was just pointing out what some other guy posted on TIL a few months ago
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 01:52:29 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
but not in its constitution
here you go
BitchinTechnology ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:31:26 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
That doesn't mean there is no source... Like the ways to properly salute aren't in the Constitution either
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:41:41 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Did you read?? I wrote if there was no other source
BitchinTechnology ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:42:29 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I don't understand what you wrote though.. Why does it matter if its in the Constitution or not?
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:48:18 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
because its says how ? and its mathematical
BitchinTechnology ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 03:56:25 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Yeah but why does a source have to be in the constitution?
du3rks ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 19:02:47 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
I was not complaining I was just pointing out, and in addition I personally find this quite amazing, and to answer your question, don't ask me, because I don't know
geniice ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 20:17:19 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
You'd be surprised. Super formal rules are fairly recent and the UK doesn't have them.
Hoobleton ยท 4 points ยท Posted at 20:48:27 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
There is a spec for the Union Jack at page 16 in this document. I don't know if that counts as "super formal", but it is the Parliament approved flag design.
BitchinTechnology ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 20:42:39 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
How do they make new flags then?
[deleted] ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 19:21:44 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
If it's so complicated to explain, why not just put in a picture / diagram of the flag instead? Label the lengths and angles. Done.
LightningEvans ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 20:27:42 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Doesn't look very complicated
Nihev ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 20:27:57 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
But I can see that it's not complicated at all. Nice clickbait title
malvoliosf ยท -2 points ยท Posted at 16:31:06 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Thanks, Sheldon.
BlindSins ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 21:13:36 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Being a Nepalese, I didn't know that. It's not that complicated, our teachers wanted us to draw our country flag and maps in our test when we were kids, fun times.
MrSkeltal_NeedsDoots ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 02:09:54 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Wow so this failed to reach the front page a few days ago, so you repost over and over it till goes to the front page...
ThinkInAbstract ยท -1 points ยท Posted at 19:17:57 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
The flag is complicated and that's why it has its constructions in the Constitution?
[deleted] ยท -1 points ยท Posted at 21:20:16 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Step 1: "On the lower portion of a crimson cloth draw a line AB of the required length from left to right." - Fails to list said required length, which assume must be exactly 8,848 meters.
TeamSpen210 ยท 2 points ยท Posted at 21:23:09 on January 17, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
It's based on ratios, so you can make the flag any size you want.
Rellikx ยท 1 points ยท Posted at 02:08:20 on January 18, 2016 ยท (Permalink)
Because all flags are the same size, right?