Why Do Countries Flags Have Different Aspect Ratios?

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▶ In this video I talk about the different flag ratios that countries use. How they differ / coincide, and why.
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[@General.Knowledge]

What's your favorite / least favorite flag?

[@geckoed132]

🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda is so cool and Maryland flag is just a flat no.

[@canwegetashoutouttoworking2002]

I don't like Zambia's flag because it's just a green sheet with an eagle and another flag. 🇿🇲

[@koyonafri]

@@geckoed132 I love the Maryland flag, I don't understand the hate

[@mapoosianmakrak1487]

@@koyonafri me too

[@crimsonfox8496]

Albania is probably my favorite, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, and many other Caribbean nations have some really good flags

[@staffan-]

And of course Chad and Romania have the same flag ratio. Because why not.

[@raul88.88]

Chad once sued Romania for having the same flag...but at the process it was revealed that Romania's flag is older than Chad's entire existence as a coutry :)))

[@ken3243]

@@raul88.88 😭

[@archstanton6102]

And Andorra? Slightly different but similar

[@ken3243]

@@archstanton6102 & moldova!!!

[@Liggliluff]

@@raul88.88 But Chad adopted the design when Romania wasn't using it

[@lalitthapa101]

"FLAGS" Every Nepali: *"Our time has come"*

[@itz_a_boy1435]

Yes

[@EatMyShortsAU]

My favourite flag(besides the countries I am from). Looking at the Nepali flag on top of a building with the Himalayan mountains in the background would look as hell.

[@seesaw41]

France's Naval Flag is interesting in that the flag itself is 2:3, yet the colors are not equal. The ratio of the colors is 30:33:37. This is to increase the effect of the flag waving in the wind.

[@EatMyShortsAU]

It should make surrendering a lot quicker too.

[@commie_remover]

I was clicking on the time stamp wondering if I got trolled, then I realized that I'm indeed an idiot.

[@pieredepleintdedordogne8013]

i was today years old when I learned that

[@nemotamang58]

Nepal be like* "You guys wanna know my flag's aspect ratio? Solve this equation first if you are worthy ....."

[@louisinese]

😎😂True tho.

[@firstnext5482]

"Alright listen: we need the ratio of every countries flags so we can make y'all a flag for our event. We're gonna pass around this piece of paper and just write it down." -later- "Hey Nepal, come here a moment... what the fuck is this?"

[@sralmendrita]

I am argentinian, my grandpa was from sweden, my grandma was pole. We all have 5:8 ratio, coincidence? Yes, i think it is.

[@timesterg]

your grandpa must have been cool (or is)

[@m3talh3ad18]

Togo's flag ratio 1:phi is really fascinating!

[@JeremyWS]

I didn't know this. I like learning new things. Keep up the good work.

[@ketterland4308]

I like the Oklahoma shaped flages at 4:37

[@CameronBoyes]

Fun fact about the flag of British Columbia: it's based on the coat of arms of BC, the original version of which had the setting sun on top of the Union Jack. Which was a problem, because it showed the sun setting on the British Empire. The legislature building in Victoria has a stained glass window with this older coat of arms.

[@raresflorea6855]

I think BCs flag gets overhated but maybe that’s a hot take

[@2712animefreak]

@@raresflorea6855 Turning your coat of arms into a flag works very well when the coat of arms is very simple, like with the Swiss cantons, for example. With the more complicated coats of arms of the various British colonial possessions, the flag just becomes too crowded.

[@albusnightspring8057]

@@2712animefreak dumb modern dogmas. Elaborate coat of arms look way better and are more representative of the country than shitty coloured lines

[@pangalanucraft8633]

As always, great content for the community. 😎

[@QuicklyXplained]

Oddly interesting topic. Great video!

[@danaitch4095]

Very cool video. Informative.

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Nepal, Switzerland, and Vatican City are currently the 3 countries with a non-rectangular national flag. The official flag of Nepal is the only non-quadrilateral flag in the world. The flag of Switzerland is square-shaped while the Vatican city flag is a two square-shaped design.

[@canwegetashoutouttoworking2002]

You're wrong. The Vatican flag is not a square.

[@drouzicz]

🇨🇭🇻🇦🇳🇵

[@lalitthapa101]

My biggest flex😂🇳🇵

[@user-wp4oh3zn5e]

@@canwegetashoutouttoworking2002 i live not far from the Vatican so i can See its flag waving commonly around. It's not a Square. You're right.🇻🇦

[@nipseyhusselman137]

Only Nepal, squares are rectangles

[@mariajoaoferrazdeabreu150]

Very interesting video. Congrats!

[@timesterg]

Some people in sweden actually use a different flag which is a rotated triangle with blue on top and yellow down, which also is a type of the one today.

[@sjorsvanrenswoude7239]

I've heard somewhere that the Dutch flag doesn't have a set ratio so you could technically make a flag of 1:20 or something as stupid as that but I'm not sure.

[@ATIMELINEOFAVIATION]

Yes, but most people just use 2:3 as default

[@sjorsvanrenswoude7239]

@@ATIMELINEOFAVIATION ah yes that seems logical

[@risannd]

Indonesia use 2:3, so does the Dutch.

[@siwaj_brhmraj1]

Government use 2:3

[@slyasleep]

Wait, does this mean that the Union Jack gets more horizontally elongated with each passing century?

[@delfinenteddyson9865]

wide UK

[@cosminivan9927]

very interesting video

[@MalaysianBallProductions]

The effort and research put into this is insane

[@realbrickbread]

7:10 1 by 19? Damn that's a long flag

[@whitestar20]

Wow this took a lot of research well done

[@themobiusfunction]

7:10 "one by nineteen" now THAT's a L O N G flag

[@UrlocalChinesekid]

8:41 7:11!!! that's the greatest flag ratio ever

[@Franciscoluche]

Muito obrigado compadre !!! 🤗❤️🇵🇹

[@boosbeest1146]

Now I know what was keeping me up at night. What a relief.

[@multiverse1sreal774]

Interesting I love flags and hadn’t considered how much this mattered to visual effect

[@josueveguilla9069]

That is an excellent question.

[@faustocastelhano7254]

E eu que pensei que não me conseguias surpreender.. e conseguiste.. Força!!

[@allan.n.7227]

7:53 Thanks for showing Dannebrog (the most beautiful flag in the world) which we succesfully stole from the Estonians.. Having drawn this flags probably hundreds of times I always wondered why it was so difficult to get the aspect ratio right... now I know.. thanks for solving this.. The swedish flag 5:8 ratio looks better.. BUT only the aspect ratio :p

[@OriginalVD]

Awesome bro I do your videos a lot keep on doing this Hope you would be more successful in you life.. Love from India

[@user-pv9bm3pj9i]

'I do your videos a lot" ???? Maybe you need to edit your comment.

[@AquosFrost]

Wow "Fun with Flags' has come a long way!

[@Nat_Anastasiya]

The beginning has the same energy as Artifexian: "flags, everyone have one, most are terrible"

[@rudymummey5432]

And I think the reason that most flags are square or rectangular is that those are the sizes flag companies find easiest to make. In fact, most flag companies make 3x5s for standard use, and 4x6s and 5x8s for maritime or merchant use.

[@dcassus]

Uau! Que pesquisa excelente!

[@willingshelf]

Alternate title: Fun with Flags: Aspect Ratios

[@nangephriam1211]

General Knowledge will you do currency. Which are the oldest, most beautiful design....etc.

[@Empire.]

4:34 good so all flags can look at least a bit different instead of being a box

[@radio_marco]

The only thing I can't stand, is if the swissflag is drawn as an rectangle. Just like on my phone: [SAMSUNG] 🇨🇭 Because, the swissflag is symmetrical on all sides, so it doesn't matter in which way you put the swiss flag. That doesn't work on rectangular flags. Also funfact: the naval flag is actually an rectangle.

[@themobiusfunction]

The cross isn't technically 90° rotation-symmetric

[@MirkoC407]

There is no law that a ship must be able to reach its port of registation. Therefore, according to Wikipedia there were in 2020 still a total of 19 seagoing ships registered with 4 operators in Switzerland's only port of registation for seagoing vessels in Basel and sailing under Swiss flag. The number was drastically declining though, in 2016 still counting 49 vessels.

[@allangibson2408]

Ships of significant size can actually reach Switzerland. Switzerland has river and canal access to both the Black Sea and Atlantic… The locks on the Rhein-Main-Danube Canal have a maximum size of 190m length.

[@EatMyShortsAU]

Thanks Mirko Crocop, I didn't think you would be commentating on youtube videos now that you had retired from MMA and kickboxing.

[@MirkoC407]

@@EatMyShortsAU ???

[@EatMyShortsAU]

@@MirkoC407 Hahahaha You dont know who that is?

[@MirkoC407]

@@EatMyShortsAU No. But Google finally did.

[@Letheadventurebegin]

Can you do a video about the history of the transportation system?

[@grosdoorne]

2:04 if i remember correctly old montenegrin flag had 1:3 ratio

[@DJPJ.]

8:27 Did you realy forgett about Faroe Islands' flag at same ratio as Norway's.

[@iampetz]

"FLAGS. Every country has one.." shows flag of British Columbia??

[@billpg]

I wonder what international events do when flying many flags next to each other and they don't want to show favourites. Do they go equal height, equal width or equal area?

[@yoymate6316]

equal height afaik

[@thanhattran4215]

Fun fact: 3/2 was the day of formation of the Communist party of Vietnam and the Vietnam flag ratio was 2:3 too.

[@flemix6168]

OMG IM FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA TY TO ADD MY COUNTRY IN VIDEO

[@TheRavenir]

Actually, Swiss ships do use a flag with a 2:3 ratio, rather than the more standard 1:1 one.

[@johnyarbrough502]

Illustration at 5:28 - those don't look like 1 x 2.

[@geokou7645]

0:27 my man recognizing transnistria and taiwan and abhkazia

[@WhyteLis21]

Still waiting for a 3D or 4D country flags. Lol.

[@Hieutheriault]

sqaure is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

Would be interesting to display aspects on a line, but not at exact points you plot the numbers of flags at any given point, including +/- some number

[@gerardbryant4840]

Interesting, l knew most flags were rectangular. But l didn't know there were different ratios.

[@jurbagarga1410]

I didnt know Finland had a unique flag ratio, I thought it was the same as Sweden, but yeah my favorite flag is the finnish flag with the coat of arms (lion)

[@theyeti6258]

I like the black-and-white checkered one

[@jurbagarga1410]

@@theyeti6258 what?

[@delfinenteddyson9865]

I am really surprised that each Nordic flag has its own ratio

[@delfinenteddyson9865]

@@theyeti6258 lmao

[@augustomoreira7441]

0:13 _"but he had forgotten one thing.... ALL SQUARES ARE RECTANGLES, EVEN THOUGH NOT ALL RECTANGLES ARE SQUARES!!!!!!!!!!!!"_

[@Hortifox_the_gardener]

I feel like 2:3 is the most pleasing to see. Comes closest to the golden ratio too.

[@ykalon]

Video idea. Cross flags and variations of them.

[@crazydinosaur8945]

9:28 i have been tasked to give my classmates a math puzzle tomorrow. i'm so glad i found this. wish them good look Muhahaha

[@h2squared]

7:56 it's actually scotlands flag but they are independent yet

[@aleksandro1]

Respect to all people watching this underrated channel. This guy literally draws everything meanwhile everyone else copies others and so on. Also his voice is kinda relaxing. Let me know if you agree.

[@vincenttt8289]

I think he uses an program for the animations. It would be too painstaking ang inefficient to constantly draw every single item for every single frame.

[@aleksandro1]

@@vincenttt8289 It's still better than others. It attracts you more to it.

[@AnarchoPryde]

Togo's aspect ratio is the very best. ❤️

[@habibaahmed7243]

New video cool

[@stevejohnson3357]

In terms of visual interest, there are many poorer flags than the provincial flag of BC but it was still a thrill to see it.

[@TheRagingPlatypus]

I think the more salient question is why would you expect different countries from different places of different ages to have the same aspect ratio.

[@Ranorev]

Austria and Czechia have also 3×5 sometimes

[@augustomoreira7441]

when you show someone a cool flag you drew and they putt out a ruler:

[@thulex]

Finland's war flag is 11:19

[@DaSpecialZak]

a square is where all sides are the same length a rectangle is where 2 sides are longer than the other 2 sides

[@marceldasovic9984]

I just love that sond of portugese

[@jefuryo]

Switzerland has a Navy.

[@shk439]

Sheldon Cooper liked this video

[@aSuperPi.]

Togo's flag aspect ratio is actually my favorite something about it is just better

[@jimc4731]

Ah yes, I agree! JIM

[@ericcartman1616]

Salute from a togolease🇹🇬

[@rossapolis]

9:34 I'm a native English speaker, and I know English isn't your first language, but I had to back up the video to listen to how you said a certain word. The word in question is Variant. It's pronounced as Very-ent. You pronounced it Ver-I-ent. I've never heard it pronounced the way you did. Great video, otherwise.

[@flacson6021]

he said it correctly in 10:46

[@aspect.actual]

My name is in the Thumbnail😭😂

[@hafizhwk5092]

The Nepali flag ratio will give me nightmare tonight

[@crazydinosaur8945]

i have been tasked to give my classmates a math puzzle tomorrow. i'm so glad i found this. wish them good look

[@UTTMRAGER]

i am from nepal i know why our flag is that because when you look from down you will see two mountains

[@OfficeSupplyRobot]

I never knew the United States flag didn’t have an official aspect ratio. Shows what I know about my own country’s vexillology.

[@howardbaxter2514]

To top it off, for a brief period of time the flag used to have 15 stripes. Thank God they realized how convoluted adding more stripes would get very quickly.

[@TheStickCollector]

Interesting

[@anonymouschicken20]

A square is not a rectangle, but both squares and rectangles are quadrilaterals, so yes, technically Switzerland and Vatican City have different shapes for flags.

[@DeletedUser410]

Squares are rectangles. A rectangle is defined as any quadrilateral with 4 right angles. A square is any quadrilateral with 4 right angles and 4 identical side lengths. All squares are by definition a rectangle.

[@joandchrismarchant1080]

I vaguely remember learning that the proportions of blue, white and red are not equal on the French flag. I think the red part is supposed to be wider than the other two

[@oleksiiammo7832]

6:00 what did I just hear

[@fonzworthbentley7455]

I noticed that some textbooks and websites actually used accurate ratios, but when I was young I thought they were mistakes

[@Cenn_Devel]

What does irrational mean?

[@nuclearurpi1571]

Numbers like π or e.

[@khalil-si]

The Swiss and the Vatican Flags are no exception being rectangular, as squares are rectangles too. Edit: I am sorry, you went ahead and clarified that as well...

[@KAI_Railboi]

Why is Togo using a mathematical ratio 1:phi (I couldn't get the aymbol)

[@hugehandelfan]

Little known fact about the French flag is that 2:3 provides their soldiers the most convenient shape for holding over head when they cut the middle out.

[@johnrivera-cortes8067]

Puerto rico and cuba being inverted versions but with different aspect ratios

[@Hendricus56]

My mind surely loves to mishear things and connect them to history. What did I hear instead of "Flags" in the beginning? Flaks...

[@axelprino]

This might be a pretty good reason why using flag circles became popular, if you misrepresent every single flag there's less of a chance of someone getting offended.

[@yiniu7265]

0:04 I don't understand why you call British Columbia a country.

[@crimsonfox8496]

He was talking about flags in general not just country flags

[@Liggliluff]

@@crimsonfox8496 But he specified countries

[@crimsonfox8496]

@@Liggliluff True, but he mentioned in someone else's comment that he had poor choice of words and meant that every place has flags

[@marcinglis3458]

189:335 El Salvador 🇸🇻 ! But that’s the Mexican Flag 🇲🇽 Besides that small error; keep up the good work. I enjoy the show!

[@brahminmeat]

hey man why the driveby at bc

[@phy14]

YAYAAYAYAYAY! This logo is the golden ratio

[@jennifermorrey7378]

wait the pitcure of the size showed that iran was also irrational

[@mishapurser4439]

A friendly note that ensign is pronounced like something between "en-sin" and "en-sǝn"

[@Markus_Abrach]

I am from the square flaged country 🇨🇭 :-)

[@ziarenkoti7849]

Togo uses spin?!?!?!?! :000000000