When I was younger, I would sit with my notebook, crayons, and colored ink pens and quietly sketch out futuristic and fictional conflicts between nations.
In the top of the margins of notebook paper I would draw the different random flags of countries that would have no realistic ties or relations with one another and put them to war.
Below, I would doodle the aftermath of blood soaked battle grounds, booming guns and dead soldiers.
And no matter which two nations were selected to wage war, there really was no indication of a winner. Just that these two had gone to war and it was bloody.
European nations versus a random country from South or Central America and so forth.
I recall having a problem with drawing the flags of certain countries. Most notoriously, when I selected the African country of Chad to battle against the European nation of Romania.
They both had the same flag!!! Vertical stripes of red, yellow, and blue.
Still today, there are several countries in the world that have similar flags, if not identical. Such as Chad and Romania.
Moldova and Andorra both are very similar to Chad and Romania. Monaco and Indonesia have very similar flags to represent their nations. But to be honest, the flag of Chad has a much darker vertical stripe of blue than Romania if you looked long enough to study it.
And even Haiti and Liechtenstein had identical flags which had posed for a bit of confusion and difficulty as each nation was being represented in the 1936 Olympic Games. But those two flags were separated by adding an additional image to their flags.
Even New Zealand and Australia are similar, but not exact. A lot of African nations are similar but not exact. The same goes for nations where Islam is the national religion. Plenty of flags that look similar to one another in that region of the world.
And other flags are similar to the flag of the United States of America. With their red and white stripes and fields of blue.
Its all too fascinating for this young boy’s mind to behold because of the quiet little game of world domination that I would play out in my imagination when there was simply nothing else to do at home. And as an adult it still captivates my mind that nations haven’t bowed out and gone for a different and more unique design for their nation’s flag.
If you were to have your own nation, what would your flag look like?
Dambreaker 