# List of Antarctic flags

This list includes flags that either have been in use or are currently used in Antarctica. As a condominium with no single governing body, the continent of Antarctica does not have an official flag of its own. However, several designs have been created for the purpose of representing the continent.

## Antarctic flag proposals

| Date | Name | Description |
| 1929 | RRS Discovery crew | Plain white flag |
| 1978 | Whitney Smith's proposal. | An orange field bearing an emblem consisting of a pair of hands holding a segment of a disk representing Earth with the letter "A" representing Antarctica. |
| 1995 | Joanne Cooper and Stefan Tucker's proposal. | An orange field bearing an outline of Antarctica, a compass pointing south at the bottom left, and the outline of a penguin to the right. |
| 1996 | Graham Bartram's proposal. | A white outline of Antarctica on a UN-blue background. |
| 1999 | Dave Hamilton's proposal. | The pale blue strip represents pack ice, the dark blue stripe represents the night sky and the yellow stripe is a representation of the aurora australis. The famous stellar constellation the Southern Cross is shown in the dark blue stripe at the right. |
| 2007/2008 | Olivier Leroi's proposal. | The flag is vertically divided in four stripes — black, off-white, orange, and gray — reproducing the proportions of the colors on the "livery" (feathers) of an emperor penguin, selected as Antarctica's emblematic animal. |
| 2018 | Evan Townsend's proposal (True South flag) | According to the flag's promoters, it signifies: "Horizontal stripes of navy and white represent the long days and nights at Antarctica's extreme latitude. In the center, a lone white peak erupts from a field of snow and ice, echoing those of the bergs, mountains, and pressure ridges that define the Antarctic horizon. The long shadow it casts forms the unmistakable shape of a compass arrow pointed south, an homage to the continent's legacy of exploration. Together, the two center shapes create a diamond, symbolizing the hope that Antarctica will continue to be a center of peace, discovery, and cooperation for generations to come." |

## Flags of international Antarctic organizations

| Flag | Date | Organization | Description |
| | Since 1961, formalized in 2002 | Flag of the Antarctic Treaty System | Logo of the organization in 2:3 proportions. A white outline of Antarctica over a dark blue field with lines representing longitude and latitude counterchanged on top. |
| | 2013 | Flag of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research | Logo of the organization in 2:3 proportions. A white outline of Antarctica on a blue field defaced with the acronym of the organization, surrounded by the text "The International Council for Science" and "Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research" arranged in a circle within a white circular line. |

## Flags of Antarctic territorial claims

| Date | Claim/Territory | Description |
| Since 1999 | Argentine Antarctica, in Tierra del Fuego Province. | The blue symbolizes the sky and sea surrounding the province, while the Southern Cross reflects the night sky and the albatross itself is a local bird that represents freedom through flight. |
| Since 1963 | British Antarctic Territory | A UK white ensign less the cross of St. George defaced with the Coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory. |
| Since 1963 | British Antarctic Territory | A UK blue ensign defaced with the Coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory. |
| Since 1997 | Chilean Antarctic Territory, in Magallanes Region. | The blue color represents the night sky, while the golden peaks symbolize the steppe region, white indicates the snow that often falls in winter, and the Southern Cross symbolizes the position of the area. |
| Since 2007 | Adélie Land, in French Southern and Antarctic Territories. | The flag consists of a blue field with the French flag with white fimbriation on the canton. The charge consists of 5 stars (for the five regions of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories) and the letters "TAAF" (from the French name of the territory, Terres australes et antarctiques françaises) forming a monogram in the shape of anchor. |

### Territorial flag proposals

| Flag | Date | Claim/Territory | Description |
| | 1995 | Ross Dependency | The New Zealand flag is the basis for his design, though with an 'Ice Blue' background representing the Ross Sea, and the white horizontal bar at the bottom of the flag representing the Ross Ice Shelf. |

## Antarctic expedition flags

| Date | Expedition | Description |
| 1902–1904 | Scottish National Antarctic Expedition | Scottish saltire with the letters "S-N-A-E" as an acronym for "Scottish National Antarctic Expedition". |
| 1910–1912 | Imperial Japanese Antarctic Expedition | |
| 1933–1939 | Byrd's Second Antarctic Expedition | |
| 1946–1948 | Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition | |
| 1947–present | French Antarctic Expedition, also used in the Arctic. | |
| 1979–1982 | "Transglobe" Expedition | UK flag defaced with a globe and an arrow circumnavigate it from North to South. |

### Sledge flags

To make it easier to recognize the participants of the expedition, flags were placed on the sleighs. British expeditions used distinctly complex, embroidered designs for this purpose.

#### Southern Cross Expedition

* William Colbeck

#### Discovery Expedition

* Robert Falcon Scott ("Ready Aye Ready")
* Albert Borlase Armitage ("Semper Paratus")
* Michael Barne ("Nec temere, nec timide")
* Louis Charles Bernacchi ("Rapua, Rapua Ka Kitea")
* William Colbeck
* Hartley Travers Ferrar ("Ferre Va Ferme")
* Thomas Vere Hodgson ("Dread God")
* Reginald Koettlitz ("Nil Sine Labore")
* Charles Royds ("Semper Paratus")
* Ernest Henry Shackleton ("Fortitudine Vincimus")
* Reginald William Skelton ("Esse Quam Videri")
* Edward Adrian Wilson ("Res Non Verba")

#### Nimrod Expedition

* Ernest Henry Shackleton ("Fortitudine Vincimus")
* Eric Marshall

#### Terra Nova Expedition

* Robert F. Scott ("Ready Aye Ready")
* Henry Robertson Bowers ("Esse Quam Videri")
* Apsley Cherry-Garrard ("Cheris L'espoir.")
* Frank Debenham ("Sidere Mens Eadem Mutato")
* Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans ("Perseverando")
* Tryggve Gran ("Norønafolket Det Vil Fare")
* Patrick Keohane ("Erin go braugh")
* George Clarke Simpson ("Arduus Ad Solem")
* Thomas Griffith Taylor ("Expergiscimini")
* Charles Seymour Wright ("Labor Ipse Voluptas")
* Flag of Wales taken to Antarctica
* Flag of New Zealand taken to Antarctica
* Flag of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge taken to Antarctica

#### British Graham Land Expedition

* Brian Birley Roberts

## Antarctic base flags

| Base | Country | Description |
| Amundsen–Scott South Pole | United States | White variant of the flag of the USAP: plain white field charged with the logo of the United States Antarctic Program. |
| Palmer Station | United States | Blue variant of the flag of the USAP: plain blue field charged with the logo of the United States Antarctic Program. |
| Captain Arturo Prat | Chile | Plain white field charged with the coat of arms of the base. |
| Gabriel de Castilla | Spain | The flag of Spain with the emblem of the base in the center. |

## Other flags

| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
| | 1910–1912 | Name pennant of the Fram during Roald Amundsen's Antarctic expedition. When Amundsen and four of his men conquered the South Pole in December 1911, they erected a tent from which this flag was hoisted underneath the Norwegian flag itself. | A white pennant surrounded by a blue border along the top and bottom and defaced with the name "FRAM." in blue letters. |
| Link to file | 1949 | Pennant of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions | |
| | 1979 | 50th Anniversary Commemorative Flag of Byrd's historic flight over the South Pole. | |
| | 2000 | Burgee of the Ross Island Yacht Club Antarctica (RIYCA) | White represents the ice and purity. Blue represents the sky and valor. The silhouette depicts Shakleton's efforts on the waters around Ross Island. The Antarctic Skua, inspires freedom found in the south and a free meal wherever it may be found. The bloodshot red bowsprit reflects the directional desires on earth and on the wheel of life. |
| | Since 2004 | Antarctic Vexillological Association | Blue represents the 24-hour day of the summer season, black represents the 24-hour night of the winter season, and white represents the ice and snow of the Antarctic continent. The Diamond in the middle if divided across the equator represents the "A" of Antarctica and "V" of Vexillology. The Diamond also represents the 4 compass points representing the compass points leading away from the geographic South Pole. |
| | 2020 | 200th Anniversary Commemorative Flag of Russia in Antarctica | |
| | | Antarctic flag used by Quark Expeditions | |