Flags of Europe

Table columns:
Flag
Date
Use
Description

Table rows:
cells: 1912–
Flag of Albania
The flag of Albania, adopted in April 1912, is a red flag with a black two-headed eagle in the centre. It is derived from the seal of Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg, a 15th-century Albanian who led the revolt against the Ottoman Empire that resulted in brief independence for Albania from 1443 to 1478.
cells: 1866–
Flag of Andorra
The flag of Andorra, adopted in 1866, is a tricolour of blue, yellow, and red with the coat of arms of Andorra in the centre. It is based on the flags of France and Spain. The coat of arms of Andorra is based on the Catalan flag (4-red-coloured ribbons with yellow background).
cells: 1918–1920 1991–
Flag of Armenia[a]
After gaining independence, the First Republic of Armenia adopted the modern Armenian tricolor. The independent Armenian government selected the colours used during the last period of Rubenid Dynasty, red, blue and yellow. The Red emblematizes the Armenian Highland, the Armenian people's continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Christian faith, Armenia's independence and freedom. The Blue emblematizes the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The Orange emblematizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia.
cells: 1918 – 1938 1945 –
Flag of Austria
Originally adopted in 1918, was officially adopted (again) in 1945, after being banned during World War II. Stripes of red and white have been a collective emblem of Austria for over 800 years, and their first usage on the flag occurred in 1191. According to long established legend, the red and white flag was designed to resemble the bloodstained white coat worn by the Duke of Austria during a fierce battle.
cells: 1918 – 1920 1991 –
Flag of Azerbaijan[a]
Originally adopted in 1918 as a flag of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, was officially adopted again in 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its independence. The flag of Azerbaijan is the national ensign of Azerbaijan. It consists of three equal horizontal bands colored blue, red, and green, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star are centered in the red band. The blue band refers to Turkic heritage, the red is for progress and Europeanisation and the green refers to Islam.
cells: 1995–
Flag of Belarus
Belarus' flag was officially adopted on May 16, 1995. The dominant red and green were colours used on its flag when it was a republic of the former Soviet Union. The woven fabric ornament on the left uses traditional Belarusian red and white colours.
cells: 1831–
Flag of Belgium
The flag was officially adopted on January 23, 1831. Black, gold and red are symbolic of the country's coat of arms. The three striped vertical layout was inspired by the French Tricolour. Black and gold were chosen, being the colours of the Duchy of Brabant where the Belgian Revolution started. Red was added as a symbol of the blood spilled during the uprising.
cells: 1998 –
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow isosceles triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag. The remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle. The three points of the triangle stand for the three nations of Bosnia: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. It is said to represent the map of Bosnia.
cells: 1878 – 1946 1991 –
Flag of Bulgaria
The flag of Bulgaria was adopted in 1989 and consists of three horizontal bands of white, green and red.
cells: 1990 –
Flag of Croatia
The flag of Croatia, adopted in December 1990, consists of three equal horizontal stripes of red, white and blue, which has been the Croatian flag since 1848. In the middle is the Coat of arms of Croatia.
cells: 1960 –
Flag of Cyprus[b]
The flag was officially adopted on August 16, 1960. The island is depicted in a copper shade representative of its name; the name Cyprus has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) from the large deposits of copper found on the island. The crossed green olive branches symbolise the hope for peace between the Turks and the Greeks. It was designed by İsmet Güney, a Turkish Cypriot painter.
cells: 1920 – 1939 1945 –
Flag of the Czech Republic
The first flag of Czechoslovakia was white over red, and those colours are the heraldic colours of Bohemia. The blue triangle was added to the flag in an effort to distinguish it from the flag of Poland, and blue is said to represent the State of Moravia.
cells: 1219 –
Flag of Denmark
It is the world's oldest state flag still in use. Legend has it that it appeared as a sign from heaven to King Valdemar II in 1219. Known as the Dannebrog ("Danish Cloth"), this blood-red flag with an off-centred white cross (a "Scandinavian Cross") became a model for other regional flags.
cells: 1918 – 1940 1990 –
Flag of Estonia
It was officially re-adopted on May 8, 1990. Blue represents loyalty, and the country's beautiful blue skies, seas and lakes; black is symbolic of past oppression and the fertile soil; and white represents virtue, winter snows, and Estonia's long struggle for freedom and independence.
cells: 1918 –
Flag of Finland
It was officially adopted on May 29, 1918. The off-centred blue cross is based on the Scandinavian Cross, widely used on Scandinavian national flags. The blue colour is symbolic of blue skies, and the thousands of lakes in Finland. The white represents the winter snows.
cells: 1794 – 1814 1830 –
Flag of France
It was officially adopted on February 15, 1794. The tricolore consists of three vertical bands of equal width, displaying the country's national colours: blue, white, and red. The blue band is positioned nearest the flag-staff, the white in the middle, and the red on the outside. Red, white and blue have come to represent liberty, equality and fraternity—the ideals of the French Revolution. Blue and red are also the time-honoured colours of Paris, while white is the colour of the Royal House of Bourbon.
cells: 2004 –
Flag of Georgia[a]
This recently adopted flag is a simple white rectangle, with a central red cross connecting all four sides of the flag; in each of the four corners is a small red cross. The flag is based on a historic five-cross design that dates back to the 14th century.
cells: 1919 – 1933 1949 –
Flag of Germany
It was officially re-adopted on May 23, 1949 and subsequently used by West Germany while the country was divided into East and West before reunification in 1990. The tricolour flag was designed in 1832, and the black, red, and gold colours were taken from the uniforms of German soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars (Out of the blackness (black) of servitude through bloody (red) battles to the golden (gold) light of freedom.[3]) or taken from the coat of arms of Holy Roman Empire.
cells: 1821 –
Flag of Greece
The flag of Greece was officially adopted in 1822. Features a white cross and a combination of nine, five blue (sky & sea) and four white (sea foam & clouds), horizontal stripes. The shade of blue has varied over the years, and darker blue (shown) is now commonly used. The cross is symbolic of the vision of Constantine i.e. a white cross in a blue sky. The alternating white and blue stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος" ("Freedom or Death"), a popular motto of the struggle for independence of the Greek people.
cells: 1957 –
Flag of Hungary
The flag of Hungary was officially adopted in 1848. The tricolour design is modelled after that of the flag of France. The colors are derived from the historical Hungarian coat of arms. Red is said to symbolise strength, white faithfulness, and green hope.
cells: 1915 –
Flag of Iceland
The flag of Iceland was adopted in June 1915 to represent Iceland. In June 1944 it was instated as the flag of the independent republic of Iceland. Like other Scandinavian flags, it is based on the Scandinavian Cross. It is a reverse colour image of the Flag of Norway. The blue represents the sea, the white represents the snow and glaciers and the red symbolises volcanic lava.
cells: 1922 –
Flag of Ireland
Although dating from the 19th century, the tricolour flag of Ireland was not popularised until its use by rebels during the 1916 Easter Rising. It was officially adopted by the revolutionary First Dáil (assembly) of the Irish Republic on January 21, 1919 and used thereafter by the Irish Free State. The current 1937 Constitution of Ireland defines it as the national flag. Modeled after the French tricolour, the colours of the Irish tricolour symbolises two communities. Green represents the Roman Catholic nationalist tradition. Orange represents the Protestant unionist community. White symbolises peace between both.
cells: 1948 –
Flag of Italy
Derived from an original design by Napoleon, it consists of three vertical bands of equal width, displaying the national colours of Italy: green, white, and red. Green was said to be Napoleon's favourite colour.
cells: 1992 –
Flag of Kazakhstan[d]
cells: 1937 –
Flag of Liechtenstein
The flag of Liechtenstein consists of two horizontal bands of blue and red with a gold crown in the canton.
cells: 1918 – 1940 1990 –
Flag of Latvia
The flag of Latvia was officially re-adopted on February 27, 1990. The design is adopted from a 13th-century chronicle where "red divided by white" is said to be a Latvian flag. To differ from Austrian flag, the proportion 2:1:2 and "Latvian red" color has been adopted.
cells: 1918 – 1940 1989 –
Flag of Lithuania
The flag of Lithuania was officially re-adopted on March 20, 1989, before Lithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. Yellow is symbolic of the country's wheat fields, green symbolic of the forests, and red symbolises patriotism. Collectively the colours represent hope for the future, freedom from oppression, and the courage of the Lithuanian people.
cells: 1845 –
Flag of Luxembourg
The flag of Luxembourg was officially adopted in 1972, although used since 1848 following Luxembourg's independence from the Netherlands in the late 19th century. The flag uses a combination of red, white, and blue that date to the 13th century, and the Grand Duke's coat of arms.
cells: 1995 –
Flag of Macedonia
The flag of the Republic of Macedonia depicts a rising yellow sun with eight rays extending to the edges of the red field. It represents "the new sun of liberty", evoked in the Macedonian national anthem Denes nad Makedonija (Today Over Macedonia).
cells: 1964 –
Flag of Malta
The flag of Malta was officially adopted on September 21, 1964. The flag uses the traditional red and white colours which pre-date those of the Knights of Malta and which Government emulate the arms of the former Universitas of Mdina. The George Cross (upper left), outlined in red, was added to the flag in the 1940s, as King George VI of the United Kingdom presented it to islanders for outstanding gallantry during World War II.
cells: 1990 –
Flag of Moldova
Moldova's flag was officially adopted on May 12, 1990. Once part of Romania, Moldova's flag reflects that association, as the two countries use almost identical shades of red, yellow and blue in their national flags. The centred Moldova shield's main feature is a golden eagle holding an Orthodox Christian Cross in its beak. The olive branch is said to symbolise peace.
cells: 1881 –
Flag of Monaco
The flag of Monaco has two horizontal bands of red and white—these have been the heraldic colours of the House of Grimaldi since at least 1339.
cells: 2004 –
Flag of Montenegro
The flag of Montenegro, adopted in July 2004, is a red banner bearing the coat of arms adopted in 1993. The coat of arms derives from those of King Nikola.
cells: 1937 –
Flag of the Netherlands
The flag of the Netherlands was officially adopted on February 19, 1937. At one time this tricolour flag was orange, white, and blue, as those were the livery colours of William of Orange, a Dutch prince. In the 17th century, red replaced the orange as a flag colour, because the orange dye used on the flag was unstable, and turned red after exposure to the sun. It is the oldest tricolour flag still in national use[4] and has influenced both the French[5] (1794) and Russian flag[6] (1693), both of these flags have in turn influenced many other European and African flags.
cells: 1821 – 1844 1898 –
Flag of Norway
The flag of Norway is red with a blue Scandinavian cross outlined in white; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark. It was adopted in 1821, but a union mark was added in the canton from 1844 to 1898.
cells: 1919 –
Flag of Poland
The flag of Poland was officially adopted on August 1, 1919. The colours red and white have long been associated with Poland and its coat of arms,[7] at least since 3 May 1791.
cells: 1911 –
Flag of Portugal
The flag of Portugal was officially adopted on June 30, 1911. The design is that of a rectangular bi-colour (2:3 ratio) with a field vertically divided into two stripes of different width—a green stripe on the hoist, and a larger red stripe on the fly. The minor version of the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) is entered over the boundary between the colours at equal distance from the upper and lower edges. The field colours, especially the green, originally represented a radical republican-inspired change that broke the bond with the former religious monarchical flag. In the ensuing decades, these colours were popularly propagandised as representing the hope of the nation (green) and the blood (red) of those who died defending it, as a means to endow them with a more patriotic and dignified, therefore less political, sentiment.
cells: 1848, 1867 – 1948 1989 –
Flag of Romania
The flag of Romania was officially re-adopted in 1989. The first red-yellow-blue flag dates from 1834 but the colours themselves are thought to have had special significance from earlier times. The current layout dates since 1848. A vertical tricolour of bands of blue, yellow, and red of equal width and overall proportions of 2:3 (height-width). It could be inspired by the French flag.
cells: 1883 – 1918 1993 –
Flag of Russia
The Russian Federation flag was officially adopted on August 22, 1991. The flag was hoisted shortly after the former Soviet Union collapsed. The white, red and blue are Pan-Slavic colours.
cells: 1862 –
Flag of San Marino
The flag of San Marino comprises equal horizontal bands of white and light blue with the national coat of arms superimposed in the centre.
cells: 2004 –
Flag of Serbia
The flag of Serbia consists of three horizontal bands of red, blue and white, with the coat-of-arms located left of centre. By accident or design the colours are that of the Russian flag reversed. Flag with three horizontal bands of red, blue and white has been used as the national flag of Serbia and Serbs since 1835. Red, blue, and white are considered Pan-Slavic colours, but red and blue also occur on flags attributed to a 13th-century king of Serbia. The entered coat of arms of Serbia is double-headed white eagle and a red shield with a white cross surrounded by 4 firesteels ("ocila"), a symbol that draws roots from Byzantine coat of arms (where cross is surrounded by four Greek letters Beta) and from much deeper past of the Balkan peninsula, as it can be seen on 7000 years old Vinca culture[8] pottery and many other later traditional Balkan cultural remains.[9]
cells: 1992 –
Flag of Slovakia
The flag of Slovakia was officially adopted on September 1, 1992. Red, white, and blue are traditional Pan-Slavic colours. The entered Slovakian arms features a dominant white cross atop a blue symbolic reference to the European country's mountains.
cells: 1991 –
Flag of Slovenia
The flag of Slovenia was officially adopted on June 24, 1991. Red, white, and blue are taken from the Carniolan coat of arms. The flag without the coat of arms was in use from 1848 to 1945. The Slovenian coat of arms features three gold stars, symbolizing the Counts of Celje. The mountains shown in white are representative of the Alps, and Mount Triglav, Slovenia's national symbol, in particular; the wavy blue lines across the bottom indicate Slovenia's access to the sea.
cells: (1785 original design) 1981 –
Flag of Spain
The flag of Spain was officially adopted on 19th July 1927, as merchant naval flag and on 29th December 1978 as the national flag on the current Spanish Constitution. Nevertheless, the first original reference dates back to 15th May 1785 when Charles III of Spain adopted one of the designs proposed by Antonio Valdés y Bazán, commissioned by the king himself, in order to easily differentiate his ships from those of other European nations given the fact that many used the royal coat of arms over a white background, i.e. the French Bourbon royal flag. The red and golden-yellow colours were used after that day with mere changes on the coat of arms (with the exception of the Spanish Second Republic) and are the original colours found within the coat of arms of the medieval kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Navarre, first united by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.
cells: 1569 –
Flag of Sweden
The flag of Sweden was officially adopted on June 22, 1906. The off-centred yellow cross (The Scandinavian Cross) is taken from the Danish flag. The yellow and blue colours are taken from the national coat of arms.
cells: 1889 –
Flag of Switzerland
The flag of Switzerland consists of a red square with a bold, equilateral white Greek cross in the centre. It is one of only two square flags, the other being that of the Vatican City. It is based on the flag of the Canton of Schwyz, which dates back to 1474 at least.
cells: 1844 –
Flag of Turkey[c]
The flag of Turkey is a red flag with a white crescent moon and a star in its centre. The flag is called Ay Yıldız (literally, moon star.) or Albayrak (Red flag) which were adopted in 1844 with the Tanzimat reforms; though the shape, placement and shade of the colour vary. The geometric proportions of the flag were legally standardised with the Turkish Flag Law in 1936.
cells: 1918 – 1920 1992 –
Flag of Ukraine
Ukraine's flag was adopted on September 4, 1991, shortly after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. This is the country's original flag used by the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic, but it was banned for many decades under Soviet regime. The shade of blue is said to be symbolic of the sky, while the yellow represents Ukraine's golden wheat fields.
cells: 1801 –
Flag of the United Kingdom
The current flag of the United Kingdom dates from the Act of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The 'Union Jack' merges the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). The flag of Wales, the other country of the United Kingdom, is not graphically represented.
cells: 1929 –
Flag of the Vatican City
The flag of Vatican City, adopted in June 1929, consists of two vertical bands of yellow and white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the Papal Tiara centred in the white band. It is one of only two square country flags in the world, the other being that of Switzerland.

Questions about this table:
originalText: what country has a white flag with blue cross
answer: answerTexts: Finland