Monaco Flag

How to identify it

Red over white in two equal bands, on a distinctly stubby 4:5 rectangle. If the flag looks almost square, it is Monaco rather than Indonesia.

Design and construction

Proportions

4:5

Adoption and legal status

4 April 1881, under Prince Charles III

Construction

Two equal horizontal bands, red above white, with no emblem.

Officially documented meaning

The red and white are the heraldic colours of the House of Grimaldi, recorded in the family arms since the fourteenth century.

History of the design

Earlier Monegasque flags carried the state arms on white; the plain bicolour replaced them in 1881. A lozengy red-and-white banner of the Grimaldi arms also exists but has no official national use.

Similar flags

Compare the details that separate these designs.

• 
  Indonesia

  Identical colours and order; Indonesia is 2:3, a longer rectangle.

• 
  Poland

  Poland reverses the bands, with white on top.

Comparison guides

• Indonesia vs Monaco vs Poland: red and white bicolours

Sources