Flag Maker
This flag maker draws each layout to its real construction at whatever ratio you choose, then saves it as SVG, a 9,000‑pixel PNG or a Hearts of Iron IV TGA set. It runs in your browser, with no account.
Example: Republic of Tessaly, an invented flag
Flag check
- Fine: 3 colours. Two or three basic colours read best from a distance.
- Fine: Touching colours contrast well.
Notes follow NAVA’s “Good” Flag, “Bad” Flag. Advice only.
Wide centre band (1:2:1)
Download
Spotted a wrong ratio or a layout drawn badly? Tell us. What’s sent
How to make a flag
Layout. Work through the five tabs of Flag Maker in order. The flag maker has 28 layouts and 197 country flags to start from; your colours carry over when you switch layout.
Colours. Set each one from a swatch or type a hex code such as #169B62.
Emblems and Text. Add a lion, an anchor, a star or any of the 172 emblems in the flag maker, a picture of your own or a line of lettering, then move and size it.
Ratio. Choose the proportions and the flag maker redraws the layout to fit instead of stretching it.
Then save it. Download it, print it on one page, or copy a link that opens the same design in the flag maker. The latest version stays in this browser.
Flag check points out weak contrast and crowding as you go, but never blocks a design. Random suggests a whole design and Wave it shows the flag as cloth.
Layouts and their construction
Most of the world’s flags are built from a handful of divisions: bands, a cross, a saltire, a canton, a triangle at the hoist. Flag Maker computes each one for the ratio you choose instead of stretching a drawing, so cross arms stay one seventh of the height and a canton over 13 stripes always covers seven of them. Click any layout below to open it in the flag maker with your colours.
The Nordic cross at 28:37 as Flag Maker draws it: 12 + 4 + 21 units across, 12 + 4 + 12 down. That is the Danish flag’s construction.
Country flags to open in the flag maker
All 197 national flags below are drawn by the flag maker itself; click one to edit every band, star and colour. Recolour Norway for a fictional kingdom or start a club flag from your own. 96 are simplified, because of a coat of arms, an inscription or a detail the layouts can’t draw exactly, and the flag maker says what differs.
Africa 54
Americas 35
Asia 49
Europe 45
Oceania 14
What makes a flag good
Ted Kaye’s “Good” Flag, “Bad” Flag for the North American Vexillological Association sums flag design up in five principles. Plenty of loved flags break one, so the checks in Flag Maker are advice, not rules. Flag check measures only what a program can: colours, contrast, lettering and crowding. The example flags in this section were all drawn with the flag maker above.
Keep it simple
Follows it. Two colours and a disc Flag check says: “Several different emblems.” Simple enough that a child could draw it from memory.
Use meaningful symbolism
Follows it. A pine for a forest province Breaks it. Crown and shield, could be anywhere. A pine for a forest province, a wheel for a rail town. Only you know the meaning, so Flag check leaves it alone.
Use two or three basic colours
Follows it. Three colours Flag check says: “6 colours.” Pick them from red, blue, green, black, yellow and white, with strong contrast between neighbours. Flag Maker counts them for you.
No lettering or seals
Follows it. Reads at any distance Flag check says: “Lettering is hard to read on a moving flag and from the back.” Words read backwards from behind and blur at a distance. Team banners are the usual exception, so text is allowed.
Be distinctive or be related
Follows it. Three provinces, one cross Breaks it. Already France. Avoid copying another flag, but borrow on purpose to show a link, the way the Nordic countries share one cross. No flag maker knows every flag that exists.
Sizes, ratios and files
Ratios in the flag maker
Flags are given as height to width. Pick a preset in the flag maker or type a custom ratio from 1 to 100 units, with the width between half and four times the height.
| Ratio | Used by |
|---|---|
| 1:2 | United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand |
| 2:3 | Most national flags: France, China, Japan |
| 3:5 | Germany; retail flags sold as 3 × 5 ft |
| 10:19 | United States (official government spec) |
| 28:37 | Denmark |
| 1:1 | Switzerland, Vatican City; profile pictures |
| 52:82 | Hearts of Iron IV files from Flag Maker |
From Wikipedia’s list of aspect ratios of national flags.
Printing a flag from Flag Maker
Printers want artwork at the finished size. National Capital Flag asks for 150 DPI at minimum, 300 DPI for fine detail and a 1/8 inch bleed, and prefers vector files. Send the SVG from the flag maker, or the Print PNG, which is 9,000 pixels wide and carries 150 DPI in its metadata.
| Flag | Ratio | Pixels |
|---|---|---|
| 2 × 3 ft | 2:3 | 5,400 × 3,600 |
| 3 × 5 ft | 3:5 | 9,000 × 5,400 |
| 4 × 6 ft | 2:3 | 10,800 × 7,200 |
| 5 × 8 ft | 5:8 | 14,400 × 9,000 |
Safari on iPhones and iPads will not draw an image above about 16.7 million pixels, and the flag maker warns when you pick one. The SVG has no such limit.
A flag maker for Hearts of Iron IV
The game reads each country flag at three sizes, as 32-bit uncompressed TGA files without a colour map: 82 × 52, 41 × 26, 10 × 7 pixels, as modders document. Flag Maker redraws your flag for each size rather than squashing one picture, so bands and crosses keep their proportions even at 10 × 7, where an emblem is only a few pixels.
gfx/
flags/
ABC.tga 82 × 52
medium/
ABC.tga 41 × 26
small/
ABC.tga 10 × 7Type a three-character country tag into the flag maker under HOI4 flag set, then unzip the download into the mod folder. For ideology variants, copy one of the TGA files the flag maker saved and rename it, for example ABC_communism.tga.
Example flags
Four flags for a novel, a rowing club, a classroom and a game mod, each drawn in the flag maker above.
Kingdom of Varnholm
A northern kingdom for a fantasy novel: a yellow Nordic cross outlined in white, at Denmark’s 28:37. The outline, called fimbriation, is one checkbox under Layout in Flag Maker.
Harbour Rowing Club
A 3 × 5 ft club flag in two bands with bold block lettering, set to 3:5 in Flag Maker to match the printer’s blank.
Class 5B, Room 12
Blue, white and gold with a sun, printed from Flag Maker on one landscape page for the classroom door.
Free State of Orrin, tag ORR
A Hearts of Iron IV country drawn for the game’s 82 × 52 pixels; Flag Maker downloads it as three TGA files.
Flag maker FAQ
Designing a flag
Can I make a team or club flag with the flag maker?
Add a line under Text in Flag Maker, pick the Heavy or Slab face, and set the ratio to the printer’s blank, usually 3:5 for a 3 × 5 ft flag.
Why does Flag Maker write ratios as height:width?
Vexillologists write proportions that way, so the UK flag is 1:2 and most national flags are 2:3. Flag Maker also recomputes each layout for the ratio, which keeps crosses at their proper width and stars round.
Does Flag Maker have country flag templates?
Yes, the flag maker has 197 of them. Under Layout, choose Start from a country flag, then search or pick a region. Each is drawn by the flag maker from its own layouts and emblems, so every part stays editable. About half are simplified, because of a coat of arms, an inscription or a detail the layouts can’t draw exactly, and the flag maker says what differs. A few already use all six emblem slots; use Row, Ring or Grid on one emblem for more copies.
Can I use it as a country flag maker?
Yes. Open any of the 197 national flags, then change what you like: swap the colours for a fictional country, move or resize the stars, or set the ratio a printer asks for. The flag maker keeps the original construction, so a Nordic cross stays a Nordic cross when you stretch it.
Which emblems does the flag maker have?
The flag maker has 172 in 8 groups, from basic shapes to heraldry, animals and places, searchable by name under Emblems. Everything outside Basic shapes comes from game-icons.net under CC BY 3.0, and the flag maker shows the credit line to use.
How do I make a fantasy flag with the flag maker?
Borrow a real-world pattern so it feels plausible: a Nordic cross for a northern kingdom, a tricolour for a republic, a canton for an old colony. Add one emblem that means something. Copy link gives co-writers or players their own copy of the flag maker design to change.
How many stars can Flag Maker draw?
Flag Maker draws up to 60 copies of one emblem as a row, ring or grid, and up to six emblems per flag. In the canton, Flag Maker resizes rows and grids to fit. For a ring like the European flag, choose Ring, set How many to 12, Ring radius to 33% and Size to 11%.
Can Flag Maker make a pride flag?
Yes: choose Multicolour bands in Flag Maker, up to nine. For a profile picture, set the ratio to 1:1.
What can’t Flag Maker do yet?
Seals and detailed coats of arms are beyond Flag Maker unless you upload them as a picture. Text is one straight line, there is no freehand drawing, and nobody can promise how a given printer reproduces a colour.
Files, devices and saving
Is there a Flag Maker app?
There is nothing to install. The flag maker is a web page that works in any current browser, phones included, and most browsers can add Flag Maker to the home screen.
Can I add my own picture or logo to the flag maker?
Open Emblems and choose Upload picture (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF or SVG, up to 1.5 MB). Flag Maker keeps the picture on your device and embeds it in the SVG and PNG. Share links from Flag Maker leave pictures out, because they would make the link too long to paste.
Can Flag Maker keep several designs?
Flag Maker remembers only the latest design in this browser. To keep others, press Copy link for each and save the links; opening one restores that flag, and anyone you send it to gets their own copy to edit.
Does Flag Maker work on a phone or tablet?
Every feature of Flag Maker works there. On a phone held upright the Flag Maker preview stays pinned at the top while you edit; tablets show it beside the controls.
Does Flag Maker work offline?
Once loaded, Flag Maker keeps working without a connection, downloads included. Reloading the flag maker needs a connection.
Which file from the flag maker should I send to a printer?
The SVG. If the printer only takes pictures, send the Print PNG from the flag maker: 9,000 pixels wide, 150 DPI.
Can I use Flag Maker with a keyboard or a screen reader?
Flag Maker tabs switch with the arrow, Home and End keys, Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z undo and redo, and every control has a label. Flag Maker also describes the preview in words, such as the layout and ratio, for screen readers.
Cost, rights and privacy
Is this flag maker free?
Yes. No account, watermark, download limit or ads. Flag Maker runs entirely in your browser, and it does not print or sell flags either; take the file to any flag printer.
Can I sell flags I design with the flag maker?
We claim no rights in anything you make with Flag Maker. If a design copies someone else’s logo or a real national flag, trademark and flag-use laws still apply.
Does this flag maker use AI?
No. Each layout in Flag Maker is geometry you control, nothing is generated from a prompt, and the same settings always give the same flag. Random in Flag Maker picks settings, not pictures.
Is the flag maker suitable for kids and classrooms?
There is no account, chat or advertising, so a class can use the flag maker without sign-ups, and Print fits one flag on a landscape page.
Does Flag Maker keep my flag private?
Your Flag Maker design never leaves your browser, and the usage statistics in the privacy policy never include it. A share link carries the design inside the link itself, so it only goes where you paste it.
Sources: Ted Kaye, “Good” Flag, “Bad” Flag (NAVA); National Capital Flag, artwork requirements; Wikipedia, aspect ratios of national flags; hoi4_flag_maker on GitHub for the Hearts of Iron IV sizes Flag Maker uses.