Flags: Marshall Islands
For designing a flag, the North American Vexillological Association recommends a booklet by Ted Kaye called, Good Flag, Bad Flag. Based on it’s criteria, the Marshall Islands flag is considered very good. The following analysis uses Ted Kaye booklet for that assessment:
Keep It SimpleLithuania has the simplest design of this page of flags, but the colors chosen don’t go well together. While Turkmenistan has an attractive looking flag, it’s not a very simple design. It couldn’t be drawn by a child – nor by almost all adults.Use Meaningful SymbolismEritrea’s flag has some symbolic features: the green its agriculture, the blue the sea off its coast, and the red the blood shed for its independence. The two laurel branches have fifteen leaves, representing the thirty years they fought for independence. Maybe it’s Italian guilt in me, but I feel like they shouldn’t identify themselves so much by their fight for freedom.The star in the canton of the Marshall Islands flag has significance: it has twenty-four points, one for each municipal district; the four elongated rays are for the four major centers of the country. The problem with that will be if those numbers change.Use a Few Basic ColorsLithuania has only three colors, as does the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Were it not for the crest, San Marino would have only two. As complex as the Marshall Islands flag appears, it also has only three colors.No Lettering or SealsMoldova and San Marino both have seals or crests. Since San Marino is a city state, it’ll never use their flag in battle, so maybe the crest can be forgiven – especially since it looks so appealing.Be Distinctive or Be RelatedSan Marino is a little different by being square. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a distinctive flag. The Marshall Islands flag is unique, with its vertical expanding stripes, representing the equator – making the star a map locator. In fact, it was rated in the top ten best country flags by the North American Vexillological Association. I don’t like the design, but I have to agree they met the requirements.
Note
There aren’t many good choices on this album page of country flags. Maybe I’m too burned out on this mini project of assessing all of the nation flags. I don’t particularly like the design of the Marshalll Islands, but I have to concede that they meet the criteria for a good flag design. I like the flag for San Marino, but the crest really does disqualify it. I want to like the flag for Eritrea – I like the country and people – but the laurel and olive branches takes away from the simplicity.
Contains 8 spots: own 8 – 8 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Jun 13, 2025
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
Flag Series
✓ |
750 |
33c (feb 1999) |
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✓ |
751 |
33c (feb 1999) |
|||
✓ |
749 |
33c (feb 1999) |
|||
✓ |
744 |
33c (feb 1999) |
|||
✓ |
747 |
33c (feb 1999) |
|||
✓ |
748 |
33c (feb 1999) |
|||
✓ |
745 |
33c (feb 1999) |
|||
✓ |
746 |
33c (feb 1999) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
No Covers Found.