zachary harden
Keywords: ufe | unidentified flags | 2022 |
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Last modified: 2023-07-08 by zachary harden
Keywords: ufe | unidentified flags | 2022 |
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Below is a series of images of flags that have been provided to FOTW; some we have recognized, and some we have been unable to recognize. If you can help us identify any of these flags, please let us know! Contact the: UFE Editor.
Identification Key:
= Positive ID (Positive Identification)
= Tentative ID (Tentative Identification)
= Some Speculation Tentative ID
Image from William Garrison, 14 May 2022
Pro-Russian rebels pose on a tank near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine (Vadim Massalimov/Kommersant via Getty Images). The caption says: "an unidentified flag of some pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine; c. Feb. 2015." (source)
Perhaps something we can add to the Donetsk County (Ukraine) page?
William Garrison, 14 May 2022
Photo taken by Ivan Sache, 14 May 2022
The flag features an icon of the Mandylion type. The "Image not made with hands" shows the face of Christ miraculously reproduced on a cloth.
Tradition says the cloth was sent by Jesus to the King of Edessa. The touch of the cloth healed the king of an illness.
The two other main types of iconic representation of Christ are "Christ Pantocrator" and "Christ Emanuel.". (Duquesne University)
As an example, a Mandylion icon kept in the Skit of the Holy Spirit, a Russian Orthodox hermitage located in Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis, near Paris.
The icon was written by Father Grégoire Krug (1908-1949).
Ivan Sache, 14 May 2022
Image located by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 14 May 2022
The work of Haisollokopas, 30 April 2022
Flag of the Serbian volunteers in Ukraine. A drawing of the flag used by Serbian volunteers shown here.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 14 May 2022
I should have joined this discussion earlier, but better now than never: This is not a Serbian flag - flags with such design are not used in Serbia (yet). Even if the photographed user is Serbian, the flag is not - it looks like a re-creation of a medieval Russian flag, one of those which were used since some time after the Christianization of Russia until the end of 17th century (and on some occasions afterwards), many examples of which can be found throughout the Vexillographia website. Such flags have been popular among present-day Russian nationalist groups and this man seems to have joined one of those in order to get to Ukraine, which explains how he
got photographed with it.
Sorry, but the flag should be demoted from "Positive ID" to "Some speculation". Or maybe should remain "Positive ID", but be re-attributed to a Russian one.
Like I had said, Serbian nationalist groups have not been using such flags so far, but those which have been voicing support for Russia, might start using them someday in order to express their stance visually. Stay tuned...
Tomislav Todorovic, 23 May 2022
Like Tomislav, I guess I should have checked on this thread sooner. I concur with Tomislav when he mentions that this militia is not a Serbian Unit. Like those military factions with foreign combatants (i.e. Georgian National Legion) which is pro-government of Ukraine), there are also anti-government military factions, and in this case they are Serbian. We will have to look deeper in order to label this entry as positive, but I am pretty sure it is an anti-government (more precisely a pro-Russian) proxy militia of Serbian origin.
Esteban Rivera, 25 May 2022
Tentative ID
Image from William Garrison, 14 May 2022
The caption reads: "Unidentified Ukraine military flag of wounded veterans association? c. 2017." (source).
William Garrison, 14 May 2022
Regarding this flag, I received an email (21 May 2022) from an Ukrainian who identified it as: "the flag of a hromada (community) organization of militia participants in the military operation in 2014 in the city of Korsun in central Ukraine, it doesn't related to some unknown wounded-veterans association. Possibly the soldier with the hand-prosthesis was a wounded veteran from that 2014 unit."
So maybe we need a new listing titled as: Ukraine - Korsun hromada (city/community) militia - 2014
Bill Garrison, 23 May 2022
What does the text on the flag say? Perhaps that would help clarify exactly what community organization the flag represents?
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2022
You asked me if I could ask my Ukrainian contact for a translation of the wording on this flag, I just received from him stating that he did not have further info regarding the flag. Perhaps he misunderstood my inquiry about a translation, or maybe he was busy trying to avoid incoming Russian missiles in Kiev. Or, maybe didn't care. Sadly, he did not provide more information.
Bill Garrison, 25 May 2022
It is indeed a Veterans' organization. However it is not specifically a wounded/disabled one. The image is from an article by International Alert, "an independent international peace building organization (NGO) established in 1986" (Sources: International Alert and Wikipedia)
The image caption reads: "Disabled war veteran with prosthetic hand at the Borispol airport, in Kiev, Ukraine ©Shutterstock 2017".
The article is "Policy Brief: March 2019. What’s next for veterans in Ukraine?," and is a policy brief written by Flavie Bertouille. The text (written in Ukrainian) translates as "the Public organization of Ato Soldiers Of Korsun Region" (ГРОМАДСЬКА ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯ ВОЇНІВ АТО КОРСУНЩИНИ). The ATO is the unit conducting operations in the zone (or area) of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation in Donbass (or River Don Basin). These denominations were first established in the period 2014-2017 during the Russian-Ukrainian War as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions (administrative areas or Districts) of Cherkasy Oblast to four. The area of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Raion was split between Cherkasy Raion and Zvenyhorodka Raion. (source #1 and source #2)
To confirm what Victor Lomantsov wrote, the organization is based from Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi. There also was a possible name change in 2016 but information about this and the current group as a whole is very scant except for registration information. It is of note that the term "Громадська організація" (Hromads'ka orhanizatsiya) is just the designation "Public Organization" for purposes of intent of the aims of the group. Also, ATO is the general term of the "Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone" that constitutes the area of combat between Russian and Ukrainian forces since 2014 in Eastern Ukraine.
Zachary Harden, 11 April 2023
1992-2001
1923-2022
Image located by Esteban Rivera, 25 May 2022
From this source
When the First Phase of this Ukraine conflict ended, numerous veteran organizations emerged, mainly those addressing concerns related to the former paramilitary volunteer units. Our unknown veterans' organization flag is related to the Ukraine area in Cherkasy County (Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Raion). The Verkhovna Rada Ukrayiny (Supreme Council of Ukraine, or Rada) reorganized the first-level Administrative Divisions in the area and should be shown on this Clickable map of Ukraine.
This flag was approved on April 29, 1992. Credits and information from Victor Lomantsov.
Image located by Esteban Rivera, 25 May 2022
Source: image - Wikipedia: Coat of Arms of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi District
Sources: image and
source: original source -
"Украина: гербы и флаги" (Ukraine: coats of arms and flags, by the Ukrainian Parliament, published in 2010). This flag was approved on November 14, 2001. Credits and information to Victor Lomantsov.
Esteban Rivera, 25 May 2022
[UFE Editor's Comment: Esteban's information was drastically reduced on the UFE pages as a size consideration. He provided a detailed account of the changes in the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi District, I refer you to his original message of 25 May 2022]
I don't think that it is a "proxy militia of Serbian origin" - there were no reports of complete units formed by volunteers from Serbia and the number of those seems to be too small to form a single unit, so they are most likely dispersed among various units, which may be
formed either by the locals or by the volunteers from Russia. Anyway, the flag itself is certainly of Russian origin.
Tomislav Todorovic, 25 May 2022
Positive ID
#39a
#39b
#39c
Images from Noah Jacoby, 20 May 2022
I found your Flags of the World website, and was hoping you could help me identify a few flags. My parents brought these back from various European trips for me years ago, and my recollection is that they were perhaps from Germany, maybe Austria or Italy? One of them has a Hapsburg eagle on it, and a shield that looks like it has a papal emblem on it, but I've had no luck identifying the symbols on the others. I'm also unsure of the proper orientation for these flags, so maybe some of them will be shown backwards?
Noah Jacoby, 20 May 2022
Take a look here: The Contrada System And The Palio.
Roger Moyer, 23 May 2022
Also on our Palio di Siena Flags page. The Hearst Castle, a historical landmark and state park located on the Central Coast of California has a collection of these flags hanging over the dining room. These festival flags keep appearing with new variants appearing each year for the celebrations. These are nice examples.
Pete Loeser, 23 May 2022
Those are three Siena Contrada flags.
#39d -
Image from NAVA News #192 (Oct-Dec 2006)
To add to this, NAVA News 192 (Oct-Dec 2006) featured an in-depth article about the flags of the Palio, including The Palio itself. These were smaller reproductions of the actual flags themselves, which changed somewhat from time-to-time.
If interested you can see the full piece on the NAVA Website, schroll down to 2006 and select "Vol. 39 no. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2006)," When the file opens find pages 4-6. Here is a small thumbnail image of the issue's centerfold. If you wish a larger version of this chart it is available on request.
At the time this was a timely piece as NAVA met in Reno, Nevada, that year in a Casino whose theme was "The Palio."
Dave Martucci, 28 June 2022
Dave added a bit more sources, but I don't really think they add any new information. Whoever gets a camera near a Contrada flag should take photographs of all the details. That's probably the only thing we have not covered completely.
Anyone who hadn't planned a trip to Siena, is probably too late now. Tomorrow, the provas start.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 28 June 2022
Images from Marc Pasquin, 26 May 2022
An UFE worn as a patch on the helmet of a policeman in the ukrainian city of Severodonesk. Because it appears to be a black and yellow flag with a shield and a thin blue line in the middle, I wonder if this might be the Ukrainian equivalent of the US "Thin Blue Line" flag? (DW News)
Marc Pasquin, 26 May 2022
Positive ID
Image located by William Garrison, 10 May 2022
Information has been moved to Eretz Israel flag (Biblical prophecy)
Positive ID
Image located by William Garrison, 4 June 2022
From an Anadolu Agency article about celebrations used to mark Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.
The caption on the photo reads: "An unidentified green-field flag with yellow image & slogans in Arabic."
Source did not provide any specific information regarding these flags. Just a loose reference to "Iraqis mark Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Bagdad" Iraq; c. early 2022? (source)
William Garrison, 4 June 2022
Image by Pete Loeser, 2 July 2022
Although the photo is a bit blurry, I believe it to be a flag of the Badr Organization: Martyr Sadr Forces. A clear picture of their logo can be found on Jihad Intel (part of The Middle East Forum).
According to them: "The Badr Organization, previously known as the Badr Brigades, originated as an Iranian-backed armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI, since rebranded the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq), which is closest to Iran ideologically of the main Shi'a political groupings in Iraq. Since the 2003 invasion, however, the Badr Organization has effectively split off from the Supreme Islamic Council to form its own political and armed wing, acting as a direct proxy of Iran. Over the course of the Syrian civil war, the Badr Organization has deployed fighters to Syria under the banner of the Martyr Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr Forces to push back against Syrian rebels. Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr was the father-in-law of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He had supported the Iranian Revolution and serves as a wide figure of inspiration for Iraq's Shi'a political groups. Since the outbreak of the wider Sunni insurgency in Iraq, the Badr Organization's military wing has been involved in fighting in Anbar, Samarra, and other areas." (Source)
I've also seen the design with the colors reversed, i.e. green pattern on a yellow field.
Pete Loeser, 2 July 2022
Some Speculation
Image from William Garrison, 10 June 2022
Regarding this flag image, I cannot find any information regarding it. I found it in a Google search, but with no attached caption except this: "Unknown red-printed Arabic slogans on national flag of Iraq. Same slogan on both sides of middle white stripe."
William Garrison, 10 June 2022
Not sure if this is a new flag or simply the national flag with text added.
Rob Raeside, 10 June 2022
Positive ID
Image from William Garrison, 19 June 2022
Information has been moved to Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade
Some Speculation
#45a
#45b
Images by BlinxCat, 22 June 2022
Here's a couple strange flags from a Japanese WW2-era paper construction (source)
It shows what I believe is a Japanese collaborationist Chinese flag, but yellow and what people assume is a Japanese-Thai collaborationist flag.
BlinxCat, 22 June 2022
The sun in the Chinese flag seems to have more than 12 rays, thus making it even more erroneous.
The flag of Manchukuo is also incorrect - blue and white stripes in canton have swapped their places - as well as that of Italy - the arms are incorrect, displaying white field and blue cross which is conjoined with blue border (its only element that is correct).
Tomislav Todorovic, 22 June 2022
Image from Nozomi Kariyasu, 22 June 2022
It seems that they simply made incorrect flags. The captioned text in the back side reads from left to right "Z flag, Italy, Germany, China, Japanese naval ensign, Manchukuo, Thailand, France and Japan."
Nozomi Kariyasu, 22 June 2022
Positive ID
Image from William Garrison, 1 July 2022
The caption reads: "Unidentified white-field Iran flag with blue logo incorporating wavy Iran flag in top-right area - maybe 'security nuclear engineering' c. June 2022?" (source).
William Garrison, 1 July 2022
This is the Flag of Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Iran. (source)
Anonymous, 4 October 2022
Image located by William Garrison, 7 July 2022
[identifying numbers (#47a thru #47f) to left of the flags added by UFE Editor]
The Acting Defense Minister in Afghan Taliban government met with Qatari officials to discuss means of security and defense cooperation.
The photo caption reads "photo right: 6 unidentified flags displayed at some Qatar military center/building [possibly at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar]; c. July 5, 2022," but an earlier caption read in part: "...as showing the visit of the [Afghanistan] Taliban Minister of Defense to the U.S.-Qatar Joint Military Operation [Center] to ask for their support for the Taliban government in its effort to counter terrorism. (source)
William Garrison, 7 July 2022
Image located by source)
The flag on the far left appears to be that of the Qatari Joint Services Force as photos #47a (source) and #47b (source) indicate.
#47a QJSF Flag
#47b QJSF Logo
Images located by nombre apellido, 7 July 2022
#47c Military Police
Image located by nombre apellido, 7 July 2022
Positive ID
Image located by Bill Garrison, 10 July 2022
I know I should know which group(s) is/are represented in this demonstration, but I am lacking the computer researching skills to identify them. The source article shows this photo, but presents no caption. Given the long red banner at the bottom of the photo, which appears to have Cyrillic/Russian letters, it may refer to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Can you identify the black-field/white-skull flag? The large, close, in front, black-skull flag has the German word: Totenkopf.
According to Wikipedia Toten-Kopf translates literally to "Dead's Head", meaning exactly "dead person's head". Semantically, it refers to a skull, literally a Schädel. As a term, Totenkopf connotes the human skull as a symbol, typically one with crossed thigh bones as part of a grouping. The common translation of Totenkopf as death's head is incorrect; it would be Todeskopf, but no such word is in use.
Bill Garrison, 10 July 2022
First, we need somebody to give a translation of the wording on the black and white "death's head" flag/banner near the top of this picture. It might help identifying the flag in this picture. The other flags in the photo seem to be variants of generic the sun wheel cross flags used pretty much worldwide by extremist groups (Golden Dawn of Greece, National Action Movement of Portugal, French Nationalist Party of France, Serbian Action, etc., to name a few). This makes identifying the demonstration or groups there very hard to identify. I don't see anything in the picture to connect it to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Perhaps if somebody can translate some information off the large red banner in front of the group at the bottom of the picture we could some valuable clues? While you are at it can somebody read the street addresses on the buildings in the background? 
Pete Loeser, 15 July 2022
Well, first, it would be good if we would know where this came from. Otherwise, let's see:
original slide 19
text detail
Images located by Pete Loeser, 10 July 2022
I found nine references to the original photo and one appears to identify it with the National Bolshevik Party (NBP - See slide #19 on this page). Unfortunately I can't read Russian or Ukrainian, but I attach the text with the photo in the hopes that one of you can translate it, it appears to identify the demonstration in the picture as taking place in 2013.
Pete Loeser, 19 August 2022
The text is in Russian and it says:
"Ukraine?, No, it is 'Russian March' in Moscow 2013. You want to eradicate Nazism - start at your home."The attribution of the flag to the Nazbols is incorrect, though - its users are just neo-Nazis, while the Nazbols have never used it. Beside that, the National Bolshevik Party had already been history in 2013, having been replaced by the Other Russia in 2010. A larger copy of the photo can be found at this page which is also accessible from the FOTW presentation of the neo-Nazi flags with the Black Sun symbol.
