Welcome to the VexiWiki Glossary! There are many terms on VexiWiki that many of you don't know of, so we thought we'd place some of those hard-to-understand terms here. Feel free to add more.
A[]
B[]
background[]
- the main color of the flag, without the symbols
banner of arms[]
- a flag that contains the same imagery as a coat of arms
bicolour[]
- a flag design with two stripes covering the entire background
C[]
canton[]
- the canton is the quarter of a flag which is located at the top of the hoist
charge[]
- In heraldry, an object that can be anything (e.g. a simple geometric shape or an animal)
coat of arms[]
- a set of symbols meant to represent a family or region
cross[]
- a vertical stripe and a horizontal stripe or the same color, both going through the center of the flag
D[]
diagonally left[]
- a flag design split into two right triangles with the hypotenuses of the triangles running from the hoist to the lower fly
device[]
- See the definition for charge.
disc[]
- a large circle in or near the centre of a flag design
double swallowtail[]
- a swallowtail flag with two points on the fly
E[]
escutcheon[]
- Shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms
F[]
field[]
fimbriated[]
- see fimbriation
fimbriation[]
- a border around a design element
flag[]
- a piece of cloth that is flown on a flagpole, and is usually a symbol of a person, place, thing, or idea
fleur-de-lis[]
- a symmetrical stylized French flower with three petals, the central petal tallest and largest
fleur-de-lys[]
- see fleur-de-lis
fly[]
- the half of the flag that is away from the flagpole, or the half of the flag that "flies"
G[]
H[]
hoist[]
- the side of the flag that is attached to the flagpole
I[]
J[]
K[]
L[]
M[]
N[]
O[]
P[]
pall[]
- a Y-shaped flag design, with the hoist's two corners as the corners of the Y.
persoflag[]
- a personal flag
pennant[]
- flag that is wider at the hoist than the fly. They are commonly triangular.
personal flag[]
- a flag that represents a person
pile[]
- an isosceles triangle as long as the flag, with the hoist as its base
proportions[]
- the ratio of the length of a flag's hoist to its length
Q[]
quadcolour[]
- a flag design with four stripes covering the entire background
quadrant[]
- a flag which is divided into quarters (for example, Panama)
R[]
S[]
saltire[]
- a diagonal cross as large as the flag with its endpoints on all four corners of the flag
[]
- a cross flag design in which the cross's intersection is placed between the hoist and the center of the flag
sinister[]
- a stripe or other element running from the lower hoist to the upper fly of a flag
swallowtail[]
- a flag shape with triangular sections cut out from the fly
T[]
triband[]
- a flag design with three stripes covering the entire background
tricolour[]
- a flag design with three stripes of different colours covering the entire background. One of the variants of triband
U[]
upper fly[]
- the area of the flag which is located the the top of the fly
upper hoist[]
- another term for the canton area
V[]
vexillography[]
- the study of flag design, the making of flags, or the designing of flags
vexillology[]
- the study of flags