Last modified: 2026-04-04 by 
zachary harden
Keywords: ufe | unidentified flags | 2024 |
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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
Image located by Nick Lamont, 26 March 2024
I’ve been trying to identify this unknown airline badge for literally decades. It appears to have a shipping pennant in the middle with a word that seems to be AMARAUS or similar…it’s hard to read! I assume it’s an early British Airline many of which were associated with shipping companies but I cannot identify it. It has the standard British or Commonwealth airline look with an eagle above the badge. Any help or ideas would be very gratefully accepted.
Nick Lamont, 26 March 2024
Are we sure it is an airline badge? It seems more likely to me to be a shipping or steamship company cap badge or something naval or military. There is an Amasus Shipping Company in The Netherlands, perhaps they could help you in your search? It also could be something for some WWII auxiliary pilot's cap, there were many lesser-known military units with similar sewn cap badges dating from back then. My point is although it is similar to an early airline badge, I think you will have to widen your search, which you probably have anyway. I tried a few quick searches but was unable to hit anything useful. Just wanted you to know you request is not being ignored. Not much help here, but I hope if you have success, you'll let us know.
Pete Loeser, 27 March 2024
Thank you for the help - it's very much appreciated. The pattern is 'classic British Airline' from the 1920s onwards. I've got about 4000 badges of the sort and a great many have this style so I'm pretty sure it's an airline and probably British...but it's not certain by any means. Very few European shipping lines had the eagle above the badge...in fact I don't know of any. Quite a few started small airlines though. Also it came in a bundle of other UK airline cap badges and wings. None of that is conclusive of course. I've searched for the word in the flag all over, on Latin websites etc but to no avail so far. I'll keep searching and widening the search and if I ever find out of course I'll let you know.
Nick Lamont, 28 March 2024
Inscription might be "AMANAUT" as well. Have definitely never seen that pennant.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 March 2024
Nick is right - the cap badge is of the 'classic British airline' pattern, featuring a distinctive emblem surrounded by a wreath beneath a pair of wings (typically a RAF-style eagle).
My speculation is that the word on the pennant was meant to read AMATEUR - in other words, this could be a 'generic' cap badge intended for private pilots.
Miles Li, 28 March 2024
It appears to be white (maybe yellow) pennant, edged
blue, with the word AMARAUS on it, although I am not sure of the last
few letters.
I make it "Amanaut". That would make it a "sailor for pleasure", but
whether that's the name of ship or position of the wearer, I wouldn't know.
In the times of the professionally crewed yachts, surely an owner just
sailing for the fun of it, not to best his equally rich neighbour, might
name his vessel, or himself, "For the fun of it".
Do we know when this was, or where? I could look through Lloyd's
Register of Yachts, but it would help to know when we're looking for.
I see some Amanaut in British newspapers, but I don't know whether Nick
already searched those (nor whether they may be misreadings).
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 March 2024
Tentative ID
(click to expand) Image located by António Martins-Tuválkin, 07 August 2024
Most are well known, but it’s interesting to see photos of actual flags
laid flat, showing its actual colors and ratios and other realities of
the cloth, often idealized in diagrammatic and artistic representations
of house flags we’re more accustumed with. These are mostly old-style /
sea-worthy flags made of actual stitched/appliqueed fabric, not printed
nylon, and some of them evidencing an interesting degree of rusticness
often absent in more professionally created naval and national flags.
For each, the source page included for transparency, but mostly these
are contentless nonsense. Pinterest has become a garbage heap of bot
“curated” random assemblages without rhyme or reason in their contents,
title, description, and keywords. I also archived each of these image
files (in Archive.ORG and GhostArchive.ORG; Archive.Today remains sadly
unavailable [as of this writing]).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 07 August 2024
Image #1 on this graphic is that of Robin Line (Seas Shipping Company)
Image #4 on this graphic is that of Petrinovic Steamship Co (that appeared on another UFE request in 2018).
Image #7 on this graphic is that of Hacklin (Finland)
Positive ID
Image from Peter, 25 September 2024
I was reading your website, flags of the world trying to identify a flag belonging to my Grandpa; Commander Albert Ayre DSO RNR(retired).
He was merchant marine through the First World War, then a pilot between the wars. In ww2 He started commanding asw ships, a corvette then a frigate (DSO) becoming commodore of coastal convoys and playing a key role in the d-day block ships, mulberries etc.
He was also 4 times head of hull trinity house and a genuine local dignitary.
This is just to try and give you some context
I have a few of his flags including the blue one for being a commodore but I can not identify this one.
I would be grateful if you or the users of your site could provide any assistance
Peter, 25 September 2024
I have found an ensign matching the description of UFE 24-3 in a document entitled "The Colours of the Fleet" downloaded from the Flag Institute. See the following statement on page 40: "Corporation of Trinity House for Hull - Three Yellow Stars on a Red Bar across an
Inverted Yellow Anchor on a Green Shield. Hull Trinity House has always been
separate from Trinity House."
Russ Adams, 08 December 2025
Image located by Nick Lamont, 26 March 2024
A UFE query here from Clay Moss. I think this is likely a home-made
flag - the crown looks like it might be glued on, and the union jack
is definitely not official - the diagonals are too symmetrical.
Rob Raeside, 13 January 2025
A flag collector has sent me this picture, asking me if I can identify
the flag, or ensign. Can anyone on FOTW recognize it?
Clay Moss, 13 January 2025
It seems this flag was sold at an auction in 2008; I was able to use Google Images to discover this information. Here is what the auction page says about the flag: "Union Flag. A linen Union flag, 18th century, the segments hand-stitched, circa 136 cms x 222 cms, Union Jack in top left corner with three red panels in other corners separated by a white cross, with shaped white coronet in centre (faint traces of faded markings), leading edge reinforced for mounting, no regimental or unit markings visible, probably a militia or yeomanry flag (see Hayes-McCoy, Irish Flags, colour plate V & pp. 103, 107). Minor damages. Provenance: Purchased at a sale of items from the archive of a defunct Dublin solicitor, including residues of 18th century estates." The information came from the auction site.
Zachary Harden, 02 September 2025
Image from ,
[Does anyone] know the context of the image - what was happening in the
photograph? Is it a screen capture from a video or a newspaper
article?
Rob Raeside, 22 February 2025
Image from Judge Muscat, 25 February 2025
This flag was submitted to JJ McCullough's YouTube page by Florian
Seaman of Littleton, New Hampshire. It was flying outside a condo
building in Bretton Woods, NH.
Judge Muscat, 25 February 2025
It was also re-posted to Reddit and they are also stumped on this as well. Note, the designer's name listed [on Reddit] is a red-herring.
Zachary Harden, 26 February 2025
The construction with a triangle (mountain) and muslim devices seems typical from Balawaristan.
Jaume Olle , 26 February 2025
I was going to say some sort of local flag from Azerbaijan, given the sun, moon, and stripes design.
Paul Bassinson, 28 February 2025
The star and crescent do certainly suggest an Islamic country, but I haven't found a match for it yet.
Judge Muscat, 28 February 2025
Could it just be that it is simply a decorative flag? Maybe it just symbolizes the area around Bretton Woods.
Daniel Rentería, 28 February 2025
True! In which case we may never know.
Judge Muscat, 28 February 2025
Image from Lindsay Macdonald, 23 June 2025
I recently bought a postcard (see attached image), which shows the
prize giving ceremony at what appears to be a boys’ school or college,
c.1905. But what is the flag on the left? It looks like a country or
dependency in the British Empire, but I can’t identify it. There are
hints of the Australian Federation flag and the Australian Civil Air
Ensign, but I cannot match it exactly. Is the central crown
significant?
Lindsay Macdonald, 23 June 2025
I offer some speculation only. My first method to find an unknown flag back in my UFE Editor days was to throw a speculative image together and use it as a search tool. I also carefully examine any illustration such on the postcard closely to determine if it shows evidence of PhotoShoping. For example, I examined both flags for signs of tampering or replacement and found a few under magnification, especially the 5-pointed stars on the left-hand flag as they seemed a bit brighter than the rest of the composition. Also, some interesting pixelation at the bottom and top of the flags. Not 100% sure, but suspicious.
My image search, also not conclusive but interesting, came up with an interesting match of a flag in the alternate history universe. Robert Sobel's alternate history book For Want of a Nail " is based on a British victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 and the collapse of the American bid for independence." On a webpage titled "For Want of a Nail" I found the fictitious national flag interesting. Add a Union Jack in the canton and a crown centered on the English cross and what do we have.
Peter Loeser, 24 June 2025
I wonder if it is a version of the royal ensign flag that is flown when the king or queen is actually on board?
Judge Muscat, 24 June 2025
My speculation is that it was a proposed flag of Australia from around the time of the Federation in 1901.
This flag bore some resemblance to the Federation Flag popular in Australia at the time.
The six stars on this flag probably represented the six states of Australia - compare this with a six-star version of the Federation Flag. Also worth noting were the positions of the two flags - it was common practice to fly/display the flag of Australia on the dexter side, and the Union Jack on the sinister side, to denote Australia as a nation, albeit within the British Empire.
Miles Li, 24 June 2025
Image submitted by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 03 September 2025
Image submitted by Austin, 04 December 2025
I went to your Flags of the world website, under German Air Force
1933-1945 (here) looking for a match for a car pennant
flag I have had for many years, and I cannot find a match there, or
anywhere online. The closest match has the eagle flying and holding
the cross for "Other Members of the Air Force," but the one I have,
which is similarly on a deep blue canvas, has a silver and black
embroidered 1.5" cross, but has only one wing flying, not the whole
bird. It's 10" from one corner to the other with metal clips. I know a
little bit of the history of it, so I know it's authentic, but is it
so rare that it's not a known item?
Austin, 04 December 2025
It is most similar to the "Car Pennant for Other
Members of the Air Force", but instead of a flying eagle, has only a
wing with the swastika superimposed. It is beautifully embroidered on
both sides with the wing and swastika showing relief using different
colours of thread. Any suggestions?
Rob Raeside, 05 December 2025