Flags of autonomous regions and islands

Places that run their own affairs inside another country, from Greenland and Hong Kong to Zanzibar and Easter Island.

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Autonomy comes in many sizes. Greenland and the Faroes run almost everything except defence and foreign policy; Hong Kong and Macau keep their own laws and currencies; others, like Rodrigues or the Chatham Islands, have little more than a local council. What they share is a flag, flown beside the national one.

Spain’s, France’s and Italy’s autonomous regions have their own pages.

Test yourself: Regional Flags →

Europe

Greenland
A red and white disc on white over red: the sun setting over the ice. Designed by Thue Christiansen in 1985.
On the globe →
Faroe Islands
The Merkið: a red Nordic cross edged in blue, on white.
On the globe →
Åland Islands
Sweden’s colours with a red cross: the islands are Swedish-speaking but belong to Finland.
On the globe →
Flanders
The black lion of Flanders on gold.
Wallonia
A red cockerel on gold.
Azores
A goshawk under nine stars, one for each island.
On the globe →
Madeira
The cross of the Order of Christ on gold, between blue bands for the sea.
On the globe →
Gagauzia
Blue, white and red with three stars, for the Turkic-speaking Christian Gagauz.
Republika Srpska
The Serbian tricolour without its arms, for the Serb-majority half of Bosnia.

Africa and the Middle East

Kurdistan Region
A gold sun with 21 rays on red, white and green.
Puntland
Somalia’s star over white and green; self-governing since 1998.
Zanzibar
Tanzania’s flag in the canton, over blue, black and green.
Mwali
Mohéli, one of the three islands of the Comoros.
Rodrigues
An autonomous island of Mauritius, about 560 km east of the main island.
On the globe →

Asia

Hong Kong
A white bauhinia flower on red, since the handover to China in 1997.
On the globe →
Macau
A lotus over a bridge and the sea, under five stars, since 1999.
On the globe →
Karakalpakstan
Blue, yellow and green, with a crescent and five stars.

The Pacific

Cook Islands
A Blue Ensign with a ring of fifteen stars, one for each island.
On the globe →
Niue
Yellow, with the Union Jack and five stars in the canton.
On the globe →
Tokelau
A traditional canoe sailing under the Southern Cross.
On the globe →
Chatham Islands
A map of the islands against a rising sun: they’re among the first inhabited places to see each new day.
Easter Island
A red reimiro, a Rapa Nui breast ornament, on white.
On the globe →

Europe

Africa and the Middle East

Asia

The Pacific

On the globe

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