Flags of Asia, Africa and Oceania in 1914

About these flags

The states of July 1914, before the First World War, with a flag of their own and the one they used then: the sovereign ones, the British dominions and others such as Egypt or Tibet. Colonies, flying their ruler's flag, are not counted. Some are approximate:

• Russian Empire: The white, blue and red tricolour was the national flag from 1896; the black, yellow and white imperial flag was also used.
• Spain: The red and yellow flag of the time without the coat of arms (the state version carried it).
• Ethiopian Empire: The tricolour with the Lion of Judah, the imperial version; the plain tricolour was also used.
• British India: British India had no national flag: this red ensign with the Star of India was the most used one (there were other versions).
• Bogd Khanate of Mongolia: Mongolia declared independence in 1911; this is one of the flags the Bogd Khanate used, with no single official design.
• Tibet: De facto independent from 1912; the snow lion flag was settled around 1916, shortly after 1914.
• Emirate of Nejd: The Nejd flag of 1921 (the oldest well documented); in 1914 the emirate flew similar green banners.

Drawings from Wikimedia Commons, in the public domain except: Nepal (Germenfer, CC BY-SA 3.0) · Tibet (Felipe Fidelis Tobias, CC BY-SA 4.0) · Union of South Africa (This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:, CC BY-SA 4.0)

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