The star is the most abundant icon in national flags : it is present on the flags of 61 of the 198 countries recognized by the UN. Among others, it appears on the flags of the United States, Cuba, China, Turkey, Chile, Venezuela, Israel, Morocco, Cameroon and even the European Union. It is also in the Australian one, which appears in the image. This figure symbolizes different things in each case. For example, the fifty stars of the North American flag represent each one of the states that compose it ; that of Cuba is a Mason symbol; and the five stars of China – one big and four small – allude to the union of the people.
The second place is occupied by the royal shields, which are part of twenty-seven flags , including that of Spain. Then come the crosses, present in eighteen nations , such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Greece or Malta. It also appears on that of Denmark, which is the oldest national flag used. The fourth place is for the sun, which appears in sixteen banners, in the case of those of Japan and Argentina. For its part, the moon adorns the emblems of fourteen countries, generally Muslim: Turkey, Algeria, Libya, Pakistan and Tunisia, among others. Symbols share the limelight with colors, among which the most abundant is red , which represents the power or blood of the fallen. It is followed by blue, an image of the sky and the sea; white, a sign of peace and purity; green, the image of the Earth and also of Islam; and yellow, projection of the sun and gold.
By the way, the science that deals with the study of flags is called vexillology .
