Logically, the national flag of the country should be unique. This is necessary in order to immediately determine by the panel the edge whose symbol it is. However, in practice, this is far from the case. There are not so many flowers, especially heraldic ones, but there are about two hundred states in the modern world. So it turns out that the banners of many countries are very similar. But the flag of Monaco and Indonesia is a unique case. They are almost identical. In addition, they resemble the flag of Poland, with the only difference being that the colors are in the opposite order. Why did it happen that two states have the same flag? Let's study this question.
History of the Principality of Monaco
Needless to say, in such a fertile land with a Mediterranean climate, people settled back in ancient times. But the history of Monaco as an independent principality began in the second half of the XIII century. At this time in Italy, a fierce struggle was waged by the Guelphs (supporters of the Pope) and the Ghibellines (adherents of the emperor). In Genoa, the latter won. Guelphs were expelled from the city, and among them was a certain Francesco Grimaldi. He gathered a large detachment of armed accomplices and hid them in the thickets surrounding the walls of the medieval city of Monaco. Grimaldi himself changed into the robes of a Franciscan monk. On a January night in 1297, he knocked on the gates of the city. The guard felt sorry for the "man of God." So that he did not die from the winter cold, he opened the gate. And at that moment he was killed by an insidious guelph. His accomplices killed the rest of the guards and took power in the city. From the sort of “hero” the genus of Grimaldi leads the story. And the flag of Monaco reflects the heraldic colors of this Genoese family. Despite the fact that the city passed either Genoa, then the Spaniards, French and Austrians, the descendants of Grimaldi in the end managed to maintain their sovereignty. And now this principality is a dwarf, but independent power.
What does the national flag of Monaco look like?
In the 14th century, the Grimaldi patrimonial standard was a cloth on which white and red rhombs alternated. Later it was replaced by a white oriflamme with a princely coat of arms in the center. And it is still the so-called government flag. It is noteworthy that the country's coat of arms reflects a not very beautiful story with the capture of the city of Monaco. Monks armed to the teeth are holding a shield with red and white rhombuses, and under it is a ribbon with the inscription "With God's help." The national flag of Monaco took the heraldic colors of rhombs. In European symbolism, red means strength, courage, and white means innocence and purity of thoughts. In 1881, when Charles III ruled the principality, the banner received its current color. Now it is a cloth of two equal horizontal stripes. The upper half of the flag is red and the lower half is white.
State flag of Indonesia
In 1945, this country of Southeast Asia cast off the yoke of colonial dependence on the Netherlands. The first president of the Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno, approved by decree the state symbols: coat of arms, anthem and banner. Only here the banner exactly resembled the flag of Monaco. The prince of the European dwarf state reacted immediately and sent a note of protest. But the government of Indonesia, in diplomatic form, advised him to familiarize himself with the ancient history of the kingdom of Majapahit, which existed from the XIV century, the flag of which was a cloth with alternating white and red stripes. After the return of independence, the people of the country only regained their old heraldic colors.
Overcoming Awkwardness
Since neither side of the conflict wanted to change the national banner, neither the color, nor the position of the stripes relative to each other, we decided to compromise. The flag of Monaco differs from the Indonesian only in proportions. The latter is narrower. The cloth of the Monacian banner is almost a square. Its proportions are four to five. And the length and width of the state banner of Indonesia is three to five. The difference is not very noticeable, but still it is. And that's enough.