Civil flag

{{Short description|Flag that is flown by civilians on nongovernmental installations or craft}} {{Refimprove|date=August 2018}}  A '''civil flag''' is a version of a flag, usually a national flag that is flown by civilians on non-governmental installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past to denote buildings or ships not crewed by the military.<ref name=Kamath2009>{{cite book|last=Kamath|first=Anjali|title=Flag Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5HxLS-NKLIC&pg=PT5|year=2009|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=Mumbai|isbn=978-81-7991-512-7|page=5}}</ref>

In some countries, the civil flag is the same as the state flag but without the coat of arms or national emblem,<ref name=Kamath2009/> such as in the case of the flags of Peru<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Flag of Peru |last=Smith |first=Whitney |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=10 May 2019 |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Peru }}</ref> or Serbia.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Flag of Serbia |last=Smith |first=Whitney |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=30 October 2013 |access-date=10 May 2019 |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Serbia }}</ref> In others, it is an alteration of the war flag.

In Scandinavia, state and war flags can be double and triple-tailed variants of the Nordic cross flag. Many countries, particularly those with a British heritage, still have distinctive civil flags (technically civil ensigns) for use at sea, many based on the Red Ensign.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{Cite book|chapter=Flags of the World |title=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ea-bAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2117|year=2008|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. |location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-59339-492-9|at=Flags of the World|ref={{SfnRef|Britannica Concise Encyclopedia|2006}}}}

== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Civil and merchant ensigns}}

Category:Types of flags