Why Some Flags on the World Flag Chart Carry Numbered Footnotes

The numbered footnotes on the World Flag Chart mark flags whose status, recognition, or usage needs a short explanation. A plain flag entry means the chart treats it as straightforward; a number means the flag is official-but-shared, unofficial-but-popular, or part of a multi-flag arrangement that a single image cannot convey. The notes cluster in regions with overlapping sovereignty, independence movements, or Indigenous and cultural flags — Oceania, the Caribbean, and North America in particular.

What the footnotes actually tell you

Each number is a status qualifier, not a ranking or a popularity score. From the chart's own notes, three recurring types appear:

• Joint or shared official status. Wallis and Futuna's ʻUvea flag is "flown alongside the French tricolour as a joint national flag," and within the territory it has "equal status with the flags of the kingdoms of Alo and Sigave," with all three flown together at the territorial assembly.
• Unofficial but widely used. Anguilla's dolphin flag is "the unofficial but popular cultural flag of the island, dating back to Anguilla's unrecognized secession in 1967." Saint Pierre and Miquelon's is "a popular but unofficial local flag." Guadeloupe's is "an unofficial flag flown by nationalists."
• Cultural rather than governmental. The Saint Martin unity flag is "a common cultural flag representing both the French and Dutch halves of the island."

A fourth pattern is legal permission: Anguilla's blue ensign is "the official flag of the British overseas territory, flown by the government and allowed to be flown by anyone."

Why the chart needs them

Flags are usually presented as one country, one flag. That model breaks down in places where:

1. Sovereignty is split or layered — Saint Martin (French and Dutch), Wallis and Futuna (three kingdom flags plus France).
2. A territory has an official flag and a separate popular one — Anguilla, Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
3. A flag represents a people, not a state — Aboriginal Australians, Māori, Acadia, and the many Indigenous nations listed under North America.
4. A movement flies a flag without recognition — Guadeloupe's nationalist flag, Anguilla's 1967 secession flag.

Without the footnote, a reader would assume the flag shown is the official national flag. The number is the chart's way of saying "this needs a sentence."

How to read a numbered entry

Use the footnote to answer one question: who flies this, and with what standing?

If you are citing a flag for a project, the footnote tells you whether to call it official, unofficial, or cultural — and whether more than one flag applies to the same place.

Common points of confusion

• A number does not mean "less real." Several numbered flags are official; the note exists because the situation is compound.
• Multiple numbers in one territory is normal. Wallis and Futuna carries three separate notes because three kingdom flags share status.
• The same place can have an official and an unofficial flag. Anguilla appears twice — blue ensign (official) and dolphin flag (unofficial).
• Cultural flags cross borders. The Saint Martin unity flag and the Saint Martin (French)/(Dutch) entries show that one island can generate several distinct flags.

What to do with this

If you only need the flag image, ignore the number. If you need to describe, cite, or display a flag accurately, read the footnote first and match its wording — official, unofficial, cultural, or joint — to your use. When a territory has several numbered flags, decide which one your context calls for rather than assuming the first listed is the national flag.