The black-white-red striped German imperial flag was adopted by the North German Confederation in 1867, as a combination of the black-white of Prussia and the red-white of Brandenburg. In 1871 it was adopted as merchant flag for the German Empire, and in 1892 declared to be the national flag of the Second Reich and continued in use until 1918. It was briefly reintroduced later just prior to World War II between 1933 and 1935, and used jointly with the Nazi swastika flag, then banned as "reactionary."

This naval war ensign was used from 1867 to 1892 by both the German Confederation and the Second Reich at sea. It had a white field, a black and white cross, and a small black-white-red flag with a black Iron Cross in the canton.

This was the German War Flag used from 1892 to 1903. It was changed when the Germany army began to use this flag as a war flag on land. After Wilhelm II succeeded to the Second Reich throne in 1888, this flag, with its redesigned Prussian eagle and Imperial arms overlaid in the middle on a white disc, came into used until the flags last change in 1903.

This was the German War Flag used from 1903 to the end of World War I in 1918. The Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered the design changed in 1902 because he felt it looked too similar to the British White Ensign under certain lighting conditions.

This pennant-like naval ensign had several variants with different initials added to either side of the anchor emblem, but they all acted as an Inland Waterways Service Ensign. These dove-tailed flags were also called the "Kingdom of Prussia War and Civil Ensigns" or simply "Royal Ships Ensigns." The eagle used on them was based on the shield design used on the old national flag of the Kingdom of Prussia and was also used on the Imperial German War Ensign.

This was the jack used by all Imperial German warships between 1903 and 1919 and later briefly reintroduced between 1933 and 1935. It was replaced by the swastika type in 1935.

This was the joint Austro-Hungarian flag brought in sometime after the 1867 compromise which gave Hungary home rule. The version more familiar was the joint naval ensign which has crowned shields for Austria and Hungary on it.

On June 28, 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by a "Young Bosnia" assassination team trained in Serbia led to a declaration of war on Serbia by Austria-Hungary. The successful assassination attempt was masterminded by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb and member of the terrorist group.

This version of the Austro-Hungarian war ensign showed the coat of arms for Hungary and Austria. The hundred and fifty year old Austrian naval ensign was adapted to the new times with the addition of the second coat of arms to represent the Hungarian half of the Monarchy and the green portion of the bottom stripe. The Austrian coat of arms was crowned with the imperial crown and the Hungary coat of arms was topped with the crown of St. Stephen.

The Flag of the Ottoman Empire

Red has been prominent in Turkish flags for 700 years. The star and crescent are Muslim symbols, but also have a long pre-Islamic past in Asia Minor. The basic form of the national flag was apparently established in 1793 under Sultan Selim III, when the green flags used by the navy were changed to a red field with a white crescent and multipronged star on it.

Since the first French Revolution the “tricolor” has been the only official French flag. The colors are basically those of the City of Paris (red and blue) dating from the day of the storming of the Bastille, mixed with the Royal white.

The golden flag with black Romanov coat of arms holding 4 scrolls was used between 1699 and 1917 as the personal flag of the Russian Czar. This flag symbolized the union of the Czar and his people.

Combines the Cross of Saint Andrew (Scotland) with the Cross of Saint George (England) and the Cross of Saint Patrick (Northern Ireland).

The White Ensign became the sole ensign of the Royal Navy in 1864. Nelson used the White Ensign at Trafalgar, it replaced the traditional Red Ensign which became the merchant ensign.

The green, white, and red tricolor flag had the Savoy coat of arms on the center white stripe. The coat of arms dated back to the Republic of Noli which used a white cross on a red flag. (Genoa's more famous coat of arms used a red cross on a white field, which was adopted by the Crusaders and England.)

The Royal Italian Navy was born on March 17, 1861, with the merging of the Royal Sardinian Navy, the Neapolitan Army of the Sea and the Navy of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The Pontifical Navy would be added in 1871. At the date of its creation, the "Regia Marina" adopted this flag for all warships and merchant ships. This was the flag used by all Royal Italian warships between 1861-1946. While the national flag/civil ensign had the Savoy arms, uncrowned, the naval ensign (Bandiera da Guerra) was different because it had a crown over the arms.

In 1912, two stars were added to the United States flag, representing Arizona and New Mexico, bringing the total number of stars to 48. American fighting men would fight under this flag in World War I in 1917 and 1918.

A jack is a flag that looks like the union or canton of a national flag. For ships of the United States Navy, it is a blue flag containing a star for each state. On warships, the jack is flown from a flag pole (jack-staff) located on the vessel's front end (bow) when at anchor or in port. American fighting ships would display this jack in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

In 1910, Wayne Whipple, a well-known author of popular books on American history, proposed a meaningful design for the star pattern of the flag. His idea was that the central 13 stars should represent the original states as on the great seal, then to surround them with a ring of 25 stars representing the states that joined the Union in the first 100 years, and then finally have a ring of ten stars representing the states that joined in the second hundred years. He called his design a History flag. He then challeged students who read his books to come up with their ideas for a meaningful star arrangement.

Another struggle raged during this period of time, the woman's struggle to get the right to vote in the United States. This was the flag of the National Woman's Party (NWP). Alice Paul and Lucy Burns founded the organization, originally under the name "Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage" in 1913; but by 1917, the name had been changed to the "National Women's Party." They became the first political group to picket the White House. Their action was viewed as unpatriotic when World War I began in 1917, and they were assaulted, beaten, arrested, and imprisoned. Finally, President Wilson changed his position to support women's suffrage, but, by the time the 19th amendment passed in 1920, over a 165 "Suffragettes" had served prison sentences.