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Vertical Tri-Bars
by Mason Kaye

The tri-bar (a flag of three stripes) is one of the most popular and widespread designs in the history of flags. Both the horizontal and vertical forms are widely used.

Last year I studied horizontal tri-bars. See NAVA NEWS No. 31: Jan.-Feb. 1998. I drew all horizontal tri-bars possible using red, white, blue, green, yellow, and black. I identified those that were actual flags, ignoring fimbriations and charges, and allowing unequal bars.

While I found that actual flags exist for 55% of all possible combinations, I found that flags exist for 85% of the heraldically correct ones. It appears that most of the "good" combinations have been taken. I found flags for only 41% of the non-heraldically correct ones.

This year I researched vertical tri-bars. Again, there are 150 possible combinations of the six colors (excluding the ones that have two or three bars of the same color nest to each other). To make the analysis comparable, I used all the same resources to research vertical tri-bars as I did for horizontal tri-bars; everything found in my dad's flag library, including over 50 flag books and long runs of The Flag Bulletin, VDCN Info-Bulletin, and of course, NAVA NEWS.

I identified 40 flags out of the 140 combinations. I tried to find one country and two unusual places for each combination. I'm up to 74 flags, total. The countries that seem to have produced the most vertical tri-bars are Germany and the Netherlands.

I found that red is used most frequently; followed by white and yellow (tied); followed by blue, green, and black -exactly the same sequence as in horizontal tri-bars. Some color combinations (stripes placed next to each other) are used more than others. Red and yellow appear together most frequently, then white and blue, red and white, and blue and yellow. Blue and green, and black and blue do not appear together at all.

The set of red-yellow-blue appears most frequently; five out of the six ways the colors can be combined are indeed actual flags. In second place is the red-white-blue combinations; four out of the six ways the colors can he combined are actual flags. Several sets of colors are not used at all. In tri-bars that use only two colors, only 13 pairs of colors are used; 17 are not. By comparison, 29 color pairs are used in horizontal tri-bars. White and yellow (the "metals") are found in the middle most frequently, perhaps because there are more combinations of colors that need separation by a metal, than combinations of metals that need separation by a color.

Out of the 150 possible combinations, only 48 are strictly heraldically correct (i.e., follow the rule of tincture). I found existing flags for 27% of all possible combinations, but similar to my findings with horizontal tri-bars, I found 58% of the heraldically correct patterns had been taken, but only 12% of the non-heraldically ones were actually in use.

I found about twice as many "real" horizontal tri-bars as I did "real" vertical tri-bars. I can think of several reasons why:

1. Design consideration: If a vertical tri-bar is flapping in the wind, generally the middle is partly covered, hiding the flag's middle bar. A horizontal tri-bar, however, won't have its middle bar covered up, because it runs the length of the flag.
2. Symbolism: Tri-bars often symbolize things like sky, ocean, crops, or land; all of which occur horizontally in nature. It is more difficult to depict natural features with vertical stripes.
3. History: Many national flags are based on the designs of other flags, such as when a colony gains independence. The horizontal tri-bar-through the Netherlands, Russia, and Latin America- had more numerical influence than France's vertical tri-bar, the Tricolor. See D. Healy, Evolutionary Vexillology, RAVEN, vol. 1, 1994.
4. Construction: Horizontal tri-bars of large proportions may be easier to make than vertical ones; bolts of fabric can be sewn together lengthwise, rather than up and down.

Here's the color combinations of vertical tri-bars that I'm still missing:

 If you find a flag I missed, please send me a letter listing it and your source. I am hoping to give a presentation about tri-bars at the 18^th International Congress of Vexillology in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada this summer. If you wish to see a copy of my list of vertical tri-bars, please send me a self-addressed stamped envelope, and I'll be happy to send you a copy. My mailing addresses and e-mail address is:

Mason Kaye
2235 N.W. Aspen
Portland, Oregon 97210-1218 USA

Special thanks to those who responded to my horizontal tri-bar article: Peter Orenski, David Ott, John S. Kowalski, Erwin Gunther (from Germany) and Larry Wentworth.

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