National flags are rarely protected by copyright as most are too old for copyrights to apply. The original authors of the Tricolore, the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack are long dead and their work are in the public domain copyright-wise.

However there are trademark concerns around the use of national flags in logos. According to article 6 c in the Paris Convention on the Protection of Industrial Property a trademark cannot be registered if it contains “armorial bearings, flags, and other State emblems, of the countries of the Union, official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted by them, and any imitation from a heraldic point of view”.

I know most about the practice of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. They will only register trademarks using the Danish flag as long as the trademark is intended for use of products of Danish origin as as well as they will only register trademarks using the civil flag – a special government permission is needed for registration of trademarks using the Danish state flag.

Trademarks using foreign flags will not be registered unless they are already registered in the country of the foreign flag, or unless that state has given permission.

Furthermore the flags used in a trademark has to have a connection to the products or services offered so that consumers will not be given a false impression of the geographical origin of the product.

However there are other uses that are permissible. For instance using the colours of a flag is not the same as using the flag. While it might be difficult to get the Stars and Stripes registered for use on a product produced elsewhere it is completely legitimate to create a red, white and blue trademark for that product.

Rules regarding the use of national flags vary from country to country and it would be wise to check out the legislation and contacting the relevant authorities before using the flag of a country.

Furthermore one should be careful using flags. Special legislation might protect them in addition to copyright and trademark law. For instance you need permission from the police to fly a foreign flag in public in Denmark.

So before using flags in a design one should be careful to check the relevant legislation.

Similar rules can apply to regional, local and ethnic flags. However the picture is more muddled here. While some regional flags enjoy an official status, others are just cultural symbols with no official sanction. If those unofficial flags are in the public domain because the copyright has either expired or has been relinquished they are free to use as well as any other public domain symbol.

Regarding flags of private organisations and companies the rule of thumb is to leave them alone unless you have permission from the organisation. These flags will often be of such recent date that copyright still applies and the flags and the symbols used in them will often be trademarks of the organisation.

One thing I do want to add is that this short version of a cross (like the Swiss flag), after being promoted by the International Red Cross movement, has completely lost its religious meaning in some part of the world. I am thinking how in China the symbol now acts purely as an emblem or a sign for medicine. This happens when you put a cruciform sign in a place where Christianity is more-or-less unheard of. It has nothing to do with Churches opening hospitals or Christianity’s identification with health care; the semiotics behind the cross purely came from the Red Cross movement.

By the way, somehow Chinese have decided to adopt a modified version of the cross. The colors were reversed, making it look like a Swiss flag, but not exactly Swiss because the cross isn’t framed in a square or rectangle. Instead they made up this flower-like frame, kind of like a red cloverleaf, with a white cross in the middle. Don’t know why.

Tim

Roberta,

The Johnson & Johnson issue with the Red Cross is an interesting one, and I touched upon it in my original Red Cross logo post.

Tjeerd,

No need to apologise at all. I’m sure you have much more important things on your plate.

Andrew,

There’s certainly another article on what you mention (symbols becoming logos and vice versa). If you choose to work on it, I look forward to that.

Don’t forget about the Johnson & Johnson cross. They had been going back and forth with the American Red Cross for quite some time about their use of the red cross. They actually sued them. You can read more about that here: http://www.jnj.com/connect/news/corporate/20080617_160000

Great post btw :-)