Flags

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 97. Chapters: Black Flag, Rainbow flag, Color guard, Banner, Flag desecration, Timeline of national flags, Flag of convenience, Colours, standards and guidons, Fairy Flag, Half-mast, Jolly Roger, Racing flags, Maritime flag, Blue Flag beach, Saltire, International maritime signal flags, Wiphala, White flag, Maritime flag signalling, Russian Navy Code of Signals, Flag semaphore, Naval flag signalling, Triband, Tricolour, Flag officer, Pennant, Khorugv, Flag signals, Pennon, Gonfalone, Transgender Pride flag, Standard-bearer, Swallowtail, Standard Bearer of England, Civil flag, Genderqueer pride flag, Umbul-umbul, Burgee, Red flag, Flag patch, Saint Alban's Cross, Flag of the Qing Dynasty, Miniature flag, Flag of the Treinta y Tres, Green flag, Car flag, Flags of stateless nations, Broad pennant. Excerpt: This page lists the different number of flags and/or modifications made on the flags of current sovereign nations since beginning of the 18th century. The term flag of convenience describes the business practice of registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the regulations of the owner's country. The closely-related term open registry is used to describe an organization that will register ships owned by foreign entities. The term "flag of convenience" has been in use since the 1950s and refers to the civil ensign a ship flies to indicate its country of registration or flag state. A ship operates under the laws of its flag state, and these laws are used if the ship is involved in an admiralty case. The modern practice of flagging ships in foreign countries began in the 1920s in the United States, when shipowners frustrated by increased regulations and rising labor costs began to register their ships to Panama. The use of flags of convenience steadily increased, and in 1968, Liberia grew to surpass the United Kingdom as the world's largest shipping register. As of 2009, more than half of the world¿s merchant ships are registered under flags of convenience, and the Panamanian, Liberian, and Marshallese flags of convenience account for almost 40% of the entire world fleet, in terms of deadweight tonnage. Flag-of-convenience registries are often criticized. As of 2009, thirteen flag states have been found by international shipping organizations to have substandard regulations. A basis for many criticisms is that the flag-of-convenience system allows shipowners to be legally anonymous and difficult to prosecute in civil and criminal actions. Ships with flags of convenience have been found engaging in crime and terrorism, frequently offer substandard working conditions, and negatively impac