Flag of Malta

How to read it

Article 3 of Malta’s constitution says the national flag consists of two equal vertical stripes, white in the hoist and red in the fly, with a representation of the George Cross awarded by King George VI on 15 April 1942 carried, edged with red, in the canton of the white stripe. The cross went on the flag at the start of 1943, and the present flag was adopted on independence day, 21 September 1964, Store norske leksikon says; it is also the state flag and the naval ensign. Under the Emblem and Public Seal of Malta Act, nobody may put the national flag into a design without the Prime Minister’s written authority, or vilify or deface it in public.

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The George Cross in the corner

The George Cross is the civilian counterpart of the Victoria Cross, instituted by King George VI in September 1940 and usually given to individuals; Malta was the first Commonwealth country to receive it, says The Gazette, the UK’s official public record. The island had been under almost constant air attack since 1940. The King wrote the citation in his own hand, in a letter to the governor, Sir William Dobbie: “To honour her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history.”

Heritage Malta’s research in the Royal Archives at Windsor found that the award followed a letter to The Times of London, published on 10 April 1942, suggesting that Malta be honoured. The cross was presented in Valletta on 13 September 1942. The King’s message and the cross are in the War Museum at Fort St Elmo in Valletta, The Gazette says.

Telling it from other red and white flags

Malta’s two halves are vertical, white by the pole, and the George Cross sits in the top corner of the white. Poland’s flag is white over red and Monaco’s red over white, both in horizontal stripes and with nothing on them.

The red flag with a white cross

Malta’s merchant flag, adopted in 1955, is a different flag: red, with a white border on every side and a white Maltese cross in the middle, Store norske leksikon says. It follows the red flag with a white cross of the Order of St John, which the encyclopedia takes as the likelier model for the red of Malta’s colours. An unconfirmed tradition says Count Roger I of Sicily gave Malta a red and white flag in 1091, after taking the island from Muslim rule.

The flag in the coat of arms

Malta’s emblem is a shield showing the national flag in heraldic form, under a gold mural crown with a sally port and eight turrets, five of them visible, for the fortifications of Malta, the Emblem and Public Seal of Malta Act says. Around the shield are an olive branch and a palm, symbols of peace, tied with a ribbon reading REPUBBLIKA TA’ MALTA. It was adopted on 28 October 1988.