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0.2 Identifying the flags of the souvenir of egypt

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Flag 2

Flag 2
Here we have the second of the two most dominant flags on the silk. Let's note a few key details about the flag: it includes a red cross bordered with white on a blue background,with another tilted cross (or X) across it. Since we have already explored some print resources,let's look for more resources online.

Let's perform a basic search on line for "flags of the world"; any search engine will do. The first link to come up looks promising:

World Flag Database: (External Link)

Visit the site and select the search option.

Now we are presented with a truly unique kind of search page. The problem of having to search for images rather than for words has been solvedby this site in a very creative manner, as you can see. The options are pretty general, so you can search for the same image in a variety of ways. We havechosen the following:

Searching for flags with cross, red, and blue.
The results bring up more questions than answers, however. There seems to be a variety of applications for the motif of our flag and in a number ofplaces.
Sample flags with our patterns
But there are a few that seem to be a close match.

Selecting the image entitled United Kingdom provides us with the following information.

Information about the United Kingdom from World Flag Database, (External Link)
A little short of what we have found in other resources. But we can take this information and perform a new search for more extensive information. Let'senter "flag united kingdom" into Google to see what we get.
History of Flag of United Kingdom from Flagspot.net (External Link)
Here we are, the flag and its history. The page on the flag's history tells us that the "Modern flag" of the United Kingdom was adopted in 1801.
Of course, when we are using online sources, we need to make sure that they are credible. By visiting the site home page, we find that flagspot.net is a member of the officialorganization for the study of flags (called vexillology) and that there is an editorial staff that maintains the pages, so we can probably trust this information.

Flag 3

Flag 3
We note that flag three includes green, white, and red stripes. Within the white field is whatappears to be a white cross on a red shield (?) topped with a yellow or gold crown of some sort. Rather than browse through pages and pages of illustration plates, let's see what the World Flag Database can tell us about this combination of colors and bars. First we search for vertical stripes with white or grey, red, and any green.

We find a few options, most having to do with Italy, but none is an exact match. For instance

National Flag of Italy
Let's take the information we have gathered from this source and use it to explore other sources.

Our most recent publication, Whitney Smith, presents us with the following image of Italian flags that is close to ours but missing a few important elements.

Flag of Kingdom of Italy, 1848-1946, Smith
We also find this description of the flag's history:
"On 23 March 1848 King Charles Albert of Sardinia ordered his troops about to go to war with the Austrian forces who occupied northern Italy, to carry the Italian Tri-color. Inactual practice many variations appeared, but officially the center of the white stripe was to bear the red shield and white cross of the House of Savoy, surrounded by a blue border. Thesame model on 15 April 1848 replaced the former Sardinian civil ensign and, with the crown above the shield, also became the war ensign. Subsequently, civil and military regulationswere issued dealing with certain details of the usage and design of this flag."
>Although we find no crown over our ensign, we find it described in the notes. Let's try Hulme's work to find out more.
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Source:  OpenStax, Understanding material culture: deciphering the imagery of the "souvenir of egypt". OpenStax CNX. Oct 08, 2006 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col10301/1.7
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