PSA for web designers: flags have ratios!

I was more than a little interested with flags as a kid. I loved learning about the history of their designs, what they represented, their aesthetics, and how they’re used in different settings. Point out a national flag (and even some supranational and subordinate flags), and I’ll almost certainly be able to tell you the political entity it represents, the symbolism behind specific features, and what flags upon which they’re based (where applicable). Have you ever wondered why the five pointed star seems so ubiquitous, yet doesn’t appear on most European flags? Why the Union Flag is in a whole bunch of stuff? Why Malaysia and the US both have red and white stripes? Oh boy, one day I might answer all these, along with far more information you definitely don’t need in your life. (That’s not to say I didn’t get this wrong. I had the Artsakh flag on my wall for years as a kid, thinking it was the flag of Armenia. I guess I wasn’t too far off). Besides niche diplomatic roles,…