Flags of the World

Flags of the World is part of the “Quick-Reference Atlases” series by Crabtree Publishing. Like other books in this series, Flags of the World is, to quote the books’ back covers, filled with “high-interest” tidbits of information and “eye-catching images”. Unfortunately, the claim that “useful maps and text provide readers with easy-to-access” information is less accurate.

The series follows the standard nonfiction format, including a table of contents, glossary, index, and a short list of books and websites with further information on the topics.

Flags of the World is organized into chapters about different sections of the world. For example, African countries are divided into chapters titled Northern and Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa.

Flag protocol, patterns, sizes, international flags, distress flags at sea, and flag records are discussed at the beginning of the book in a section titled “About flags”.

I have several concerns about Flags of the World, and the other books in this series, all of which are probably the result of trying to present too much information in too small a format. Each chapter is presented in a double page spread. Included is a map of the countries of that chapter. For example, The Caribbean shows a map of the 13 countries in the Caribbean. A smaller world map shows exactly where in the world The Caribbean is located. The Caribbean is difficult to locate on this map due to the small size. The names of each Caribbean country, capital city, population, land area in imperial and metric, and population density are listed for the countries under a small image of the flags. Small captioned photos are scattered around the map. Both the text size and the photo size are so small that it is difficult to read or examine details. Compounding the problem, some of the text is printed over a dark coloured background.

Half of one of the two pages in each chapter is a selection of “Flag facts” about some, but not all, of the countries in that chapter. Each flag fact is accompanied by an enlargement of a portion of the flag of that country. Although it is useful to have the details enlarged, it can be confusing. “Flag facts” in the North and Central America chapter shows an image of the stars only from the USA flag. The flag fact accompanying this image deals specifically with the stars. Instead of explaining that “In 1960, Hawaii joined the Union and became the 50th state”, it might have been more informative to add information about the reason for the thirteen stripes to the information about the 50 stars.

To end on a positive note, the flag fact about Canada says, “The red maple leaf is the world’s most recognized national symbol. It represents the unity of all citizens.”

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend Flags of the World even as a general interest book. If you are looking for a book about flags, look for one that has the information presented in a more reader-friendly format.