The TOP 10: Best National Flags Featuring Birds

Who can deny the power of the bird as a national symbol? Certainly not the nations that make up the ABA Area. The United States has been associated with the Bald Eagle for as long as it has been a nation, and though the Common Loon has only officially been on Canadian currency since 1987, the “loonie” is as much a part of Canadian culture as the maple leaf and the mountie, so much so that the Royal Canadian Mint secured the rights to the name. Good luck to the Gray Jay in achieving that sort of saturation. Even oft-forgotten St. Pierre et Miquelon gets into the fun, though the Gallic rooster gets docked for being a domestic bird.

There are a handful of nations that even splash their ornithophiliac tendencies right on their national flags. And we are going to celebrate them today, amateur ornithologists and vexililologists one and all.

Criteria for ranking is entirely my own, but weight is given for novelty, artistry, and ornithological accuracy, which means the various double-headed eagles of eastern Europe don’t make the cut here (not to mention the much rarer and more grotesque triple-headed eagle). At least not when there is a veritable field guide of creative bird iconography to choose from. So without further ado…

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