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Flags of Antarctica
Flag of the British Antarctic Territory The nations of the Antarctic Treaty use their own national flags at their respective Antarctic research bases, though the British Territorial claim on Antarctica has it's own flag.
There is no official flag for Antarctica per se (the Antarctic Treaty Organization has no flag either), but there have appeared in various books over the years two different designs: one designed by Dr. Whitney Smith, the other by Mr. Graham Bertram.
Whitney Smith Design (1978) Graham Bertram Design (1996) The Whitney Smith Design uses the high-visibility color Orange as it's background (It's the international rescue color, it contrasts the best against snow, and to avoid any confusion, is unlike any other national flag on Earth). The emblem consists of several components. 'A' stands for Antarctica. The bottom segment of the globe repesents Antarctica's position on Earth, while the two hands holding up the globe segment repesents peaceful human use. The emblem is colored white to represent the snow and ice of Antarctica and is offset toward the hoist of the flag so as to maintain it's integrity should the flag fray badly in the high winds prevalent upon the continent.
The Graham Bertram Design uses the United Nations flag as it's model. A plain white map of the continent on a UN Blue background symbolizes neutrality (Mr. Bertram was well aware of the overlapping territorial claims of Great Britain, Chile, and Argentina when he designed the flag). This flag has actually been flown on the Antarctic Continent as recently as 2002, when Mr. Bertram took several copies of the flag on an Antarctic cruise.
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