Flag of Earth

John McConnell's "Earth Day" flag

A flag designed by John McConnell in 1969 for the first Earth Day is a dark blue field charged with The Blue Marble, a famous NASA photo of the Earth as seen from outer space. The first edition of McConnell's flag used screen-printing and used different colors: ocean and land were white and the clouds were blue. McConnell presented his flag to the United Nations as a symbol for consideration.

Because of the political views of its creator and its having become a symbol of Earth Day, the flag is associated with environmental awareness, and the celebration of the global community. It was offered for sale originally in the Whole Earth Catalog, and is the only flag which was endorsed by McConnell.

The Blue Marble image was placed in the public domain, and the public nature of this image was the basis of a legal battle that resulted in the invalidation of a trademark and copyright that was originally issued to the Earth Day flag through its original promotional entity, World Equity, Inc. This does not invalidate the official history of McConnell's flag, only the official patent that was issued on it.

One Flag in Space

The One Flag in Space initiative is an offshoot of the Space Generation Congress (SGC), the Space Generation Advisory Council's yearly world meeting. It promotes usage of the Blue Marble flag for space exploration (it does not explicitly mention it being McConnell's design).

United Nations flag

Adopted in 1946, the flag of the United Nations has been used to indicate world unity, although it technically only represents the United Nations itself. It has a geographical representation of the planet, and its high visibility usage makes it a well-known contender for representing Earth. During the planning for NASA's moon landings of the 1960s, it was suggested that a UN flag be used in place of the flag of the U.S.

"World Peace Flag" of Universal Peace Congress

James William van Kirk, a minister from Youngstown, Ohio, designed in 1913 a peace flag with rainbow stripes, stars and a globe. With this flag, he twice made a peace tour through Europe. The Universal Peace Congress adopted this flag as its World Peace Flag.

Olympic flag

Designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1914 and adopted in Olympic games since 1920, the Olympic flag represents all mankind and has a white bar with 5 interlocking rings of 5 colors. The five rings represent the five continents. The six colors (including the white color of the background) represent all of the world's nations.

"World Citizen" flag of World Service Authority

The World Citizen is a social movement for global citizenship under a proposed world government. In 1953, one of its activists, Garry Davis, founded the World Service Authority, which issues the World Passport (considered a valid passport by only a few countries) with a proposed flag of the world.

Astrological Symbol of Earth

The astrological symbol of Earth is another candidate for Earth's flag, often depicted with a blue background, with the symbol at its center.

James W. Cadle's "Flag of Earth"

Another Earth flag was created around the same time in 1970 by a farmer from Homer, Illinois named James W. Cadle. Cadle's version of the Earth flag consists of a blue circle representing Earth in the center of the flag, a segment of a large yellow circle representing the sun and a small white circle for the moon, all on a black background. It is particularly popular amongst SETI researchers and is used by SETI worldwide. The flag flies at the Ohio State University Radio Observatory and was lowered to half mast when Carl Sagan died. Flag of Earth Co. International was also founded by Cadle which sold the flag. The Flag of Earth became public domain in 2003.

Magic Actions for YouTube used a small thumbnail image of this flag next to a user's name when the site couldn't determine geo-location during a comment post. (this feature has been removed)

Paul Carroll's "World Flag"

The World Flag is an international flag created in 1988 by Paul Carroll to act as a symbol to inspire "positive global change while continuing to embrace and celebrate cultural diversity." The current 2008 version of the combined World Flag has a world map 216 flags; including the flags of every UN member state, the United Nations, and several territories of larger nations.

The World Flag has been flown at the UN Headquarters for the A Prayer for Peace event, The World Trade Center, Earth Day in Central Park, and at various other events around the world.

Anne Kirstine Rønhede's "World Flag"

Another example of an international flag is a flag that was conceived by Anne Kirstine Rønhede around 2000. The purpose of the flag was to be a symbol of coexistence and peace. The flag does not belong to any organisation. This flag was supposed to exist alongside the national flags. It was designed in order to be easy to make, so that everyone who wants can make one by themself. The colors symbolize the Earth with its atmosphere in the middle of the Universe.

Oskar Pernefeldt's "International Flag of the Planet Earth"

In 2015 a Swedish artist, Oskar Pernefeldt, proposed the "International Flag of the Planet Earth". It was conceived to be used in space expeditions and it has two main purposes:

1. To be used while representing planet Earth.
2. To remind the people of Earth that we share this planet, no matter of national boundaries. That we should take care of each other and the planet we live on.

The creators predict that it will be eventually used in Mars landing in 2025 or in a future colony on that planet. The design of the flag consists of seven rings intersecting each other and a deep-blue-sea in the background. The rings are centered on the flag forming a flower in the middle, representing life on Earth. The intersection of the rings represent that all things on Earth are linked directly or indirectly. The rings are organized in a Borromean rings–like fashion, representing not only the seven continents, but how no part of Earth can be removed without the whole structure collapsing. Finally, the deep-blue represents the ocean and the importance of water for life on Earth.