Civil flag

{{Short description|Flag that is flown by civilians on nongovernmental installations or craft}}

{{Refimprove|date=August 2018}}

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| image1 = Flag of Peru.svg

| alt1 = Civil flag of Peru

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| image2 = Flag of Peru (state).svg

| alt2 = State flag of Peru

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| footer = The civil and state flags of Peru share the same red and white bands, but only the state flag (right) is defaced with the national ensign.

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A civil flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on nongovernmental installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past to denote buildings or ships not crewed by the military.{{cite book|last=Kamath|first=Anjali|title=Flag Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5HxLS-NKLIC&pg=PT5|year=2009|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=Mumbai|isbn=978-81-7991-512-7|page=5}}

In some countries, the civil flag is the same as the state flag but without the coat of arms, such as in the case of flags from Peru,{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Flag of Peru |last=Smith |first=Whitney |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=10 May 2019 |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Peru }} Serbia{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Flag of Serbia |last=Smith |first=Whitney |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=30 October 2013 |access-date=10 May 2019 |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Serbia }} and Spain. In others, it is an alteration of the war flag.

In Scandinavia, state and war flags can be double and triple-tailed variants of the Nordic Cross flag. Many countries, particularly those with a British heritage, still have distinctive civil flags (technically civil ensigns) for use at sea, many based on the Red Ensign.