【趣谈英语】瑞士的旗帜-Switzerland Has A Square Flag

（单词翻译）

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• Vatican City: the state in Rome where the Pope resides
• sovereign state: a region where people and their government live inside a border
• ensign: a flag or banner
• humanitarian¹: related to the assistance of humans in need
• generic²: related to a general group or idea rather than a specific brand or organization
• erroneously: in error; incorrectly

Switzerland Has A Square Flag

Other than Vatican City, Switzerland is the only sovereign state that has a square flag. The flag features a red background and a white cross. The Swiss flag was adopted in 1889, and is one of the oldest flags in the world. It was first used as a military ensign in the 1300s. The humanitarian movement known as The Red Cross uses the inverted³ colour scheme for its flag as a tribute to its founder⁴ Henri Dunant who was Swiss. The Red Cross emblem⁵ is often used in a generic way to identify medical equipment, personnel, and facilities. You will often see it on First Aid kits⁶ or on hospital signs. These medical emblems⁷ often erroneously feature the Swiss colours instead of the Red Cross colours. For example, it is not uncommon⁸ to see an emergency service worker wearing a uniform with a Swiss flag on it.