Flag design or Vexillology is an interesting field of design. There are a few things to keep in mind when designing a flag.
Firstly, flag design needs to be kept simple and bold, because it is not a flat page or sign, it is flexible material that blows in the wind, and will not be readable with too much intricate detail. It is often also viewed at a great distance as they are flown high on buildings, staffs and bridges in some cases. Ideally it would be a simple and bold design that a child could recognize and redraw. Simple but effective. This also makes for an iconic flag design that is well remembered by everyone.
Elements of flag designs often draw on icons of history and may use images, shapes or colours that relate to the history of a place. Some research should be done or information provided to find out what elements are most representative of the place that the flag is designed for. Flags do not generally contain any text and are best limited to 3 or 4 colours if possible, that contrast well. That being said, the south african flag design shown above is one of my favourite flag designs and utilizes more than 4 colours. Nevertheless the design is still simple, contrasting and bold.
To set up flag design ideally you would create it in vector art format that can be scaled to any size, in a program such as Adobe Illustrator.
