Last modified: 2019-02-08 by peter hans van den muijzenberg
Keywords: baum (l. frank) | oz | ozma | royal | ozmies | munchkins | gillikins | winkies | quadlings | emerald city | map | star | emerald |
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The land of Oz is divided into four small countries: Munchkin Country to
the east, Winkie Country to the west, Quadling Country to the south, and
Gillikin Country to the north. The capital, the Emerald City, lies in
the exact center of the country. These are all represented exactly on
the flag.
Mason Kaye, 30 June 2004
Check the Seamonkey Oz Site for a "real" map of the Land of Oz.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 June 2004
There is much discussion about this; a good primer is at The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Website Wiki.
"T. Mike", 22 February 2005
image by "T. Mike", 23 February 2005
A flag is mentioned in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908) Chapter. 17. The Nine Tiny Piglets (Gutenberg Project):
After breakfast Ozma announced that she had ordered a holiday to be observed throughout the Emerald City, in honor of her visitors. The people had learned that their old Wizard had returned to them and all were anxious to see him again, for he had always been a rare favorite. So first there was to be a grand procession through the streets, after which the little old man was requested to perform some of his wizardries in the great Throne Room of the palace. In the afternoon there were to be games and races.The procession was very imposing. First came the Imperial Cornet Band of Oz, dressed in emerald velvet uniforms with slashes of pea-green satin and buttons of immense cut emeralds. They played the National air called "The Oz Spangled Banner," and behind them were the standard bearers with the Royal flag. This flag was divided into four quarters, one being colored sky-blue, another pink, a third lavender and a fourth white. In the center was a large emerald-green star, and all over the four quarters were sewn spangles that glittered beautifully in the sunshine. The colors represented the four countries of Oz, and the green star the Emerald City."
Sounds hideous, doesn't it? My question is: Does "divided into four
quarters" mean dividing the flag horizontally and vertically, or
diagonally from corner to corner? I tried my hand at crudely visualizing the Royal Banner of Oz,
but since the description is vague, I don't know how accurate it is.
This fits the description, but is quartered diagonally instead of horizontally and vertically,
as that is what is usually portrayed.
"T. Mike", 22 & 23 February 2005
It looks hideous, too. But the image meets the quoted description, so it
must be it. Note that this is referred to as the Oz Royal flag; the usual
flag maybe the Oz "national" flag. I'd say "divided into four quarters" means dividing
the flag diagonally, to match the other flag, which is a stylized map.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 24 February 2005
The flag of the mythical land of OZ is described in Chapter 5, Paragraph Two of "The Magic of OZ" by L. Frank Baum, 1919.
James J. Ferrigan III, 6 December 1998
Here's the actual public domain text (from the gutenberg project website):
The Magic of Oz (1919); Chapter 5. A Happy Corner of Oz
In the center of the Emerald City of Oz, the capital city of Ozma's dominions, is a vast and beautiful garden, surrounded by a wall inlaid with shining emeralds, and in the center of this garden stands Ozma's Royal Palace, the most splendid building ever constructed. From a hundred towers and domes floated the banners of Oz, which included the Ozmies, the Munchkins, the Gillikins, the Winkies and the Quadlings. The banner of the Munchkins is blue, that of the Winkies yellow; the Gillikin banner is purple, and the Quadling's banner is red. The colors of the Emerald City are of course green. Ozma's own banner has a green center, and is divided into four quarters. These quarters are colored blue, purple, yellow and red, indicating that she rules over all the countries of the Land of Oz.
"T. Mike", 22 February 2005
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 24 February 2005
This flag does not match the description of the banner of Ozma in the book.
The book's text does not mention the "O" and "Z" device in the middle.
"T. Mike", 22 February 2005
The "Oz" monogram is not mentioned, indeed, but the description is vague enough to allow it, according to
whoever designed the commercially available flag.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 24 February 2005
In "The Annotated Wizard of Oz", there is a color illustration of the flag of Oz,
taken from the book "Glinda of Oz." In this version, the upper quadrant is dark blue,
the lower red, the right yellow, and the left light blue. In the center is an
eight-sided emerald, longer sides on the right and left, "graded" (I
don't know the technical term) up to the flat top, which bears a white
(outlined in black) intertwined "OZ"- the left side of the Z above the
O, the right side of the O above the Z.
Nathan Lamm, 13 March 2005
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 February 2012
I have been a member of the In'tl Wizard of OZ Club for decades, and I can tell you
the color scheme on the "OZ Flag": The blue triangle should be on the
'fly' quarter (Saltire) of the flag; the yellow triangle should be on the
'hoist' quarter; the 'upper' (top) triangle should be light purple; the bottom
triangle should be red (crimson). The "OZ" logo should be 'gold or silver' (the "gold" differing from
the 'yellow' of the hoist triangle, and it should have a thin circle of emerald green surrounding it as well as the 'between' letters spaces.
There are a number of sources to confirm this.
J. Thomas Kidd, 11 October 2011
image by António Martins-Tuválkin after a photo from James Ferrigan
The lavender and orange depicted should be purple and red. Also, the placement of
the colors is wrong. The colors are supposed to match the 4 quadrants
of the land of Oz. So the proper placement would be purple on top, red on bottom, yellow
on the left, and blue on the right.
"T. Mike", 22 February 2005
image by Mason Kaye from the 4 X 6 flag collection of Don Klett, 30 June 2004
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 February 2012
The flag depicted here matches this one for sale commercially:
Donna Stewart-Hardway
Munchkin Made Wizard of Oz Flag Store.
"T. Mike", 22 February 2005
In that case, we have something worth keeping: the actual flag, as
described in the book and a commercially available incorrect depiction
that is likely to be found in real world.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 24 February 2005
I don't know if the design of the Flag of Oz can be defined as a "map on flag", unless the borders are perfectly straight, as in the flag, and the central Emerald City is indeed round and resembles the central symbol on the flag.
David Kendall, 30 June 2004
According to A. Manguel and G. Guadalupi's excellent Dictionary of imaginary places they are very nearly as depicted on the flag. The borders wobble a bit, but they do fall very much on a saltire.
James Dignan, 1 July 2004
The Magic of Oz (1919); Chapter 5. A Happy Corner of Oz (Gutenberg Project):
From a hundred towers and domes floated the banners of Oz, which included the Ozmies, the Munchkins, the Gillikins, the Winkies and the Quadlings. The banner of the Munchkins is blue, that of the Winkies yellow; the Gillikin banner is purple, and the Quadling's banner is red. The colors of the Emerald City are of course green.
"T. Mike", 22 February 2005
Could we assume that plain flags in the indicated colors were used as "subnational" flags?
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 June 2004