Antarctica is the coolest and most complicatedly claimed continent on Earth, yet it sadly has no official flag to unite her. However, there is an Antarctica-associated flag, but it is not official and comes with an ownership asterisk. This is because Antarctica is not an official country and thus has no citizens to officiate anything. Despite this, people everywhere want to fly flags, and the first one was flown in 1929 by an early research vessel which flew a white sheet as a flag of courtesy for passing through Antarctica’s waters. This design did not catch on, however, and was only spotted sporadically on subsequent ships until 1997 when a company, Multimedia Corporation, was developing a video game, The 3D World Atlas. They noticed Antarctica’s flag absence and deputized a designer to draw one, who took a cue from the United Nations flag and borrowed the same colors as a nod to neutrality. This flag debuted to young flag fans everywhere, including some who would grow up to end up on Antarctica. Despite being a great flag, its origin raises some questions of copyright as it was commissioned by a company and thus the company may control the copyright. In 2018, a new Antarctic flag, public domain, came on the scene. It starts with the snow and ice white sheet from before, but adds above the dark skies that dominate the continent for six months a year. A mountain in the center uplifts, for unlike in the north, there’s an actual land under the ice, and it casts a shadow to create the symbol of a compass pointing south. The design of the flag of Antarctica mirrors the northernmost flag on the northernmost continent, but with the colors flipped in order to represent the flipped pole placement. This creates a 3D effect that gives a hint of a modern, technological vibe, which is fitting considering the technology needed to “conquer” this continent. Although it’s totally unintentional, I’m going to gleefully call it a nod to the 3D World Atlas, connecting this flag to its predecessors. I could talk about flags all day, but I’ll keep it short by saying that when you spot this rare flag, you’ll know that it is of Antarctica, and anyone watching will have their day brightened out of the six months of darkness.