"Flag of Spain" vs "Spain flag"

[aparisius]

"Flag of Spain" vs "Spain flag"<-----Topic added to post by moderator----->

Hi!
Can you tell me if there is any difference between these two structures and in which case they are used?

 

[e2efour]

If you put these phrases in a sentence, we would find it easier to comment.
But notice that we do not normally put the name of a country before an object. We would say "a/the Spanish flag".

 

[Chez]

Agreed that sample contexts would help, but as a generality there's no reason why 'The flag of Spain'; 'Spain's flag'; or 'the Spanish flag' should have any difference in meaning. One version could well be more appropriate than other in a particular context, though.

 

[Mahantongo]

While "the flag of Spain", "Spain's flag", or "the Spanish flag" are all correct, as e2efour said it is not normal to say "Spain flag", and without a very particular context saying "Spain flag" instead of the other three choices will be incorrect.

 

[aparisius]

It's just curiosity. There is no particular context. I just wanted to know if one of them is more informal than the others or something like that.

 

[MuttQuad]

"Spain flag" is neither more nor less informal; it's just plain incorrect.

 

[Forero]

"United States flag" is fine, "Republic of Ireland flag" is probably OK, and you could get away with "Azerbaijan flag" or "Bengal flag", but "Spain flag" just sounds wrong.

 

[Winstanley808]

Forero, do have in mind something like "He thought they were Georgians, but then saw that they were flying an Azerbaijan flag"? I wouldn't be surprised to see that, but I would consider it an error for "Azerbaijani flag." "... flying the flag of Azerbaijan" would be fine. There isn't a "Bengal" to have a flag, but I would expect "Bangladeshi flag," not "Bangladesh flag."

In the U.S., we use "flag" without a possessive with "____ state": "At old Fort Niagara, they fly the United States flag, the New York state flag, the British Union flag of 1707, and the French Bourbon flag." But I certainly wouldn't write "the United States flag, the New York state flag, the Great Britain flag of 1707, and the Bourbon France flag." I don't know why.

 

[Parla]

Some country designations can be used as adjectives, but most can't.

You can say U.S. flag, Republic of Ireland flag, U.K. flag. You can also say U.S. ship, etc.

But Spanish (not Spain) flag or ship, French (not France) flag or ship, Chinese (not China) flag or ship.

Edit: I just saw your post, Winstanley. Why wouldn't you say "United States flag"? There's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Winstanley808]

Sorry about the confusion. I wouldn't write the second phrase in quotation marks as a whole because of the presence of "the Great Britain flag of 1707, and the Bourbon France flag" as the 3rd and 4th elements; of the two sets of four flag designations, I would write the first but not the second. The second set has two common elements with the first ("United States flag, New York state flag") and two elements that are different ("British Union flag of 1707" in the first vs. "Great Britain flag of 1707" in the second; and "French Bourbon flag" in the first vs. "Bourbon France flag" in the second). So as a set of four flags, I

would write: "the United States flag, the New York state flag, the British Union flag of 1707, and the French Bourbon flag"; whole set:
would not write: "the United States flag, the New York state flag, the Great Britain flag of 1707, and the Bourbon France flag"; whole set: