Age Thomson
On land, there is a distinction between civil flags (FIAV symbol FIAV 100000.svg), state flags (FIAV 010000.svg), and war or military flags (FIAV 001000.svg). State flags are those used officially by government agencies, whereas civil flags may be flown by anyone regardless of whether he/she is linked to government. War flags (also called military flags) are used by military organisations such as Armies, Marine Corps, or Air Forces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_flag#National_flags_on_land
The FIAV symbol didn't display properly here in the message, you can see it at that link. It appears that it is relative to how the symbol is positioned on the flag....