Green flag

The green flag is the official emblem of Animal Farm, first created by Snowball from an old green tablecloth and painted with a white hoof and horn to symbolize the future Republic of the Animals. It is hoisted every Sunday morning and becomes a central ritual of the farm, but over time its design and meaning are altered to reflect the pigs' consolidation of power and the final abandonment of revolutionary ideals.

Creation and Symbolism

Soon after the Rebellion, Snowball found in the harness-room an old green tablecloth that had belonged to Mrs. Jones and painted on it a hoof and a horn in white. This was run up the flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every Sunday morning. Snowball explained that the green color represented the green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals that would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown. The flag thus became the central emblem of the new order, hoisted weekly before the general assembly known as the Meeting, which always ended with the singing of 'Beasts of England'.

Ritual and Ceremony

The flag was flown every Sunday without fail, and its hoisting was the first act of the weekly ceremony. After the flag was raised, all the animals trooped into the big barn for the Meeting, where the work of the coming week was planned and resolutions were debated. The flag was also flown during celebrations of victories, such as after the Battle of the Cowshed, when it was run up and 'Beasts of England' was sung a number of times. Later, after the expulsion of Snowball and the abolition of the Sunday Meetings, the animals still assembled on Sunday mornings to salute the flag, sing 'Beasts of England', and receive their orders for the week. The flag thus remained a constant feature of farm life, even as the democratic aspects of the Sunday gatherings were eliminated.

Alteration and Final Transformation

By the final chapter of the book, the green flag had undergone a significant change. When Napoleon hosted a dinner for neighboring farmers, he announced that the white hoof and horn with which the flag had previously been marked had now been removed. Henceforward the flag would be a plain green flag. This alteration accompanied a series of other reversals: the abolition of the name "Animal Farm" in favor of "The Manor Farm", the suppression of the custom of addressing one another as "Comrade", and the burial of Old Major's skull. The removal of the hoof and horn from the flag thus marked the final abandonment of the revolutionary ideals that the flag had originally symbolized. The green fields of England remained, but the Republic of the Animals had been erased from the emblem.

Narrative Significance

The green flag serves as a visual index of the farm's political trajectory. Its creation by Snowball represents the hopeful, idealistic phase of the Rebellion. Its continued weekly hoisting, even after the suppression of democratic debate, shows how ritual can outlast substance. And its final reduction to a plain green banner, stripped of all revolutionary symbolism, mirrors the pigs' complete assimilation into the human world they once opposed. The flag that once stood for the overthrow of tyranny ends as a mere decoration, indistinguishable from any other farm's banner, just as the pigs themselves become indistinguishable from the human farmers they replaced.