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Animal Farm (book)

Animal farm
Banner for spontaneous demonstration
Flag history

See also:

Animal Farm

by Ole Andersen

"Snowball (one of the porcine leaders of the revolution - SAN) had found in the harness-room an old green tablecloth of Mrs Jones's and had painted on it a hoof and a horn in white. This was run up the flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every Sunday morning. The flag was green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the horn and the hoof signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race had finally been overthrown."

Animal Farm, 1945

The hoof and horn eventually disappeared from the flag, as did much of the ceremonial surrounding its use.
Stuart A. Notholt, 23 December 1998

Banner for spontaneous demonstration

Apart from the green flag described before , there's also mention of another green banner, used in the weekly "Spontaneous Demonstrations":

Boxer and Clover always carried between them a green banner marked with the hoof and the horn an the caption, 'Long Live Comrade Napoleon!'

Animal Farm, 1945

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 05 june 2002

flag history

First year:
21 June	Rebellion at "Manor Farm"
22 June	The farm is renamed Animal Farm
Summer	A green flag with a white horn and hoof is introduced (designed by Snowball)
12 october	The battle of the Cowshed
Third year:
Autumn	The Battle of the Windmill: Afterwards a decoration is created by Napoleon called: The Order of the Green Banner.
Fourth year:
Winter	Spontaneous Demonstrations (maybe earlier)
April	Animal farm is declared a republic
Eight year:
Early Summer	The address "Comrade" is dropped; A new plain green flag is flown; The farm is renamed "Manor Farm".

The first flag was the flag of Animal Farm, and was apparently used by the republic as well. The flag change is described as, paraphrazing the words of the leader of the republic:

His visitors might have observed, too, the green flag which flew from the masthead. If so, they would perhaps have noted that the white hoof and horn with which it had previously been marked had now been removed. It would be a plain green flag from now onwards.

Animal Farm, 1945

It's not mentioned whether in later years the green banner may have been used by other animals than the ones mentioned, but after the early summer of the eight year of the narrative it might no longer have been deemed politically correct, as it is based on the old flag, and uses the address "comrade".
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 05 june 2002