Flag of the Soviet Union statute on the flag was adopted which resulted in a change of the hammer's handle length and the shape of the sickle. A final modification to the flag was adopted in 1980 in which the colour was brightened to a lighter shade of red. The flag continued to be the official national flag until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Its imagery is now the basis for the flags of many communist parties: a yellow hammer and sickle on a red background. The flag of the Soviet Union consisted of a plain red flag with a gold hammer crossed with
Flag of Norway square at the hoist. This flag was in use as state and war flag until 1815 and as merchant flag until 1821. Later in 1814 Norway was united with Sweden, and on 7 March 1815 a common war flag for both states was introduced by royal order in council, the Swedish flag with a white cross on a red background in the square canton. The same design in a rectangular flag was introduced as an alternate merchant flag in 1818, for use in distant waters, i.e. south of Cape Finisterre in Spain. The current flag of Norway was designed in