Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland abandoned the use of the term "half-canton" as an official designation, so that the official number of cantons became 26 - the former half-cantons being now referred to as "cantons with half a cantonal vote" officially, even though they are still commonly referred to as" half-cantons". With the exception of Lucerne, Schwyz and Ticino, the cantonal flags are simply transposed versions of the cantonal coats of arms. In case of Lucerne and Ticino, whose flags consist of fields of different colours divided per fess (horizontally), the coats of arms are of the same colours divided per pale (vertically). The coat
Cantons of Switzerland to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy. English use of "canton" in reference to the Swiss Confederacy (as opposed to the heraldic sense) dates to the early 17th century. In the Old Swiss Confederacy, the term "Ort" (plural: "Orte") was in use from the early 15th century as a generic term for the member cantons. The founding cantons specifically were also known as "Waldstätte" "forest settlements", "forest cantons" (singular: "Waldstatt"). The formulaic ' for the members of the early confederacy is recorded in the mid-14th century, used interchangeably with ' ("cities and lands", "city cantons and rural cantons")