Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland there is overlap; Unterwalden and Solothurn share the same colours, as do Basel and Appenzell, and with the accession of the modern cantons, Valais and Basel-City, and St. Gallen and Thurgau. Of the 26 cantons since 1999 (22 cantons in 1848, accession of Jura in 1979, three half-cantons designated "canton" in 1999): Distinctively, Swiss cantons use square flags. Historically, the number of cantons was: Nidwalden and Obwalden form traditional subdivisions of Unterwalden. Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, as well as Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden, are half cantons, resulting from the division of Basel and Appenzell, respectively. The Swiss Federal Constitution of 1999
Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland arranging cantonal insignia in shields ("escutcheons") as coats of arms arises in the late 15th century. The "Tagsatzung" in Baden was presented with stained glass representations of all cantons in ca. 1501. In these designs, two cantonal "escutcheons" were shown side by side, below a shield bearing the Imperial Eagle and a crown, flanked by two banner-bearers. Based on these, there arose a tradition of representing cantonal arms in stained glass ("Standesscheiben"), alive throughout the early modern period and continued in the modern state. The flag of Zürich is derived from a blue-and-white design attested since the 1220s, the diagonal