#tringle

In that state, I also attempted learning every country's flag. This wasn't as successful, but in my delirium, I did something even better, which I would like to share today. I created a new vexillological term. I absolutely adore it, and I want as many people as possible to know about it and use it at least once in real life.

The term: tringle.

That's not a typo. It's pronounced /trɪŋgəl/. Allow me to explain. In multiple instances, I found myself trying to learn to distinguish similar-looking flags. One such instance was particularly difficult, as it encompassed a particularly large amount of flags, each having a tricolor as a base, some having additional elements, and all featuring at least three of the same four colors: red, white, black, and green. One way I was able to distinguish some from others was by the presence of a chevron or similar field along certain flags' hoists. Not knowing the more proper vexillological terms for these, I referred to them as "triangles" when organizing those elements in my memory. As I became more and more delirious, my internal naming scheme became corrupted and altered as I "slurred my speech" when thinking verbally. "Triangle" became "tringle." In a brief moment of clarity later on, I caught myself thinking "tringle" and was amused, so I committed.

So to reiterate, "tringle" refers to a chevron or similar element on a flag's hoist (side closest to flagpole). This includes chevrons, obviously, but also applies to any pattern which consists of a wide base at the hoist and grows narrower on both sides as it extends flyward (away from the flagpole). In theory, it could also refer to such a shape at other locations or orientations on a flag, but less aptly. They do not need to be symmetric. Here are some examples to convey the meaning of the term:

The chevron on the Czech flag is a tringle.

The chevron on the Sudanese flag is a tringle.

The trapezoidal pattern on the Kuwaiti flag is a tringle.

The rectangle along the UAE flag's hoist is NOT a tringle, as it does not grow narrower farther from the base. (As an aside, these last three examples are among those which originally led to the creation of the term "tringle.")

The black field at the Vanuatuan flag's hoist is a tringle. The emblem does not affect tringle status.

The black field at the South African flag's hoist may be interpreted as a tringle, or instead as negative space underlying the pall. The pall itself is NOT a tringle, as it is a more complex pattern spanning the entirety of the flag. Fimbriations are NOT tringles.

The triangular region at the Scottish flag's hoist is NOT a tringle, as it is unambiguously just negative space on an underlying field.

The Guyanese flag's red chevron is a tringle. The yellow region may be interpreted as a very long tringle underlying the red one, or instead as part of a more complex pattern spanning the entirety of the flag.

The Progress Pride Flag's chevron pattern is a tringle. Alternatively, it can be interpreted as a multitude of tringles.

The triangular region in the flag of Antigua and Barbuda may be interpreted altogether as a vertically-oriented tringle, or instead as a more complex collection of separate shapes.

The triangular field at the hoist of the flag of the Republic of the Congo is NOT a tringle, as it only grows narrower from one side.

Eng/ Finally, I did something for myself. And, of course, if you want to do something for yourself, then it turns out something like "meh".