Spanish fess

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In vexillology, a Spanish fess is a term occasionally used to describe the central horizontal stripe of a tricolour or triband flag that is twice the width of the stripes on either side of it.

The name is based on the most well-known example of this style of flag, the flag of Spain, and in analogy to the equivalent term for vertically striped flags, the Canadian pale.

As with the Canadian pale, a looser definition of Spanish fess also exists, in which the central stripe is considerably larger, but not necessarily twice the width of, the two outer stripes.

Other flags featuring a Spanish fess include the national flags of Lebanon, Cambodia, and Laos, the flag of French Polynesia and the Proposed national flag of Cyprus.