Sci-Fi: Battle Flag of the United Earth Alliance

The phoenix in her glory, also known as the firebird and the flaming chicken.

This is the battle flag of the United Earth Alliance in my sci-fi, the Diaspora Series.  It is the flag flown from official Alliance buildings such as Ariana Palace in Geneva when the Alliance is in a declared state of war, and at all times from Joint Forces Command in Singapore.  It has from time to time been literally carried into battle by personnel of the United Earth Legion (instances of this are unusual); it is also emblazoned onto the prow of United Earth Navy starships-of-war, although elsewhere they use the regular Alliance symbol.  The regular Alliance flag defaced with flames, the emblem is the same as that of the United Earth Forces, and is described officially as "the phoenix in her glory".  Perhaps as a reaction against this, and their familiarity with it, Alliance military personnel refer to the emblem somewhat more jocularly as "the flaming chicken".  It is more commonly nicknamed "the firebird".

The battle flag is most commonly seen draping the coffins of Allied personnel killed by hostile action (those deceased by other means are draped with the regular flag) - it is therefore regarded very differently by the civilian populace at large.  Display of the battle flag is much more tightly restricted than the regular flag, and displaying the battle flag without a very good reason is technically an offence under interstellar law (although the taboo against doing so is generally sufficient to prevent prosecutions).