Brooks B. Harding ( 1896-1959 ) , an American , made the acquaintance of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in December 1941 by presenting each with a Victory V symbol embossed in leather with the slogan Absolute Victory by delivery at the White House at a time when Churchill was in the United States for the Arcadia Conference to sign the Declaration by United Nations . Churchill 's recognition to Harding noted a need for a symbol of the wartime Allies . In October 1942 , Harding traveled to Washington , DC with six cloth designs . In his meeting at the United States Department of State , he learned that since there was no United Nations committee to present his designs to , he would have to obtain approvals from all 29 signatory nations individually . Upon meeting with Dr. Vladimir Palic , First Secretary of the Czechoslovakian Embassy , a single specific design involving four bars was determined to be the appropriate candidate to put forth . All 29 nations subsequently agreed to the four vertical bar design . However , the flag was determined not to be used as an official emblem of the organization , but rather a symbol of the people and governments . It was flown at Dumbarton Oaks in June 1943 in the presence of United Nations military attaches from all United Nations embassies in full uniform . The Honour flag was also flown throughout Washington at private buildings in August 1943 during the Atlantic Charter week , where it also flew as a secondary flag to national emblems throughout the war . It gradually flew at more and more government offices and was distributed to various of the United Nations , and it was officially adopted in several countries starting with New Zealand . By a motion in the United States Senate , the flag was flown in thousands of towns to celebrate V-E Day . At the United Nations Conference on International Organization , where there was a golden motif , the red bars were substituted with gold , while some nations preferred green and blue bars
United Nations Conference on International Organization
United Nations Conference on International Organization
United Nations Honour Flag