I think this is the prettiest flag ever

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It was Austria-Hungary's civil ensign:

[img][800:667]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Flag_of_Austria-Hungary_1869-1918.svg/1000px-Flag_of_Austria-Hungary_1869-1918.svg.png[/img]

That is an awfully nice flag. Forgive my historical ignorance, but what time period was this from?

I think it's a very pleasing flag to look at.

1867-1914

That is a nice flag. I wonder what the symbols in it mean, like how the little cross on top of the crown on the right leans over to one side. And, the sort of double cross and the stripes. Anybody know?

I think those are Hungarian symbols. The impression I get from the flag is that the half closer to the hoist represented Austria and the other half farther from the hoist represented Hungary.

EDIT: The cross to one side is part of the Holy Crown of Hungary, which sits on no one's head right now:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_crown

And if you look further down, you can see the sort of double cross and the stripes made up the Coat of Arms of Hungary (and actually today it is the Coat of Arms of Hungary):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Hungary

From Wikipedia:

"The cross was knocked crooked in the 17th century when the crown was damaged, possibly by the top of the iron chest housing the insignia being hastily closed without the crown having been placed in it properly. The cross has since been left in this slanted position, and is always depicted as such."

It also says only 2 guards, plus 2 others, are allowed to touch the crown. Perhaps no jeweler is allowed to touch it so they can't have it fixed! Ha!