In "The Staircase Implementation", an "apartment flag" is mentioned as a small blue flag with a coat of arms on it of a gold lion rampant on a field of azure on it. Flipping it upside down signifies that the apartment is in distress. In "The Roommate Transmogrification", Raj was given a lapel pin version. It is seen in a magnet version on the kitchen refrigerator which Sheldon has turned upside down when there was trouble. Also in the "Fun with Flags" broadcasts, a full-size with gold fringe can be seen behind Sheldon along with the American flag. A desk size version is shown by Sheldon while Leonard is signing the original Roommate Agreement.
- This was the official flag of the city of Leeuwarden in Holland between 1750 and 1947. While the flag has been superceded, the design of a lion rampant or on a field azure is still the city's coat of arms, apearing on the official shield. the name Leeuwarden derives from the Dutch for "(place of the) Keeper of the (Royal) lion - ie, the royal menagerie. Critters and Varmints again...
- A similar - but not identical - flag is used by the commune of Savagnier in the canton of Neuchatel in Switzerland. Differences of detail: the tongue is larger and more pronounced, the talons of the lion are picked out in blood-red, the lion is supporting a small shield bearing a design of red and white chevrons, and the tail has more stylised flounces. In heraldic language: Azure, a lion rampant or Langued and Armed, holding in front paws the escutcheon of Neuchatel.( Or on a pale gules three chevrons Argent).
- A very similar logo is also used by the Bavarian Brewery Löwenbräu, see also details here. Löwenbräu is German and translates directly to "Lion's Brewery". The lion looks very similar as in Sheldon's flag, however some details differ, such as the tail.
- On a shield, it is also the coat-of-arms of the Sound family (Knights of the Vale Royal, Cheshire, England).
- Other English and Scottish knights used the golden rampant lion on blue as a part of their banner and coat-of-arms; sir Richard de Poltimore in the 1300's, and the eleventh century Norman knight Guillame de Rhodes, who may have been a linear ancestor. Other knights, the most notable of whom was the Duke of Hereford, used multiples of the golden lion on a blue field; Hereford's shield uses six.
- Britain's mythology of King Arthur attributes this flag and shield design to King Urien of Rhegedd, at first an enemy of Arthur but who became a firm friend and ally. This is a mediaeval addition to the mythos: the kings and knights of Arthurian myth were retrospectively given full high mediaeval trappings including arms and regalia, as it was held to be more fitting. (Mediaeval fan-fic?)
- And as pointed out here, the German Duchy of Nassau incorporates this concept on its shield...
- The Spanish city of Zaragoza sports a similar flag design, but having gules background instead of azure.
