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6.AY.2. SWISS FLAG PUZZLE
This appears to be a 7 x 5 flag with a Greek cross X X X X X O O X X X X X

of 5 cells removed from the middle as in the first figure X X X O O O X X X O O

at the right. One has to cut it into two pieces to make a X X O O X X O O O

perfect square. This is done by cutting along a 'staircase' X X X O O O X X X O O

as shown. However, this seems to produce a 5 x 6 flag, X X O O O O O X X O O O

not a square. But there is usually a swindle -- the diagram O O O O O

is not drawn with the unit cells square, but instead the unit

cells are 6/5 as wide as they are tall. Normally the reader would not recognize this and the diagrams are often rather imprecise.

Brandreth Puzzle Book. Brandreth's Pills (The Porous Plaster Co., NY), nd [1895]. P. 5: The flag puzzle. Starts with a square and asks to make a Swiss flag. The square is actually 31.5 mm = 1¼ in on an edge and the flag is 26 x 37 mm = 1 x 1½ in with the Greek cross formed from squares of edge 5 mm = ¼ in, so the areas do not add up! No solution.

Loyd. Problem 4: The Swiss flag puzzle. Tit-Bits 31 (31 Oct 1896) 75 & (21 Nov 1896) 131. c= Cyclopedia, pp. 250 & 373. Swiss flag puzzle with the flag at an angle and a slight wiggle in the edges, so the solution requires an extra cut to make it square.

Loyd. Cyclopedia, 1914, pp. 14 & 341: A Swiss puzzle -- part 2. = MPSL2, no. 144, pp. 101 & 166. = SLAHP, pp. 48 & 102: How was this flag made? Starts with the Swiss flag which is 47 x 30 mm and the Greek cross has cells 6.5 x 5.5 mm, so this is approximately the correct shape to make a square, but the resulting square is not drawn.