What does flex: 1 mean?

flex: 1 means the following:

flex-grow : 1;    ➜ The div will grow in same proportion as the window-size       
flex-shrink : 1;  ➜ The div will shrink in same proportion as the window-size 
flex-basis : 0;   ➜ The div does not have a starting value as such and will 
                     take up screen as per the screen size available for
                     e.g:- if 3 divs are in the wrapper then each div will take 33%.

Here is the explanation:

https://www.w3.org/TR/css-flexbox-1/#flex-common

flex: <positive-number>
Equivalent to flex: <positive-number> 1 0. Makes the flex item flexible and sets the flex basis to zero, resulting in an item that receives the specified proportion of the free space in the flex container. If all items in the flex container use this pattern, their sizes will be proportional to the specified flex factor.

Therefore flex:1 is equivalent to flex: 1 1 0