Flood frequency analysis (FFA) provides an important basis for determining the construction size and operation strategy ofwater conservancy project. The main issue in FFA is how to select a suitable distribution and parameter estimation method. In thisstudy, the principle of maximum entropy method was employed to derive three types of Halphen distributions and estimate parameters.The annual maximum daily flow data series from 1929 to 2014 in the Danjiangkou Reservoir were selected to test the performancesof the proposed methods. The fitting ability of Halphen distributions was compared with those of common used distributionsin FFA. Results indicate that Halphen distributions have flexible forms and better tail properties and are suitable for flood frequency analysis.Compared with the widely used distributions in hydrology, the performance of Halphen distribution is comparable or even better.