National Flags
This page is an attempt to classify the national flags of the world (by colour, design, symbols etc.), to make
them easier for the quizzer to remember.
For a full list, classified by continent, please see Capital Cities,
Currencies and Flags. For other (i.e. non–national) flags, please see Flags.
For each flag, I've given a description as well as a picture. The descriptions are designed to be used (if
you so wish) to set questions without pictures.
Unless otherwise stated, where a symbol (decoration) is described it's centred in the flag.
Note that if you open any of the Information windows, you'll probably reveal the answer to the question!
Pan–Arab Colours
I added this section in July 2016 after watching the Eggheads struggle (and fail) to identify the colour of the top stripe in the
flag of Yemen.
The flags of several Middle Eastern countries, and some North African ones, are horizontal tricolours in various combinations of the
Pan–Arab colours: black, white, green and red. They're a real nightmare for the quizzer!
In the following table I've tried to describe the ones that I think are particularly confusing. They're in alphabetical order
of the stripes as they appear on the flag, reading from top to bottom. For example: the flag that's described on the first row has
black, white and green stripes, reading from top to bottom.
There's one more flag that we probably should cover here:
|
Black |
White |
Green |
Red chevron against the hoist (no star) |
|
Palestine |
Palestine of course is not a full member of the United Nations – it's a non–member observer state, along with the Holy See
(a.k.a. the Vatican City). But that doesn't mean it won't come up in a quiz. Note that its flag is the same as that of
Jordan, without the white star.
I've come up with a few mnemonics to help us remember all this – or at least, the order of the stripes (which, I believe,
is at least half the battle). If you'd like to see them, please click here.
Other countries that use these colours
The following two flags use all four of the Pan–Arab colours, and are very similar except for the chevron in one case and the
symbol in the other. Note that in both cases, the three main stripes in the tricolour are separated by narrow white ones.
Red, Green and Black
This section and the next deal with countries whose flags use three of the four pan–Arab colours – but are not
(as far as I'm aware) Arab countries. Note that in some cases the third colour is in the symbol.
Red, White and Green
Red, white and green is a very popular combination. Red is typically used to represent the blood shed by a country's citizens in
their struggle for freedom; white represents peace, and green represents agriculture.
Red, White and Blue
Red, white and blue is probably the most popular of all colour combinations.
Vertical tricolours
The most famous red, white and blue tricolour is the only one where the
bands are vertical.
|
Starting at the hoist |
Decoration |
|
Country |
|
Blue |
White |
Red |
Nothing |
|
France |
Horizontal tricolours
Four of the following eight countries were in Yugoslavia. The flag of Yugoslavia was a red, white and blue horizontal tricolour;
interestingly, all four modern countries have chosen a different order from the Yugoslavian flag. Fortunately, each of them has its coat
of arms on the flag, and this is probably the easiest way to distinguish them.
For the record – because you never know when it might come up –
here are the details of the Yugoslavian flag:
|
Top to bottom |
Decoration |
|
Country |
|
Blue |
White |
Red |
Nothing |
|
Yugoslavia |
Other red, white and blue flags
Note that as in other sections, some of these flags have coats of arms or
symbols in colours other than blue and white – most commonly yellow.
|
Five white stars of the Southern Cross, plus the Commonwealth Star, and the
Union Flag in a canton; all on a blue field |
|
Australia |
|
A broad blue bar, with narrow red bars above and below, and the coat of arms:
two men, one with lighter skin bearing an axe, and one with darker skin bearing an oar, before a
mahogany tree, bearing between them a shield; bordered by a circle of fifty leaves |
|
Belize |
|
A blue, red and blue horizontal triband, with a depiction of the Angkor Wat temple complex in white |
|
Cambodia |
|
A narrow red fess bordered by two white ones, on a blue field, with a circle of ten yellow stars representing its main islands |
|
Cape Verde |
|
Two horizontal bands, white above red, with a white star in a blue canton |
|
Chile |
|
A red bar, bordered above and below with narrower white and blue ones |
|
Costa Rica |
|
A blue flag with two white bars; a red chevron, with a white star, against the hoist |
|
Cuba |
|
Two equal horizontal bands, white above red, with a red chevron against the hoist |
|
Czech Republic |
|
A white cross, with blue in the top quarter against the hoist and at the bottom fly, and red vice versa;
coat of arms in the centre |
|
Dominican Republic |
|
A red Nordic cross, with white borders, on a blue field |
|
Iceland |
|
Wavy blue and white bands in the lower half, representing the sea; red above representing the sky,
with a depiction of a yellow sun rising and a frigatebird above |
|
Kiribati |
|
A red, blue and red tribar, with a white roundel in the centre |
|
Laos |
|
A red flag with five white bars, and a white star in a blue canton |
|
Liberia |
|
A red flag with seven white bars, and a blue canton with a yellow crescent and 14-pointed star |
|
Malaysia |
|
A red flag with two triangular sections, each bearing a white symbol (the sun and a crescent moon), all bordered in blue |
|
Nepal |
|
Four red stars of the Southern Cross,
each bordered in white, and the Union Flag in a canton; all on a blue field |
|
New Zealand |
|
A broad red bar, with blue bars above and below, separated by narrow white bars;
and a red star in a white roundel |
|
North Korea |
|
A blue Nordic cross, with white borders, on a red field |
|
Norway |
|
Top fly quarter red, bottom hoist quarter blue; the other two quarters white,
with a blue star in the top hoist quarter and a red star in the bottom fly |
|
Panama |
|
Two equal bars, blue above red; a white chevron against the hoist,
with a large yellow sun at its centre and a small yellow star in each corner |
|
Philippines |
|
A red flag, with a blue canton bearing five white stars of the Southern Cross |
|
Samoa |
|
A blue bar, bordered above and below with narrower white and red ones |
|
Thailand |
|
A red symmetric cross and a red saltire, superimposed on a white saltire on a blue field,
with a white border around the symmetric cross |
|
United Kingdom |
|
A red flag with six white bars, and fifty white stars in a blue canton |
|
USA |
Red, Yellow and Blue
There are seven countries whose flags are red, yellow and blue tricolours. On
four of them the stripes are vertical, and on the other three they're
horizontal.
Just to confuse us even more, the four with vertical stripes all have
the stripes in the same order, and so do the three with horizontal stripes.
Vertical tricolours
There is no difference between the flags of Chad and Romania, except for a very slight colour variation.
Needless to say, if setting either of these in a quiz, you should specify whether it's an African country or a European one.
Horizontal tricolours
Note that on the Colombian and Ecuadorean flags, the yellow stripe is twice as wide as the blue and red.
But the easiest way to distinguish the three is by the decorations (nothing for Colombia, coat of arms for
Ecuador, stars for Venezuela).
Red, Yellow and Green
There are just two countries whose flags are red, yellow and green tricolours. On
both of them the stripes are
horizontal. Neither of them has any decoration, so to distinguish between them
it's simply a case of learning the order of the stripes.
Vertical tricolours
Horizontal tricolours
Other red, yellow and green flags
Red, Yellow and Black
There are just two countries whose flags are red, yellow and black tricolours.
Both are so well-known that any quizzer should be able to identify them. The
only way you might get caught out is if you get asked what order the colours are
in.
Blue and White
|
A pale blue, white and pale blue triband, with the Sun of May |
|
|
Argentina |
|
A blue, white and blue triband, with the national coat of arms |
|
El Salvador |
|
A blue Nordic cross on a white field |
|
Finland |
|
A blue flag with four white bars, and a white Greek cross in a blue canton |
|
Greece |
|
A blue, white and blue triband, with five blue stars arranged in a quincunx |
|
Honduras |
|
A sky-blue, white and sky-blue vertical triband (representing the country's situation between two oceans),
with the national emblem (which features a quetzal) in the centre |
|
|
Guatemala |
|
A broad white band, bordered above and below by narrow blue and white bands,
with a star of David outlined in blue |
|
Israel |
|
Four white stars, each representing one of the
four federal states, on a sky-blue field |
|
Micronesia |
|
A blue, white and blue horizontal triband, with the national coat of arms
(triangular in shape, with the name of the country in a circle around it) in the centre |
|
|
Nicaragua |
|
Two equal horizontal bands, white above azure, with the national coat of arms in the centre |
|
|
San Marino |
|
Azure, a mullet argent (a white star centred on a sky–blue field) |
|
|
Somalia |
|
A white flag with four blue bars, and the yellow Sun of May in a white canton |
|
|
Uruguay |
Blue and Yellow
Other
Colour used in more national flags than any other |
|
Red |
A black two–headed eagle on a red ground (European country) |
|
Albania |
Features a yellow half–gear, crossed with a machete and crowned with a star, on a background
of an upper red half and a lower black half (African country) |
|
Angola |
Blue, white and blue horizontal bands, with a yellow sun on the central white band |
|
Argentina |
Flag said to have been invented during the Crusades by Duke Leopold V when he removed the belt from
his blood–stained battledress (leaving a white stripe through the middle) |
|
Austria |
Green with a red circle in the middle |
|
Bangladesh |
Vertical stripes of blue, yellow and blue, with a black trident on the
central (yellow) stripe |
|
Barbados |
Bears the motto Ordem e Progresso (Order and Progress); also a representation of the night sky
above its capital on the night of its republican coup (15 November 1889) – each star represents a state (27 from 1992) – more
stars than any other country apart from the USA |
|
Brazil |
Bears the maple leaf as a national symbol |
|
Canada |
Known as La Estrella Solitaria (the Lone Star) – has a single white star in a blue canton |
|
Chile |
Map of the country |
|
Cyprus |
Three horizontal stripes, of red, white and blue (top to bottom), with the national coat of arms
featuring the distinctive chequerboard shield |
|
Croatia |
National flag that has remained unchanged the longest (dates back to the 14th century) |
|
Denmark |
(Commonwealth) countries with the Union Jack on their flags: Australia, NZ and |
|
Fiji |
Blue and white horizontal stripes, with a blue cross in a white canton |
|
Greece |
Features the dark blue, 24–spoke "wheel of law" (Dharmachakra) |
|
India |
Adopted in 1980: bears the words "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest) in
stylised Arabic script, 22 times – 11 times at the edge of each coloured horizontal band (green at the top and red at the bottom);
and, on the central white band, the symbol known as the tawhid ("the oneness [of God]") |
|
Iran |
Flag is the same as the Republic of Ireland's, but the other way round (orange nearest the
flagpole) – African country |
|
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) |
The only country whose flag doesn't have red, white or blue |
|
Jamaica |
Shield and crossed spears |
|
Kenya |
National flag with a tree on it (a cedar – the national tree) |
|
Lebanon |
Modelled on the US flag – but only 11 stripes and one star (African republic) |
|
Liberia |
Had a flag of only one colour (green), from 1977 to 2011 |
|
|
Libya |
Black, red and green horizontal stripes, with a red sunrise on the black |
|
|
Malawi |
Changed its flag in 2017, by adding red bands at the top and bottom (to a yellow star and
upward–pointing crescent on a green field) |
|
Mauritania |
Coat of arms, featured on the flag, has an eagle perched on a cactus plant,
eating a snake |
|
Mexico |
Interlinked outline of a green star, on a red background |
|
Morocco |
Includes the yellow star of Marxism, a book to represent education, a hoe for agriculture, and a
Kalashnikov AK–47 rifle for defence (African republic) |
|
Mozambique |
The only country whose flag is not rectangular (essentially two right–angled triangles) |
|
Nepal |
(Commonwealth) countries with the Southern Cross on their flags: Australia, NZ, and |
|
Papua New Guinea |
|
Samoa |
Two different sides: one has the national arms, one the treasury seal |
|
Paraguay |
Flag is essentially similar to that of Canada, without the maple leaf |
|
Peru |
Arabic inscription ("There is no god but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God") above a
sword – white, on a green ground |
|
Saudi Arabia |
Bears a representation of Triglav, its highest mountain |
|
Slovenia |
Flag has six colours (red, white, blue, yellow, green and black) – more than any other (ignoring coats of
arms, etc.) | |
|
South Africa |
Black, red and green horizontal stripes, each separated by a narrow white stripe;
a blue triangle to the left, with a yellow star |
|
South Sudan |
Shows a yellow lion, holding a sword or dagger, on a dark red background; also (on the left hand side)
vertical green and orange stripes; all on a yellow background |
|
Sri Lanka |
European country with a square flag (also Vatican City) |
|
Switzerland |
Nine horizontal stripes, five white and four blue, with the sun in a canton |
|
Uruguay |
Controversially added an eighth star to its flag, in 2006 |
|
|
Venezuela |
© Haydn Thompson 2018–21