World Flags Trivia Quiz

World Flags — multiple choice, with the answer and a fun fact a tap away.

National flag

Which country added a golden crown to its blue-and-red flag after finding it identical to Haiti's at the 1936 Olympics?

Answer
Which country added a golden crown to its blue-and-red flag after finding it identical to Haiti's at the 1936 Olympics?

Correct answer: Liechtenstein.

The crown represents the principality's monarchy and the unity of its people with the ruling house.

National flag

Which Balkan country's red flag shows a golden sun with eight broadening rays reaching the edges?

Answer
Which Balkan country's red flag shows a golden sun with eight broadening rays reaching the edges?

Correct answer: North Macedonia.

Called the "new sun of liberty," this design was adopted in 1995 to settle a dispute over an earlier, different sun symbol.

National flag

Which tiny, ancient republic's flag has white and pale-blue bands with a coat of arms of three towers?

Answer
Which tiny, ancient republic's flag has white and pale-blue bands with a coat of arms of three towers?

Correct answer: San Marino.

One of the world's oldest surviving republics, its three towers stand on Monte Titano and its motto is simply "Libertas" — Liberty.

National flag

Which European country's blue-yellow-red vertical tricolour is nearly identical to Chad's?

Answer
Which European country's blue-yellow-red vertical tricolour is nearly identical to Chad's?

Correct answer: Romania.

Romania's and Chad's flags are nearly indistinguishable. Moldova's version adds a coat of arms in the centre.

National flag

Which Balkan country's flag has horizontal bands of white, green and red?

Answer
Which Balkan country's flag has horizontal bands of white, green and red?

Correct answer: Bulgaria.

White stands for peace, green for the country's fertile farmland, and red for the courage and blood of its people.

National flag

Which Central European country's flag has horizontal bands of red, white and green?

Answer
Which Central European country's flag has horizontal bands of red, white and green?

Correct answer: Hungary.

The colours are read as strength (red), faithfulness (white) and hope (green), and appear in Hungarian heraldry going back centuries.

National flag

Which country's flag is a simple white band over a red band?

Answer
Which country's flag is a simple white band over a red band?

Correct answer: Poland.

White over red comes from the country's medieval coat of arms: a white eagle on a red shield.

National flag

Which country's flag has three horizontal bands of white, blue and red, with white on top?

Answer
Which country's flag has three horizontal bands of white, blue and red, with white on top?

Correct answer: Russia.

The design is often traced to Tsar Peter the Great's fascination with Dutch ships; the colours are read as nobility, faithfulness and courage.

National flag

Which country's white-and-red flag carries the George Cross, a British award for bravery, in the upper corner?

Answer
Which country's white-and-red flag carries the George Cross, a British award for bravery, in the upper corner?

Correct answer: Malta.

King George VI awarded the George Cross to the entire population of Malta in 1942, honouring its endurance under relentless WWII bombing.

National flag

Which country's red flag is dominated by a black double-headed eagle?

Answer
Which country's red flag is dominated by a black double-headed eagle?

Correct answer: Albania.

The eagle is linked to the 15th-century hero Skanderbeg. Albanians call their homeland "Shqiperia," often translated as the Land of the Eagles.

National flag

Which country's red flag bears a white star and crescent inherited from the Ottoman Empire?

Answer
Which country's red flag bears a white star and crescent inherited from the Ottoman Empire?

Correct answer: Turkey.

The crescent and star began as an imperial and astronomical emblem and only later became widely associated with the Islamic world as a whole.

National flag

Which country's flag has nine blue-and-white stripes often linked to the nine syllables of a famous freedom cry?

Answer
Which country's flag has nine blue-and-white stripes often linked to the nine syllables of a famous freedom cry?

Correct answer: Greece.

The cry is "Eleftheria i thanatos" — "Freedom or Death" — from the war of independence against the Ottomans. The white cross honours Greek Orthodox Christianity.

National flag

Which country's red-white-red flag is tied to a legend of a duke's tunic left red except beneath his sword-belt?

Answer
Which country's red-white-red flag is tied to a legend of a duke's tunic left red except beneath his sword-belt?

Correct answer: Austria.

One of the oldest flags still in use, its design is traditionally dated to a blood-soaked siege during the Third Crusade.

National flag

Which country's flag is a blue Scandinavian cross on a white field, standing for its lakes and snow?

Answer
Which country's flag is a blue Scandinavian cross on a white field, standing for its lakes and snow?

Correct answer: Finland.

Blue stands for the country's thousands of lakes and the sky; white for the snow that blankets the land for much of the year.

National flag

Which Nordic country's flag is a yellow Scandinavian cross on a blue field?

Answer
Which Nordic country's flag is a yellow Scandinavian cross on a blue field?

Correct answer: Sweden.

The off-centre cross is shared by every Nordic flag. Sweden's blue and gold are drawn from its royal coat of arms.

National flag

Which country flies a red-white-blue horizontal tricolour whose top stripe was originally orange?

Answer
Which country flies a red-white-blue horizontal tricolour whose top stripe was originally orange?

Correct answer: Netherlands.

The orange — for the House of Orange — gradually shifted to red, which showed up better at sea. Luxembourg's near-identical flag uses a lighter blue.

National flag

Which country's green-and-red flag carries an armillary sphere, a navigator's model of the heavens?

Answer
Which country's green-and-red flag carries an armillary sphere, a navigator's model of the heavens?

Correct answer: Portugal.

The sphere recalls the Age of Discovery. The five small blue shields on the central arms are traditionally said to represent five Moorish kings defeated in a legendary battle.

National flag

Which country's red-and-yellow flag bears a coat of arms flanked by the two Pillars of Hercules and the motto "Plus Ultra"?

Answer
Which country's red-and-yellow flag bears a coat of arms flanked by the two Pillars of Hercules and the motto "Plus Ultra"?

Correct answer: Spain.

"Plus Ultra" — "further beyond" — defied the ancient warning that nothing lay past the Strait of Gibraltar, celebrating Spain's voyages into the New World.

National flag

Which country's black-red-gold horizontal flag traces its colours to the 1848 democratic movement?

Answer
Which country's black-red-gold horizontal flag traces its colours to the 1848 democratic movement?

Correct answer: Germany.

The colours echo the black coats with red facings and gold buttons of Napoleonic-era volunteer soldiers, later raised by the 1848 revolutionaries demanding a united, democratic Germany.

National flag

On Ireland's flag, what does the white band between the green and orange represent?

Answer
On Ireland's flag, what does the white band between the green and orange represent?

Correct answer: Peace between the two traditions.

Green stands for Gaelic and Catholic Ireland, orange for Protestant followers of William of Orange, and the white between them for a lasting peace.

National flag

Which country's plain green-white-red vertical tricolour was first inspired by the French flag during the Napoleonic era?

Answer
Which country's plain green-white-red vertical tricolour was first inspired by the French flag during the Napoleonic era?

Correct answer: Italy.

First adopted by a northern Italian republic in 1797, the colours are often read poetically as the green of the land, the white of the Alpine snow and the red of patriots' blood.

National flag

The blue, white and red vertical tricolour of France became the emblem of which 18th-century revolution?

Answer
The blue, white and red vertical tricolour of France became the emblem of which 18th-century revolution?

Correct answer: The French Revolution.

White was the royal colour of the Bourbon kings, placed between the red and blue of the city of Paris — the monarchy symbolically embraced by the people.

National flag

The Union Jack combines the crosses of Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick to represent which three nations?

Answer
The Union Jack combines the crosses of Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick to represent which three nations?

Correct answer: England, Scotland and Ireland.

Wales is not represented because it had already been united with England when the flag took shape. The red diagonal saltire stands for Ireland's Saint Patrick.

National flag

Which state's flag shows two crossed keys beneath a papal tiara?

Answer
Which state's flag shows two crossed keys beneath a papal tiara?

Correct answer: Vatican City.

The gold and silver keys represent the keys of Heaven entrusted to Saint Peter. With Switzerland, it is one of only two square national flags in the world.

National flag

Which country's flag is a white cross on a square red field?

Answer
Which country's flag is a white cross on a square red field?

Correct answer: Switzerland.

The only other square national flag belongs to Vatican City. Reversing Switzerland's colours — red on white instead of white on red — gives the emblem of the Red Cross, created in honour of the movement's Swiss founder.

National flag

Which country flies the Dannebrog, a white Scandinavian cross on red often called the oldest national flag still in use?

Answer
Which country flies the Dannebrog, a white Scandinavian cross on red often called the oldest national flag still in use?

Correct answer: Denmark.

Legend says it fell from the sky to rally Danish troops during a battle in Estonia in 1219. Its off-centre "Scandinavian cross" became the model for the flags of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

National flag

Which country's flag is different on its two sides, with the national coat of arms on one face and a treasury seal on the other?

Answer
Which country's flag is different on its two sides, with the national coat of arms on one face and a treasury seal on the other?

Correct answer: Paraguay.

The front shows a yellow star inside a wreath; the reverse shows the treasury seal with a lion and the words "Paz y Justicia" (Peace and Justice). Nearly every other country in the world flies an identical design on both sides.

National flag

Which country's flag centres on two woodcutters standing beside a mahogany tree?

Answer
Which country's flag centres on two woodcutters standing beside a mahogany tree?

Correct answer: Belize.

The two men, one of African and one of Mestizo descent, flank the mahogany that built the colonial timber economy; the motto reads "Sub Umbra Floreo" ("Under the shade I flourish"), and the ring of 50 leaves marks 1950, when the independence movement began. It is also the only national flag whose central design is built around human figures.

National flag

Which country's six-colour flag uses a sideways "Y" to show diverse groups converging and moving forward together?

Answer
Which country's six-colour flag uses a sideways "Y" to show diverse groups converging and moving forward together?

Correct answer: South Africa.

It was designed in under a week and meant only as a temporary flag, but proved so popular it was kept. Officially no meaning is assigned to the individual colours — the converging Y is the whole message.

National flag

Which country's flag shows a copper-coloured map of its own island above two crossed olive branches?

Answer
Which country's flag shows a copper-coloured map of its own island above two crossed olive branches?

Correct answer: Cyprus.

The copper colour nods to the island's ancient copper mines — the very word "copper" comes from Cyprus — while the olive branches symbolise peace between its Greek and Turkish communities. Kosovo is the only other flag that maps itself.

National flag

How many points does the maple leaf at the centre of Canada's flag have?

Answer
How many points does the maple leaf at the centre of Canada's flag have?

Correct answer: 11.

The 11 points have no hidden meaning — that number simply stayed crispest and blurred least when a leaf was tested fluttering in the wind. The flag was adopted in 1965 after a fierce "Great Flag Debate" over dropping the British-based Red Ensign.

National flag

The stars on Brazil's flag depict the night sky over which city as it appeared when the republic was proclaimed in 1889?

Answer
The stars on Brazil's flag depict the night sky over which city as it appeared when the republic was proclaimed in 1889?

Correct answer: Rio de Janeiro.

The 27 stars — one for each state and the federal district — are placed as the sky looked over Rio at about 8:30 a.m. on 15 November 1889, drawn as if seen from outside the celestial sphere; the motto "Ordem e Progresso" was borrowed from the French philosopher Auguste Comte.

National flag

A white dragon clutching jewels stretches across the centre of which country's flag?

Answer
A white dragon clutching jewels stretches across the centre of which country's flag?

Correct answer: Bhutan.

The Druk, or Thunder Dragon, gives Bhutan its own name for itself — Druk Yul, "Land of the Thunder Dragon." The jewels in its claws mean wealth and its white colour means purity; the orange and yellow halves stand for Buddhism and the monarchy.

National flag

Which country's flag is the only one to depict a modern firearm, an AK-47?

Answer
Which country's flag is the only one to depict a modern firearm, an AK-47?

Correct answer: Mozambique.

The rifle and bayonet are crossed over a hoe and laid on an open book, standing for defence, agriculture and education; the gun dates from the 1975 independence struggle, and repeated proposals to remove it have failed.

National flag

The four trigrams in the corners of South Korea's flag are taken from which ancient Chinese classic?

Answer
The four trigrams in the corners of South Korea's flag are taken from which ancient Chinese classic?

Correct answer: The I Ching (Book of Changes).

The four trigrams stand for heaven, earth, water and fire and surround a red-and-blue taegeuk symbolising the balance of opposing forces — the emblem that gives the flag its name, Taegukgi.

National flag

Which country has the world's only national flag that is not a four-sided rectangle or square?

Answer
Which country has the world's only national flag that is not a four-sided rectangle or square?

Correct answer: Nepal.

Nepal's flag is two stacked triangular pennants evoking the Himalayas, and its exact shape is fixed by a step-by-step geometric construction written into the national constitution; the moon and sun were meant to express the hope that Nepal would last as long as they do.

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