146 Fun Facts About World Flags

Which country's flag features a red circle on a white background?

Japan's Hinomaru, the 'circle of the sun', served as the country's flag in practice for well over a century, yet the Diet only made it the national flag by law in 1999.

What tree's foliage appears on the flag of Canada?

Canada's maple leaf flag replaced the Red Ensign in 1965 after the Great Flag Debate, months of heated argument in Parliament set off by Prime Minister Lester Pearson's promise of a distinctive national flag.

Which country's flag consists of three vertical stripes: blue, white, and red?

France's Tricolore joined the blue and red of Paris to royal white during the Revolution; its bands first ran red, white, blue and only took today's order in 1794.

What are the colors of the Italian flag?

Green, white and red first became a state flag under the Cispadane Republic in 1797; the green is traced to the uniforms of Milan's civic guard.

Which flag combines the Union Jack, a seven-pointed Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross?

Australia's Commonwealth Star began with six points, one for each federating colony; a seventh was added in 1908 to stand for Papua and any future territories.

The Stars and Stripes is the nickname for the flag of which country?

The Stars and Stripes refers to the flag of the United States. It features 50 white stars on a blue canton representing the 50 states, and 13 alternating red and white stripes representing the original 13 colonies.

What color is the cross on the flag of Switzerland?

Switzerland's flag is a white Greek cross on a red, square field; an 1889 federal decree fixed the cross's arms at one-sixth longer than they are wide.

Which Scandinavian country's flag features a yellow cross on a blue background?

Sweden's blue and golden yellow are believed to come from the national coat of arms, whose blue shield is quartered by a gold cross.

What colour are the stars on the flag of China?

China's five stars are golden yellow on a red field: one large star for the Communist Party and four smaller stars, in the upper hoist, for the unity of the Chinese people.

Which country's flag, two stacked pennants bearing a moon and a sun, is the only national flag that is not rectangular?

Nepal's flag joins two pennants once flown by rival branches of the ruling dynasty; the moon and sun express the hope that the nation will last as long as they do.

The map of the country on the flag of Cyprus is coloured to represent which metal?

Copper is the colour of the island's outline on Cyprus's white flag; the design uses deliberately neutral symbols, meant as a signal of peace between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

On the flag of Mexico, the eagle is perched on what kind of plant?

The eagle sits on a nopal cactus devouring a serpent, recalling the Aztec legend that marked where Tenochtitlan should be founded.

How many stripes are on the flag of the United States?

13 stripes stand for the original colonies; the flag grew to 15 stripes in 1795, but in 1818 Congress went back to 13 and added only a new star for each new state.

Which country's flag shows a red dragon on a green-and-white field?

Wales flies Y Ddraig Goch, the red dragon, yet has no place on the Union Jack: when that flag was first designed, Wales had long been absorbed into the Kingdom of England.

Besides Gaddafi-era Libya, which country used a plain single-colour national flag, all white, in 1996-97?

Afghanistan under the Taliban flew a plain white banner from 1996 until the Shahada was added in 1997; in those years the only other national flag of one plain colour was Libya's all-green one.

The five interlocking rings on the Olympic flag represent what?

The inhabited continents, with the Americas counted as one, are linked in the rings to show a united world; Coubertin took the colours from the national flags of the countries then competing.

Which celestial symbols appear on the flag of Turkey?

Star and crescent, white on red, came down from the flag of the Ottoman Empire; the republic founded in 1923 kept the old imperial flag.

Which country's flag has one blue six-pointed star between two blue horizontal stripes?

Israel's flag sets the Star of David between two stripes that recall the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl; long a Zionist banner, it became the state flag in 1948.

What motto is written across the flag of Brazil?

'Ordem e Progresso' ('Order and Progress') comes from Auguste Comte's positivist motto. It runs on a curved white band across the blue celestial globe, which shows the Southern Cross among its stars.

Which two countries have square-shaped national flags?

Switzerland and Vatican City are the only two states with square national flags; even so, Swiss ships at sea fly a rectangular version of theirs.

The emblem on the United Nations flag shows a world map surrounded by branches of which tree?

Two olive branches, a symbol of peace, frame the white map on the UN flag — an azimuthal equidistant projection centred on the North Pole, set on a sky-blue field.

Which country's flag features an AK-47 assault rifle?

Mozambique's flag shows a Kalashnikov AK-47 crossed with a hoe over an open book on a red triangle, recalling the independence struggle; it is the only national flag bearing a modern assault rifle.

Which country's flag shows six white stars in an arc above a golden map of the country on a blue field?

Adopted on the day of the 2008 declaration of independence, the six stars stand for Kosovo's six major ethnic groups: Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Turks, Romani and Gorani.

What is the study of flags called?

Vexillology joins the Latin vexillum, a flag carried by Roman cavalry, to the Greek ending for 'study'; the American scholar Whitney Smith coined the word in the late 1950s.

Which country's flag holds the Guinness record as the oldest continuously used national flag?

Denmark's Dannebrog holds the record, counted from 1625; legend says the red banner with its white cross fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia in 1219.

The Pan-African colours of red, gold and green were borrowed from which country's flag?

Ethiopia beat an Italian army at Adwa in 1896 and, apart from a brief Italian occupation, stayed independent through the colonial era, so newly free African states borrowed its green, yellow and red.

What do the two red bands added to Mauritania's green flag in 2017 represent?

Blood shed for independence from France is what the red bands honour; voters approved them in an August 2017 referendum that also abolished the Senate, and the gold crescent and star on green stayed.

What is unusual about the black eagle on Albania's red flag?

It has two heads, like the Byzantine emblem that Skanderbeg, the 15th-century hero, is said to have raised on a red flag against the Ottomans.

Which South American country's flag has a gold Sun of May with a human face on its centre stripe?

Argentina's Sun of May recalls the sun that is said to have broken through the clouds on 25 May 1810, as crowds in Buenos Aires gathered to demand self-rule from Spain.

Which country's flag features a trident-head called a 'broken trident'?

Barbados's flag bears a black broken trident on a gold band between two ultramarine bands; the colonial badge showed Britannia with a full trident, and the missing shaft marks the break from Britain.

In 2016, New Zealand voted to keep its flag over an alternative design featuring which plant?

The silver fern design, set beside the Southern Cross on black and blue, beat four rival designs in a first vote, then lost the March 2016 run-off to the existing flag by roughly 57% to 43%.

Which colour is officially a different shade on the near-identical flags of Chad and Romania?

Blue is the difference: Chad's band is a darker indigo than Romania's. When reports surfaced in 2004 that Chad wanted the United Nations to look into the clash, Romania's president said his country would not give up its flag.

Which country's flag features a white depiction of the temple complex Angkor Wat?

Cambodia has kept Angkor Wat on its flag through kingdom, republic and communist rule alike; even the Khmer Rouge flew a red flag with a three-towered silhouette of the temple.

In the usual reading of Ireland's tricolour, what does the green stand for?

Roman Catholics are the usual reading of the green and Protestants of the orange; Thomas Francis Meagher, who unveiled the flag in 1848, called the white between them a lasting truce.

Which Central American country's coat of arms, shown on its flag, includes a rainbow?

Nicaragua's coat of arms shows a rainbow arching over five volcanoes, for the five original members of the Federal Republic of Central America, with a red Phrygian cap on a staff for liberty.

In flag terminology, what is a 'canton'?

The upper hoist quarter is the canton, a word that goes back through French to an old Italian word for 'corner'; on the US flag the starry blue canton is known as the union.

Bhutan calls itself Druk Yul, the Land of which creature shown on its flag?

Thunder Dragon is the Druk of Druk Yul, Bhutan's name for itself; on the flag it clutches jewels that stand for the nation's wealth, across yellow for the ruling dynasty and orange for Buddhism.

Luxembourg's flag is almost identical to which country's, differing mainly in a lighter blue?

Luxembourg's red, white and light blue come from the arms of its ruling house, a red lion on blue-and-white stripes; the Netherlands' flag is shorter, with a darker blue.

Paraguay's flag is unusual among national flags for having what?

Different emblems on each side set Paraguay's flag apart: the national arms on the front and, on the back, the treasury seal of a lion beneath a cap of liberty; both were redrawn in 2013 to bring them closer to their original form.

The flag of Kiribati features a frigate bird flying over what?

The gold frigatebird flies over a gold rising sun on a red upper half; the blue lower half has three wavy white stripes for the ocean and the three island groups. The sun's 17 rays stand for the 16 Gilbert Islands and Banaba.

Which country's flag bears a soapstone bird on a white hoist triangle over a red star?

Zimbabwe's flag bird copies soapstone statuettes found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, and stands for the country's long history, reaching back well before colonial rule.

The Jolly Roger typically features a skull and crossbones on what colour background?

Black was the ground for the skull and crossbones flown by pirate captains in the early 1700s; a plain red flag sent a harsher message, that no quarter would be given.

Which body adopted the twelve-star flag of Europe in 1955, three decades before the European Communities took it up?

Council of Europe delegates chose the flag in 1955 and fixed the stars at twelve, a number they called a symbol of perfection and entirety, so the count never tracked membership.

Which country's flag features a cedar tree?

Lebanon's cedar was a Maronite Christian emblem long before the flag of 1943, taken from the psalm in which the righteous 'grow like a cedar in Lebanon'.

In flag protocol, what does flying a flag at 'half-staff' or 'half-mast' signify?

Mourning or distress is the message of a flag lowered partway; the custom is recorded from the 17th century, and one later explanation is that the gap leaves room for an invisible flag of death.

Which island nation's flag has five coloured bands fanning out from one bottom corner?

Seychelles adopted its fan of blue, yellow, red, white and green in 1996; the spreading bands are meant to show a dynamic young country moving into the future.

Which country's flag merges six colours around a sideways Y shape?

South Africa adopted the flag in 1994, at the end of apartheid; the colours have no official meaning, but the Y stands for diverse elements of society converging and taking the road ahead in unity.

Which country's flag sets a white crescent and star on green beside a white hoist stripe?

Pakistan's flag sets a white crescent and five-pointed star on dark green, with a white stripe at the hoist for religious minorities; it was adopted on 11 August 1947, days before independence.

Which Pacific nation's flag has a gold stripe for the Equator and one star marking its position just south?

Nauru's flag runs a thin gold stripe for the Equator across a blue field, with a twelve-pointed white star below it for the island's position just south of that line and its twelve original tribes.

On Sri Lanka's flag, what does the golden lion hold in its right forepaw?

A sword in the lion's paw stands for the nation's sovereignty; it is a kastane, a traditional Sinhalese blade, and the bo leaves in the corners stand for four Buddhist virtues.

The shield on Kenya's flag is the traditional shield of which people?

The shield is a Maasai shield in red, white and black, with two crossed spears behind it; the design was adapted from the flag of the Kenya African National Union at independence in 1963.

Dominica's flag is one of very few national flags to use which colour?

Purple colours the sisserou, or imperial parrot, at the centre of Dominica's flag, a rare bird found only on the island; it had flanked the shield of the colonial coat of arms since 1961.

Which bird on Guatemala's flag symbolises liberty?

The resplendent quetzal perches on a scroll dated 15 September 1821, Central America's independence day; the crossed rifles beneath it signal Guatemala's readiness to defend itself.

What navigational instrument sits behind the shield on Portugal's flag?

An armillary sphere, a tool of the navigators who sailed for Portugal's kings, stands on the flag for the age of the Portuguese discoveries; the green takes two-fifths of the field and the red three-fifths.

Which spice appears on the flag of Grenada?

The nutmeg on Grenada's flag stands for one of the island's chief products, and was the one device carried over from the interim flag flown from 1967 until independence in 1974.

What colour is the five-pointed star on Morocco's red flag?

Morocco's green star is an open pentagram known as the Seal of Solomon, added to the country's plain red flag in the early years of the French protectorate.

The bird at the centre of Egypt's flag is known as the Eagle of whom?

The Eagle of Saladin, named for the 12th-century sultan, replaced the Hawk of Quraish on Egypt's flag in 1984; the red, white and black bands come from the Arab Liberation Flag of the 1952 revolution.

The four black symbols in the corners of South Korea's flag are what?

The four black trigrams, taken from the I Ching, surround the red-and-blue taegeuk; the flag's name, Taegeukgi, comes from that central yin-yang circle.

Which US state's flag is often mistaken for the flag of Chile?

Texas adopted its flag in 1839, two decades after Chile's; the mix-up is common enough that a state lawmaker filed a 2017 resolution urging Texans to stop using Chile's flag emoji for their own.

Which saint's saltire was added to the Union Jack in 1801?

Saint Patrick's red saltire for Ireland was laid over Saint Andrew's white saltire when Great Britain and Ireland united in 1801, producing the 1801 Union Jack design.

Which is the only US state with a non-rectangular flag?

Ohio's swallowtail 'burgee' is the only non-rectangular US state flag; it carries 17 stars for the 17th state and a red disc inside a white circle that suggests the letter O.

Which US state flag carries the Union Jack in its canton?

Hawaii's flag keeps the Union Jack from the British colours that Captain George Vancouver presented to Kamehameha I in the 1790s; its eight stripes, fixed in the 1840s, stand for the main islands.

The Red Cross emblem is officially described as a colour reversal of which flag?

The Geneva Conventions describe the red cross on white as Switzerland's flag with the colours reversed, a tribute to the country where the movement was founded in 1863.

Which country's flag is the only national flag with humans as a major design element, two woodcutters flanking a tree?

Belize's two woodcutters flank a mahogany tree on the coat of arms, recalling the logging trade that first brought British settlers.

Which country's flag is never flown at half-mast because it bears the shahada?

Saudi Arabia's flag carries the shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, so lowering it would be seen as blasphemous.

Which bird stands in the white disc at the centre of Uganda's flag?

The crested crane first appeared on the badge the British gave colonial Uganda, and stayed on as the national symbol when the flag was raised at independence in 1962.

Angola's flag emblem crosses a half-cogwheel with which tool?

A machete crossed with half a cogwheel stands for Angola's farm and factory workers, an echo of the Soviet hammer and sickle; the flag was first raised at independence in 1975.

Which country's flag has five carpet designs, called guls, on a red vertical stripe?

Turkmenistan's red vertical stripe carries five carpet guls, one for each major tribe, honouring the national carpet industry; a crescent with five stars sits on the green field beside it.

The sun on Kyrgyzstan's flag contains a tündük, the roof opening of what?

A yurt's roof crown, the tunduk, sits inside a sun whose 40 rays stand for the 40 tribes united by the folk hero Manas; the red field is said to echo the banner he carried.

Which country's flag carries the English words 'For Gallantry' on a medal in its corner?

Malta's flag bears the George Cross, the medal inscribed 'For Gallantry' that George VI awarded to the whole island in 1942 for its bravery under wartime attack.

Why is the red disc on Bangladesh's flag set slightly toward the hoist?

To look centred when flying, the disc is set slightly toward the pole; the wartime flag of 1971 also carried a gold map of the country inside it, dropped when the design was made official in 1972.

Flying which country's flag with the red band on top signals a state of war?

The Philippines flies its flag with the red band on top in wartime; the sun's eight rays stand for the eight provinces that first rose against Spain in 1896, the three stars for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag in 1937 after discovering it matched which country's?

Liechtenstein discovered at the 1936 Berlin Olympics that it shared Haiti's blue-over-red bicolour, so it added a gold crown to the hoist in 1937.

Which country pressured North Macedonia to drop the Vergina Sun from its flag in 1995?

Greece kept up an economic embargo until the Vergina Sun was dropped; Miroslav Grčev's eight-rayed replacement sun was adopted in October 1995.

Georgia's national banner, reinstated in 2004, is known by what nickname?

The Five-Cross Flag, a medieval Georgian banner, was revived as the emblem of Mikheil Saakashvili's opposition movement and became the national flag in January 2004, weeks after the Rose Revolution.

Which country's flag carries the Soyombo, a gold column of fire, sun, moon and yin-yang symbols?

Mongolia's Soyombo includes a yin-yang read as two fish that never close their eyes; the blue band beside it stands for the eternal sky.

Which country's flag is the only national flag wider than twice its height?

Qatar's maroon-and-white banner has an 11:28 ratio, the only national flag wider than twice its height; its nine-point serrated edge is said to mark Qatar as the ninth 'reconciled emirate' of the Gulf after a 1916 treaty with Britain.

Which country's red-and-white flag is all but identical to Indonesia's, differing only in its proportions?

Monaco's red over white comes from the colours of its ruling Grimaldi family, in use since the 14th century; Indonesia's flag is the same but longer, and Poland's has the colours the other way up.

Which country's sky-blue flag shows a golden sun above a soaring steppe eagle?

Kazakhstan's sun has 32 rays shaped like grain, a sign of abundance; the eagle beneath it flew on the banners of Kazakh tribes for centuries and stands for freedom.

Which Pacific nation's flag has a white star with 24 points, one for each electoral district?

The Marshall Islands' star has four longer points for the centres of Majuro, Jaluit, Wotje and Ebeye; the orange and white stripes beside it stand for the Ralik and Ratak island chains.

Which country's flag was imposed by an international envoy in 1998 after its parliament failed to agree?

Bosnia and Herzegovina's blue-and-yellow flag was imposed by High Representative Carlos Westendorp when parliament could not agree; its design was chosen to favour no single ethnic group.

On which country's flag is 'Allahu Akbar' written 22 times along the edges of its green and red bands?

Iran's flag repeats the phrase eleven times on each band, 22 in all, recalling 22 Bahman, the date in the Iranian calendar when the 1979 revolution triumphed.

Which country's 1957 independence flag set a black star on red, gold and green bands?

Ghana's flag was designed by the artist Theodosia Okoh; its black star, hailed as the 'lodestar of African freedom', later shaped the flag of Guinea-Bissau.

Legend says which country's red-white-red flag recalls a duke's bloodstained tunic at the Siege of Acre?

Austria's legend has Duke Leopold V's white tunic drenched in blood in 1191, all but the strip beneath his belt; historians doubt the tale, and the colours are first recorded on a ducal seal of 1230.

Which country replaced its flag in 2010 with a yellow, green and red tricolour bearing a large white star?

Myanmar raised the new flag on 21 October 2010 in place of its socialist-era red one; the three colours revive a flag the country used from 1943 to 1945, during the Second World War.

Which country's blue, yellow and red tricolour shows an eagle bearing a shield with an aurochs head?

Moldova's tricolour follows Romania's, with which it shares a history and culture, though its blue is lighter; the aurochs head on the eagle's shield is a traditional emblem of the land.

Which Pacific nation's constitution declares that its flag can never be altered?

Tonga's constitution of 1875 fixed the red flag with a red cross in its white corner, a design King George Tupou I wanted to proclaim the islands' Christianity, and ruled that it shall never be altered.

Which country's 2009 constitution made the Wiphala a national symbol beside its tricolour?

Bolivia made the Wiphala, a square chequered banner of rainbow colours standing for the country's indigenous peoples, an official symbol in 2009, to be flown beside the red, yellow and green tricolour.

Ukraine's flag is said to picture a blue sky above what?

Wheat fields under a blue sky is the popular reading, though the colours go back to medieval heraldry; banned under Soviet rule, the flag was restored by parliament in January 1992.

Which country's 1959 flag adds a crescent and five stars to a red-over-white bicolour?

Singapore's flag came from a committee led by the deputy prime minister, Toh Chin Chye; the crescent stands for a young nation on the rise and the stars for democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

Which country added an eighth star to its flag in 2006, as Simón Bolívar once wished?

Venezuela's eighth star stands for Guayana, the province Bolívar wanted honoured beside the seven that declared independence in 1811; Hugo Chávez's government added it in 2006.

Which country's flag is said to show the blue of its lakes and the white of its winter snow?

By tradition, Finland's blue cross on white follows a design the writer Zachris Topelius proposed in the 1860s, half a century before independence; it was adopted in 1918.

Which country's flag has a narrow white stripe between two carmine bands?

Latvia's flag is among the oldest designs in the world: a medieval chronicle describes Latvian fighters carrying a red banner with a white stripe around 1280. Suppressed under Soviet rule, it was restored in 1990.

Which South American flag has a Sun of May in its corner?

Uruguay's nine stripes stand for its nine original departments; the first flag of 1828 carried more stripes, cut back two years later, in a pattern modelled on the flag of the United States.

Gilbert Baker's rainbow flag first flew in 1978 in which city?

San Francisco saw the first rainbow flags on 25 June 1978, hand-dyed and sewn with eight stripes; hot pink was soon dropped, and a six-stripe version has been standard since 1979.

What sits beneath the arc of seven stars on Tajikistan's flag?

A crown, standing for the Tajik people, sits beneath the seven stars on the wide white band, a colour said to recall the country's cotton and its mountain snows.

Which country's green-and-white flag was drawn by a student in London, whose red sun was later cut?

Nigeria picked Taiwo Akinkunmi's entry from almost 3,000 in a 1959 contest. The committee then removed the red quarter sun he had drawn on the white stripe.

In which country's 1956 uprising did rebels cut the communist emblem from the flag, leaving a hole?

Hungary's revolutionaries flew the tricolour with a hole where the Soviet-style arms had been. The cut-out flag became the symbol of the whole revolt.

Which Caribbean country's flag centres on arms showing a Bible open at the Gospel of John?

The Dominican Republic sets a small gold cross above the open Bible, under the motto 'Dios, Patria, Libertad'. The arms reflect the Christian ideals of founding father Juan Pablo Duarte.

The stars on Brazil's flag map the sky over which city on the morning the republic was declared?

Rio de Janeiro, then the capital, is the vantage point: the sky of 15 November 1889. Each star stands for a federal unit and is sized by the brightness of the real star.

Which country's flag, with a soaring bird of paradise, was designed by a 15-year-old schoolgirl?

Papua New Guinea chose Susan Karike's design after a nationwide contest in 1971. Officials had first proposed a tricolour, which the public found mechanically contrived.

By legend, red-and-white flamingos inspired José de San Martín's colours for which country's flag?

Peru owes its red and white, the story goes, to parihuanas the general saw after landing at Pisco. The tale comes from writer Abraham Valdelomar; the colours' real meaning is uncertain.

Which country swapped its elephant flag for stripes, by legend after a king saw one upside down?

Thailand's King Vajiravudh, the story goes, was appalled to see the white elephant on its back and ordered a design that looks the same either way up. The striped Trairanga dates from 1917.

Which Caribbean country's lone-star flag did Puerto Rico copy with the colours inverted?

Cuba's flag, designed in 1849, was the model for Puerto Rican exiles. They swapped its blue stripes and red triangle for red stripes and a blue triangle.

Which country changed its flag in 2001 because the old design was tied to genocide?

Rwanda's government said the old red, yellow and green flag had become associated with the 1994 killings. The new one shows a sun lighting the land, a symbol of unity and enlightenment.

Which country's black-red-gold flag is often traced to uniforms of volunteers who fought Napoleon?

Germany's colours, by one account, echo the Lützow Free Corps: black coats, red facings, gold buttons. Recruits supplied their own clothes, and dyeing everything black was the easy way to match.

Which country's flag has arms flanked by the Pillars of Hercules and the motto 'Plus Ultra'?

Spain's arms use the pillars, an ancient name for the Strait of Gibraltar, as supporters. The Latin motto means 'further beyond', a nod to the lands found past them.

Which neighbour's near-identical red-and-white flag led Czechoslovakia to add a blue triangle?

Poland made its white-over-red bicolour official in 1919, almost identical to the Bohemian flag the new Czechoslovak state was flying. The blue wedge at the hoist ended the mix-up a year later.

Which country's flag has a red-and-white checkerboard shield topped by an arc of five small shields?

Croatia's checkerboard was replaced by a red star under communist rule and came back in 1990, a year before independence. The five small shields stand for historical regions.

Which West African nation's flag has eleven stripes for the signers of its independence declaration?

Liberia was founded by free people of colour and former slaves who crossed the Atlantic, and its flag closely resembles the one they left behind. A single white star sits in the corner.

Which country's sky-blue flag with one white star took its colour in tribute to the United Nations?

Somalia spent 1950 to 1960 as a UN trust territory, and the blue thanks the organisation for helping form the state. The star's points mark the five regions where Somalis live.

Which country's flag, the Jalur Gemilang or 'Stripes of Glory', has fourteen red and white stripes?

Malaysia's equal stripes give the member states and the federal territories the same standing. The fourteen points of its Federal Star stand for unity among them.

What name is given to the deep orange of the top stripe on India's tricolour, above white and green?

Saffron on the Indian flag denotes renunciation. It took the place of the red stripe used on an earlier flag of the independence movement.

Which Canadian province's blue flag, quartered by a white cross, carries four white fleurs-de-lis?

Quebec calls its flag the Fleurdelisé. The lilies and the blue field come from a banner honouring the Virgin Mary that colonial militia carried in the 18th century.

Which US state's flag shows a grizzly bear said to be modelled on Monarch, a famous captive bear?

California's bear is claimed to be modelled on Monarch, captured in 1889 at the behest of press baron William Randolph Hearst. The state's own grizzlies are now extinct.

Which territory's flag skips the Nordic cross for a red sun sinking into an icy sea?

Greenland's design by Thue Christiansen narrowly beat a green-and-white cross, by 14 votes to 11. Its white band stands for the ice cap and the white half-disc for icebergs and pack ice.

Which country's flag colours are commonly read as volcanic fire, ice and snow, and blue mountains?

Iceland's own flag law calls the design sky-blue with a snow-white cross and a fiery-red cross inside it. The law dates from 17 June 1944, the day the republic was founded.

Which country revived its white-blue-red imperial tricolour after the August Coup of 1991 failed?

Russia's republic readopted the old tsarist tricolour on 22 August 1991, in place of its red Soviet-era flag. The date is now celebrated each year as National Flag Day.

Which country's black, yellow and red flag takes its colours from the Duchy of Brabant's arms?

Belgium's insurgents of 1830 flew the colours as horizontal bands, with red on top. Only the following year did the official flag get its upright stripes.

Which country's flag shows Mount Triglav, its highest peak, in white on a small blue shield?

Slovenia tops the mountain with three six-pointed stars borrowed from the arms of the medieval Counts of Celje. Two wavy lines beneath it stand for the Adriatic Sea and local rivers.

Which island's red flag shows a triskelion of three armoured legs fitted with spurs?

The Isle of Man knows the emblem as 'ny tree cassyn', Manx for the three legs. The triskelion itself is far older, used by the Mycenaeans and the Lycians.

Which country's quartered flag is said to use blue for its Conservatives and red for its Liberals?

Panama's first flag was made by María de la Ossa de Amador, the first First Lady, days before independence in 1903. Its white quarters are said to stand for peace between the parties.

Which country's flag has five blue stars for the nations of the old Central American federation?

Honduras placed the stars on its flag in 1866, hoping the five nations might one day reunite. The chorus of its national anthem sings of 'five pale blue stars'.

The yellow, blue and red flags of Ecuador and Venezuela descend from which former state's flag?

Gran Colombia took its tricolour from Francisco de Miranda's Venezuelan flag of 1811. When the union broke up in 1831, each successor nation kept the three colours.

Which Caribbean island's flag uses triangles to depict the Pitons, its twin volcanic cones?

Saint Lucia's flag was designed by local artist Dunstan St Omer and first raised in 1967. Its blue field stands for the sky and the waters that surround the island.

Which southern African country's flag centres on a black mokorotlo, a traditional straw hat?

Lesotho adopted the hat flag in 2006, on the 40th anniversary of independence. It replaced a design showing a shield, spear and club, to present a nation at peace.

Which African country's blue flag stands for rainfall, with a black stripe for racial harmony?

Botswana is an arid country where rain is crucial to farming, hence the azure field. The black band is framed by two thin white stripes.

Which country's flag has a white disc said to represent a full moon over the Mekong River?

Laos calls its banner the moon flag. Designer Maha Sila Viravong said the disc stood for the unity of Lao people living on both banks of the river.

Which country's red flag bears one yellow star whose five points stand for five classes of society?

Vietnam's star stands for intellectuals, farmers, workers, entrepreneurs and soldiers. The flag first flew in a failed 1940 uprising in the south against colonial rule.

Which Arabian country's flag carries an emblem built around a khanjar, a curved ceremonial dagger?

Oman's emblem lays the sheathed khanjar over two crossed blades, the historic weapons of its people. Omani men still wear the dagger on formal occasions.

Which Arab country's flag has a serrated line of five white triangles for the five pillars of Islam?

Bahrain added a zigzag edge in 1932 to tell its flag apart from its neighbours'. The points were cut to five in 2002 so that each could stand for one pillar.

Which Pacific country's flag shows a curled boar's tusk, a symbol of custom and prosperity?

Vanuatu's tusk, a shape islanders wear as a pendant, encircles two crossed fronds of the local namele cycad. The yellow Y across the flag traces the layout of the islands on a map.

Which Pacific nation's flag has a yellow disc on blue that stands for the full moon, not the sun?

Palau sets the disc slightly toward the hoist. Palauans consider the full moon the best time for human activity, and a symbol of peace, love and tranquillity.

Which flower, its five petals each bearing a star, sits at the centre of Hong Kong's red flag?

Bauhinia blakeana was first discovered in Hong Kong itself. The five stars on its petals repeat those of China's national flag, tying the city's symbol to the mainland.

Which bird spreads its wings atop the coat of arms at the centre of Ecuador's flag?

The condor stretches its wings to symbolise Ecuador's power, greatness and strength. Below it the shield shows Mount Chimborazo and a steamship with a caduceus for a mast, a symbol of navigation and trade.

Which Black nationalist leader's UNIA adopted the red, black and green Pan-African flag in 1920?

Marcus Garvey wanted one flag to unify people of African descent and promote racial pride. His UNIA adopted it during a month-long convention at Madison Square Garden.

Which maritime signal flag with a white rectangle tells a crew that a ship is ready to sail?

Blue Peter is the letter P in the international signal code; flown alone in harbour, it calls everyone aboard because the ship is about to put to sea. Where the 'peter' comes from is uncertain and disputed.

Which emblem on NATO's dark blue flag symbolises the direction toward the path of peace?

The compass rose was adopted in 1953, after NATO's council asked for a simple, striking design that stressed the treaty's peaceful purpose. Several proposals were rejected first.

The emblem at the centre of the ASEAN flag shows ten bound stalks of which crop?

Rice stalks stand for the founders' dream of a Southeast Asia bound together in friendship and solidarity. ASEAN's first flag had only six stalks.

What is the name of the red-and-blue interlocking circle at the centre of South Korea's flag?

The taegeuk gives the flag its Korean name, Taegeukgi. South Korea adopted the design in 1948, though earlier versions had flown since the Joseon dynasty in the 1880s.

Which animal stands above the ship Desire on the shield of the Falkland Islands flag?

Sheep farming and wool were historically the Falklands' main industry, hence the ram on tussock grass. An earlier badge paired the ship with a sea lion instead.

Which country's flag was the first raised at the South Pole, by Roald Amundsen's team in 1911?

Norway's flag went up with the words 'So we plant you, dear flag, on the South Pole'. A 2011 study reckoned Amundsen's tent lay about 17 metres under the snow.

Heaps of which product on the old Turks and Caicos flag badge were once mistaken for an igloo?

Salt raking once dominated the islands' economy, so the badge showed a worker between two white heaps. An 1889 flag book shaded one with what looked like a door.

Which Inuit stone figure splits Nunavut's gold and white flag, beside a blue North Star?

An inuksuk is a traditional marker built to guide travellers and mark sacred sites. The star beside it also stands for the leadership of community elders.

Which African island nation's flag has a ring of ten yellow stars, one for each of its islands?

Cape Verde arranges its stars in a circle to symbolise unity. The blue around them stands for the sky and the sea.

Which East African country's diagonal flag blends the colours of two states that united in 1964?

Tanzania kept the green and black of Tanganyika and the blue of Zanzibar when the two united in 1964. The diagonal layout was chosen 'for distinctiveness'.