Which country has a flag that is not rectangular? If you hesitated, this quiz is for you. Here are twenty flags described in words, from the obvious to the one that catches almost everybody out, across four levels. One point per correct answer, the scale is at the bottom. If you would rather start with the hard stuff, our selection of hardest flags to guess gets straight to it.
Level 1: warming up
1. White background, a red maple leaf in the centre, two vertical red bands on the sides.
Canada. The maple leaf replaced a flag that still carried the British Union Jack in 1965.
2. A plain red disc, centred on a white background.
Japan. The disc represents the sun, which is where the country’s name comes from: the origin of the sun.
3. Three vertical bands, green, white and red.
Italy. The green and red came from the uniform of the Milan militia; the white was added under French influence.
4. Fifty white stars on a blue rectangle, thirteen red and white stripes.
The United States. Fifty current states, thirteen founding colonies.
5. A yellow cross shifted towards the hoist, on a blue background.
Sweden. That off-centre cross, called the Nordic cross, is shared by five northern countries.
Level 2: getting harder
6. A red dragon on a background half white, half green.
Wales. It is the only flag in this quiz that does not represent a sovereign state.
7. Two horizontal red bands framing a wider white band, with a green tree in the centre.
Lebanon. The tree is a cedar, a symbol of the country long before 1943, the year it entered the flag.
8. Two stacked triangular pennants, with a sun and a moon in white. The only national flag that is not rectangular.
Nepal. Its shape is defined in the constitution through a precise geometric construction.
9. Pale blue background, a yellow sun with a human face in the centre, two horizontal white bands.
Argentina. The sun is called the Sun of May, after the revolution of May 1810.
10. An eagle devouring a snake, perched on a cactus, at the centre of three vertical bands of green, white and red.
Mexico. The scene depicts the founding legend of Tenochtitlán.
Level 3: for those taking this seriously
11. Red background, a white crescent and a five-pointed star.
Turkey. The crescent came from the Ottoman Empire, which had itself inherited it from Constantinople.
12. Plain green, with no emblem at all, until 2011.
Libya. It was the only single-colour national flag in modern history. After Gaddafi fell, the country returned to the 1951 flag, with red, black and green bands.
13. Blue background, the British Union Jack in the upper left, and four red stars edged in white.
New Zealand. The four stars form the Southern Cross. Australia uses the same constellation but with five white stars, plus a large star beneath the Union Jack.
14. Two horizontal bands, red on top, white below.
Indonesia. Monaco has exactly the same colours in the same order, with different proportions. Poland is the reverse: white on top, red below.
15. Red upper half with a golden bird above a rising sun, blue lower half with three wavy white bands.
Kiribati. The bird is a frigatebird, the waves represent the Pacific, and the rising sun marks the country’s position on the equator.
Level 4: expert level
16. An AK-47 assault rifle on a green, red and black background.
Mozambique. It is the only national flag featuring a modern firearm.
17. Dark red background with a white three-towered temple in the centre.
Cambodia. It is the only flag in the world depicting a real monument: Angkor Wat.
18. A square flag, red, with a white Greek cross in the centre.
Switzerland. Along with the Vatican’s, these are the only two square national flags.
19. Blue background with the country’s own map in gold and six white stars arcing above it.
Kosovo. It is one of two national flags showing the country’s map, alongside Cyprus. The six stars represent its main communities.
20. Four horizontal bands of equal width, red, blue, yellow and green, with no emblem.
Mauritius. A rarity: almost no national flag lines up four equal horizontal bands, and no other uses this combination of colours.
Your score
| Score | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 0-5 | Flags are still territory to explore |
| 6-10 | You know the essentials, the rest comes with practice |
| 11-15 | Good level: you can tell Indonesia from Monaco |
| 16-20 | Vexillologist level |
To keep going: the hardest flags to guess gather the ones almost everyone misses, flags that look alike explain why they get confused, and flag meanings tell the story behind each symbol. If you like the format, the countries that no longer exist quiz follows the same principle.
Frequently asked questions
Which flag is the hardest to recognise?
The flags of the small Pacific island states are the least identified: Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands share blue backgrounds and solar symbols that are hard to tell apart without practice.
Which flags get confused the most?
Indonesia and Monaco, identical except for their proportions. Chad and Romania, almost indistinguishable. And the five Nordic countries, which share the same Nordic cross in different colours.
Which is the only national flag that is not rectangular?
Nepal’s, made of two stacked triangular pennants. Its exact geometry is set out in the country’s constitution.
Are there any square flags?
Yes, two: Switzerland and the Vatican. Every other national flag is rectangular, most often in proportions ranging from 1:2 to 2:3.
How many national flags are there in the world?
As many as there are countries, so between 193 and 197 depending on the count you use. The detail is in our article on how many countries there are in the world.
