Flag quiz
This flag quiz shows you 10 flags, one at a time, with four countries to choose from. It covers all 193 member states of the United Nations, and you can play the whole world or stick to Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa or Oceania.
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Country names are shown in your browser's language. Every round is a new random set of 10 flags from the regions you pick.
The wrong answers always come from the same region as the right one, so you can't just guess the continent. Below the quiz you'll find the flags that look alike, the ones almost everybody gets wrong, and tricks for learning them.
- Flags
- 193 countries
- Round
- 10 flags
- Regions
- 5
How to play the flag quiz
Play alone to beat your own score, or pass the phone round the table and see who knows the world best. A round takes about two minutes.
- Pick your regionsAll five regions are on to start with. Tap a region to switch it off, for example to play Europe only.
- Name the flagEach flag comes with four countries from the same region. Tap the one you think it is.
- See the answerA right answer is marked straight away. A wrong one shows you the right country, so you learn it for next time.
- Get your scoreAfter 10 flags you see your score out of 10. Press Play again for a fresh set of flags.
| Region | Flags | Classic trap |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 44 | Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia, or the Netherlands and Luxembourg |
| Americas | 35 | Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, or Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela |
| Asia | 46 | Qatar and Bahrain, or Yemen and Iraq |
| Africa | 54 | Chad, Mali, Guinea and Senegal |
| Oceania | 14 | Australia, New Zealand and Tuvalu |
| The whole world | 193 | Chad and Romania, and Indonesia and Monaco, which sit in different regions |
Flags that look alike, and how to tell them apart
Most wrong answers in any flag quiz come from the same few groups of flags. Learn the difference once and you'll get them right every time.
Look alike flags
17- Chad and Romania: the same blue, yellow and red vertical stripes. Chad's blue is a shade darker, and that is the only difference.
- Indonesia and Monaco: red over white, nothing else. Monaco's flag is squarer, Indonesia's is longer. Poland uses the same two colours the other way round, white over red.
- Australia and New Zealand: both are dark blue with the Union Jack and the Southern Cross. Australia's stars are white, with a big seven pointed star under the Union Jack. New Zealand has four red stars with white borders.
- Ireland and Côte d'Ivoire: the same three colours in opposite order. Ireland runs green, white, orange from the flagpole, Côte d'Ivoire runs orange, white, green.
- Italy and Mexico: green, white and red vertical stripes. Mexico has an eagle with a snake in the middle, and its flag is longer.
- The Netherlands and Luxembourg: red, white and blue horizontal stripes. Luxembourg's blue is a lighter sky blue, and its flag is longer.
- Norway and Iceland: the same Nordic cross with the colours swapped. Norway is red with a blue cross edged in white, Iceland is blue with a red cross edged in white.
- Senegal and Mali: green, yellow and red vertical stripes. Senegal has a green star in the middle, Mali has none.
- Guinea and Mali: the same colours in opposite order. Guinea runs red, yellow, green from the flagpole, Mali runs green, yellow, red.
- Romania, Andorra and Moldova: blue, yellow and red vertical stripes. Andorra and Moldova have a coat of arms in the middle, Romania doesn't.
- Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia: white, blue and red horizontal stripes. Russia's is plain, Slovakia has a shield with a white double cross, and Slovenia has a smaller shield with a white mountain in the top corner.
- Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela: yellow, blue and red horizontal stripes. Colombia and Ecuador have a yellow band that fills half the flag, and Ecuador adds a coat of arms with a condor. Venezuela has three equal stripes and an arc of white stars.
- Qatar and Bahrain: a white zigzag band next to the flagpole. Qatar is maroon with nine points, Bahrain is red with five points.
- Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador: blue, white and blue horizontal stripes. Honduras has five blue stars in the middle, Nicaragua and El Salvador each have a coat of arms.
- Japan, Bangladesh and Palau: a single disc. Japan is a red disc on white, Bangladesh a red disc on green, Palau a yellow disc on light blue. On the last two, the disc sits a little towards the flagpole.
- Haiti and Liechtenstein: blue over red. Liechtenstein has a gold crown in the top corner, Haiti has a coat of arms on a white panel in the middle.
- Yemen, Egypt and Iraq: red, white and black horizontal stripes. Yemen's is plain, Egypt has a gold eagle in the middle, and Iraq has green Arabic script.
Play flags against your friends, live
Dronk's The Quiz has a Geography and Flags pack. The host shares a 4 digit pin code, up to 16 players join from their own phones, and everyone answers at the same time. The fastest correct answer scores most, and a podium crowns the winner.
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The hardest flags in the quiz
These are the flags of smaller countries that rarely turn up on TV, and the ones with designs you won't find anywhere else. Learn the detail in bold and you'll recognise them instantly.
Flags most people miss
14- Eswatini: a black and white shield with two spears, on a wide red band edged in yellow and blue.
- Kiribati: a gold frigatebird flying over a rising sun, above blue and white waves.
- Comoros: yellow, white, red and blue stripes, with a green triangle holding a white crescent and four stars.
- Saint Kitts and Nevis: a black diagonal band with two white stars, edged in yellow, between green and red.
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: blue, gold and green vertical stripes with three green diamonds in a V.
- Togo: five green and yellow stripes and a red square with a white star.
- Mauritius: four horizontal stripes: red, blue, yellow and green.
- Seychelles: five bands fanning out from the bottom corner by the flagpole, in blue, yellow, red, white and green.
- Tuvalu: light blue with the Union Jack and nine yellow stars.
- Marshall Islands: dark blue with an orange and a white diagonal stripe and a white star with 24 points.
- Turkmenistan: green with a white crescent and stars, and a red stripe down the side with five carpet patterns.
- Brunei: yellow with black and white diagonal bands and a red crest in the middle.
- Sri Lanka: a gold lion holding a sword on a dark red field, with a green and an orange stripe beside it.
- Dominica: green with a cross of yellow, black and white stripes and a red disc showing a Sisserou parrot.
Flag facts to win any argument
Fun facts about flags
16- Nepal has the only national flag that isn't a rectangle: two stacked triangles, like pennants.
- Switzerland's national flag is square.
- Denmark's flag, the Dannebrog, is often called the oldest national flag still in use. According to legend, it fell from the sky during a battle in 1219.
- Paraguay's flag has a different emblem on the front and the back.
- Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag in 1937, after finding out at the 1936 Olympics that Haiti's flag looked exactly the same.
- Mozambique's flag shows a rifle crossed with a hoe, on top of an open book.
- Cyprus has a map of the island on its flag.
- Bhutan's flag shows a white dragon, the Druk.
- The Philippines flies its flag with the red stripe on top in time of war, instead of the blue.
- Canada's maple leaf has 11 points.
- Brazil's flag shows the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889, with one star for each state and the Federal District.
- Qatar's flag is the longest of any national flag, with proportions of 11 by 28.
- From 1977 to 2011, Libya's flag was plain green, with no design at all.
- The Southern Cross appears on the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Brazil.
- Cambodia's flag shows a building: the temple of Angkor Wat.
- Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden all use a Nordic cross, shifted towards the flagpole.
How to learn the flags of the world
- One region at a time. Switch on one region and play until you score 10 out of 10 twice in a row. Oceania, with 14 flags, is the quickest win. Africa, with 54, takes the longest.
- Learn the families. Many flags share colours for a reason. Green, yellow and red are the Pan African colours, red, white and black run through many Arab flags, and blue and white stripes link Central America.
- Learn the look alikes as pairs. Don't learn Chad and Romania separately. Learn the one difference between them, and you'll know both.
- Look at the middle and the corner. Many striped flags are the same until you check the centre for a coat of arms, or the corner by the flagpole for a star or a triangle.
- Little and often. Three rounds a day for a week teaches you more than an hour in one go.
Questions people ask
How many flags are there in the world?
There are 193 member states of the United Nations, and this flag quiz covers all of them. Territories and other flags are not included.
What are the hardest flags to guess?
Small countries with unusual designs catch most people out: Eswatini, Kiribati, Comoros, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Marshall Islands. Flags that look like another one, like Chad and Romania, are just as hard.
Which two flags are almost the same?
Chad and Romania have the same blue, yellow and red stripes, and only Chad's darker blue tells them apart. Indonesia and Monaco are both red over white, with different proportions.
Which country has a flag that isn't a rectangle?
Nepal. Its flag is two stacked triangles. Switzerland's national flag is not a rectangle either: it's square.
Can I play the flag quiz with friends?
Yes. Pass the phone round and compare scores, or play in two teams. For a live quiz on everyone's phone, The Quiz in the Dronk app has a Geography and Flags pack.
Why do the wrong answers come from the same region?
So you can't guess the continent and get it right by elimination. You have to know the flag itself.
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