Fifteen World Flags Trivia Quiz

Answer: Suriname

Suriname is a small country in the northern part of South America, located between Guyana and the French Guiana to the west and east respectively, bordering Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It is the smallest sovereign state in the continent, one of the least densely populated countries in the world, and the only nation outside of Europe where Dutch is the official language.

The green stripes of the flag symbolize the fertile lands, white represents freedom and justice, the center red stripe represents progress, and the central yellow star symbolizes a golden future and the unity of the people.

Answer: Barbados

Barbados is part of the Lesser Antilles, being the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. Since late 2021, it changed its political status to a Republic within the Commonwealth of Nations - that is, a member of the Commonwealth with a republican form of government.

The national flag of Barbados consists of two outer blue stripes, representing the sea and the sky, and a central yellow stripe that represents the sands of the island's beaches. The center stripe also contains the head of a trident, representing the break from the colonial empire, with its three points also symbolizing the principles of democracy.

Answer: Uruguay

Uruguay is located at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, which separates it from Argentina, and also borders Brazil to the north. It is the second smallest nation in South America in terms of area, and it ranks very high in terms of development, GDP, and democracy and government transparency, among the other countries in the continent.

The national flag, in a similar manner to the United States' flag, has 9 alternating stripes of white and blue, representing the original nine departments of Uruguay. On the upper left corner, the Sun of May is displayed. It owes its name to the May Revolution of 1810, which marked the first step towards the end of the colonial status of Uruguay and Argentina.

Aside from this one, Uruguay has two other official flags: the flag of Artigas, and the flag of the Thirty-Three ("Bandera de los Treinta y Tres", referring to the Thirty-Three Orientals, a revolutionary group that led a revolt against the empire of Brazil, and paved the way for the founding of the nation of Uruguay).

Answer: Costa Rica

Located in the mainland of Central America, between Nicaragua and Panama, Costa Rica is another Latin American country that performs consistently well in economy, development, education and governance indicators. While it primarily based its economy on agriculture on its early years, it recently transitioned to a more diversified one, including corporate and financial services among other activities.

For a detailed explanation of the symbology of the Costa Rican flag, I will quote this text taken from the web of the Costa Rica Embassy in the US: "Blue means the sky, opportunities at reach, intellectual thinking, perseverance to accomplish a goal, infinite, eternity, and ideals of the religious and spiritual desires. White means clear thinking, happiness, wisdom, power and beauty of the sky, the driving force of initiatives to search for new endeavors, and the peace of Costa Rica. Red means the warmth of Costa Rican people, their love to live, their bloodshed for freedom, and their generous attitude."

Answer: Liechtenstein

The sixth smallest country in the world, and one of the few double-landlocked nations, Liechtenstein is located in the Alps, between Switzerland and Austria. As it was not intended to include any microstates, the European Union does not count Liechtenstein among its members; however, the country does participate in the European Economic Area and the Schengen Area (a group of European countries that abolished all types of border controls for their citizens).

Consisting of two stripes of blue and red (from top to bottom) and a golden crown at the top left corner, the flag has been in use since 1764, and recognized in the Constitution of 1921. As with most flags, blue represents the sky, while red stands for the evening fires lit in the houses. The crown was actually added in 1937, after noticing, at the Summer Olympics held the previous year, that the flag was identical to the civil flag of Haiti.

Answer: North Macedonia

The Republic of North Macedonia (which changed its name from Republic of Macedonia, following the Prespa agreement of 2018) has long been a part of the Yugoslav Federation, and declared its independence on 8th September 1991.

During its history, North Macedonia had several flags, and when it became independent, adopted a red one with a yellow 'Vergina Sun', an ancient Greek symbol, in the center. That led to a controversy between both countries, resulting in the adoption of North Macedonia's current flag in 1995, and the aforementioned name change.

Answer: Slovenia

Slovenia is the northernmost of the ex-members of the Republic of Yugoslavia, having declared its independence in June 1991. It is located towards Central Europe, sharing land borders with Italy, Austria, Croatia and Hungary.

Slovenia's flag consists of three horizontal stripes of white, blue and red. On the left side, the coat of arms is shown, which features a three peak mountain (representing Mount Triglav, the highest peak of the country) with two wavy blue lines at the bottom, symbolizing the Adriatic Sea, and three golden stars at the top, which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, an important medieval dynasty.

It is very similar to Slovakia's and Russia's flags, but the former has a different coat in the left side, and the latter has no extra symbols, only the colored stripes.

Answer: Malaysia

Malaysia's territory consists of two main regions: peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, the latter located in the island of Borneo.

The national flag is known as the "Stripes of Glory" ("Jalur Gemilang" in Malay). It bears 14 alternating horizontal stripes of red and white, with the canton featuring a crescent moon (symbolizing Islam, the main religion in the country) and a 14-pointed star, both of yellow color (which is the royal color of the Malay rulers) over a blue background, that represents the unity of the Malaysian people. Both the 14 stripes and the 14 points of the star, refer to the 13 member states of the country, plus the federal territories.

Answer: Kyrgyzstan

Located in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is located in a very mountainous terrain that keeps it in a relative isolation. It declared its independence from the collapsing USSR on 31 August 1991. Most of the population considers that the fall of the USSR actually was harmful to Kyrgyzstan.

The flag consists of a red background, resembling the pennant carried by Manas, the main folk hero of the country. In the middle, there's a yellow sun with forty rays, symbolizing the tribes united by Manas. The center of the sun features six inter-crossed lines, that represent a 'tunduk', the union in the center of the roof of a Kyrgyz yurt, seen from the inside.

Answer: Bhutan

Bhutan is a small landlocked country located near Tibet and the Himalayas. As such, it's a very mountainous region, and it actually contains the highest unclimbed mountain in the world: the Gangkhar Puensum, with 7,570 metres of elevation (24,836 ft). As mountaineering has been banned in Bhutan since 2003, it's very likely that it remains unclimbed.

Bhutan's flag is divided diagonally into two right triangles, a yellow one at the top and an orange one at the bottom, representing the civil and monastic traditions, respectively. A white dragon (whose color indicates purity) is placed along the center line, spread evenly between both halves to symbolize the equal importance of both traditions. The dragon holds a jewel (norbu) in each of its claws; they represent the wealth of the people, and the dragon's grasp represent security and protection.

Answer: Chad

Chad is the fifth largest country in Africa by area. It is located in central-northern Africa, with most of its territory covered by the Sahara desert and with a small, more fertile savanna region in the south. Sadly, it is ranked amongst the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with the second lowest Human Development Index according to the 2022 report.

The Chadian flag consists of three vertical stripes of blue, gold and red, which are said to represent the sky and hope, the gold and desert, and the blood from the independence wars, respectively. It was also intended to be a mixture of the French flag with the Pan-African colors: red, gold and green.

One aspect that the Chadian flag is also known for, is its similarity with Romania's flag, which has been a controversial subject between both countries.

Answer: Uganda

Uganda is located in Central Africa, at the Great Lakes region. It is a mainly agricultural based economy, with coffee being one of its main exports. Although it has experienced a sustained growth, it still falls under the category of countries with low development.

Uganda's flag has colored stripes of black (for the ethnic groups of Africa), yellow (for the sun) and red (for the blood connection of all people in the continent), with a circle in the center showing a crowned crane, a symbol which has been used by Ugandan soldiers during the time of the British rule.

Answer: Zambia

Zambia is located in Southern Africa, taking its name from the Zambezi river, which has its origins in the country. It possesses many natural resources, of which its main focus is copper production.

The country has a quite unusual flag, with the distinctive designs placed at the fly side of the flag (the side of the flag that is farthest from the flag post). It is predominantly green, which stands for the agriculture and abundant arable land of the country; at the top right side there is an orange eagle, symbolizing the people's ability to rise over difficulties; the bottom right side has three vertical stripes of red, black and orange, which stand for the fights for independence, for the Black people of Africa, and for the nation's copper.

Answer: Samoa

Samoa's flag design is rather simple: the background is a solid red, that symbolizes courage. The top left corner has a blue rectangle, symbolizing freedom. Inside the rectangle, five white stars depict the Southern Cross constellation.

Until 1997, the country was known as Western Samoa. Prior to the 20th century, as they witnessed the navigation skills of the islands' natives, European explorers dubbed them the "Navigator Islands". After being a colony of the German Empire, first, and the British Empire, later on, Samoa declared its independence on January 1st, 1962.

Answer: Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands are a small archipelago in Melanesia, relatively close to Papua-New Guinea. A former British protectorate, the country is now a Commonwealth Realm, with the British Monarch reigning over the islands, but being represented domestically by a Prime Minister.

The design of Solomon Islands' flag symbolizes the sunlight separating the sea and the land of the country, as represented by the yellow line crossing between the blue and green sections of the flag. On the top left, five stars are shown. They do not represent a constellation, like it happens on several other Pacific nations - they stand for the original five provinces that existed within the country by the time it became independent, in 1978. Even though that number increased over the years, the design didn't change to reflect it.