Flags of the British Isles Trivia Quiz

England is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and which covers about 60% of the island of Great Britain. The flag of England is based on the cross of St George, who is the patron saint of the country. When Scotland and then Ireland joined with England to form the United Kingdom the English flag was merged with the Scottish saltire and the cross of St Patrick to form the current flag of the UK. Today the English flag is often seen in a sporting context as the symbol of teams representing England specifically as opposed to UK wide teams.

Guernsey is located 27 miles west of the Cotentin Peninsula in northern France and is the second largest of the Channel Islands. Guernsey is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey along with the smaller islands of Alderney, Brecqhuo, Herm, Jethou, Lihou and Sark. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a Crown Dependency; this means while the monarch of the UK is the head of state the islands are not part of the UK and have their own legislature.

The flag of Guernsey was first used in 1985 and is based on the St George's flag (the flag of England) with a gold Norman cross added. The two crosses on the flag represent the island's connection with the English (later British) monarch and the historical connection to the Duchy of Normandy which the islands belonged to before they were connected to England following William I (Duke of Normandy) becoming King of England in 1066.

While the Republic of Ireland has not been part of the United Kingdom since gaining independence in the early 20th century, the island of Ireland is still part of the British Isles, hence the inclusion of the Irish tricolour in this quiz. The flag was first designed in 1848 with the green symbolising Roman Catholics and the orange Protestants with the union of the two on the flag intended to be a symbol of a desired union between the two groups. Following the use of the flag during the Easter Rising in 1916 the flag started to be seen as the national flag of an independent Irish state and this was enshrined in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.

Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands and is part of the Bailiwick of Jersey, a Crown Dependency with its own parliament but with the UK monarch as its head of state. During World War II Jersey was occupied by troops from Nazi Germany in 1940 and was liberated on 9 May 1945, this date is celebrated in Jersey as liberation day and has become the island's national day.

The flag of Jersey was first used officially in 1981 and features a red saltire and the coat of arms of Jersey topped with a crown. Before 1981 there was no official flag of Jersey, however a plain red saltire had been used unofficially since the early 1800s The badge and crown were added to distinguish the flag of the island from other uses of the red saltire such as the flag of St Patrick and as a maritime signal flag.

This flag is known as the Ulster Banner and was used as the flag of the Northern Irish government from 1953 until 1973 when this was abolished. The flag has since not had official status in Northern Ireland but is commonly used by protestant loyalists and unionists and for Northern Irish teams and competitors at some sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games.

Scotland is a constituent country of the UK occupying the northern part of the island of Great Britain. The exact origins of the flag are unknown but the first record of the flag appears in the 'Register of Scottish Arms' published in about 1542. The flag is used as the symbol of the Scottish Government and is flown from government buildings in Scotland.

In 2017 an emoji version of the Scottish flag was approved by the Unicode Consortium.

The Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. It is a Crown Dependency of the UK with the UK monarch as its head of state and holding the title Lord of Mann. The island has its own parliament, the Tynwald, which handles domestic affairs with the government of the UK handling defence and foreign policy.

The flag of the Isle of Man was adopted in 1932 and features the three legged triskelion device from the island's coat of arms.

Shetland is an island group off the north coast of Scotland which is located between Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Norway. The islands were part of the Kingdom of Norway from the 10th century until they became part of the Kingdom of Scotland in the 1400s following a dispute between the two kingdoms over payment of a dowry.

The flag of Shetland was designed in 1969 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the islands becoming Scottish and the flag was formerly adopted in 2005. The flag features a white Nordic cross on a blue background with the Nordic cross reflecting the Norwegian connection and the colours of white and blue representing Scotland.

Wales is one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom located on the island of Great Britain and bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west and the Celtic Sea and Bristol Channel to the south. Wales has been part of the kingdom of England since the conquest of Wales was completed in 1283.

The red dragon is a symbol of Celtic Britons (encompassing those now known as Welsh) and dates back to a legend recorded in the 9th century 'Historia Brittonum'. The symbol has since been used as a symbol of Wales and its people.

Despite being a longstanding symbol of the country the flag featuring the red dragon was only officially recognised in 1959.

The Isles of Scilly are located in the Atlantic Ocean around 45km southwest of Cornwall. Although the islands form part of the traditional county of Cornwall they have been administered separately since 1890 and are currently administered by the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

The flag of the Isles of Scilly is known as the Scillonian Cross and was created in 2002 to become the flag of the council of the islands. The location of the stars on the flag represents the location of the islands within the group.