The Odd Flag On The Pole Trivia Quiz

Answer: Palestine

Egypt, Iraq and Syria each have flags with stripes on them that are red, white and black from top to bottom. Palestine on the other hand has a flag with the colors black, white and green from top to bottom with a red triangle on the left side of the flag.

These colors are often referred to as the "Pan-Arab" colors. Red is symbolic of struggle and courage, white represents the future and black oppression and triumph. Green is the fourth color in the Pan-Arab series and is often representative in Islamic culture of "paradise".

Answer: Uzbekistan

The Uzbekistan flag consists of three horizontal bands from top to bottom of blue, white and green. There are also twelve stars and a crescent on the left side of the blue horizontal band. Blue represents the natural elements of water and sky. white stands for peace and purity while green represents fertility. The crescent represents the re-birth of Uzbekistan following their separation from the former Soviet Union while the stars represent the months on the Islamic calendar.

Answer: Qatar

The Qatari flag is made up of white serrated band of white points on the hoist side with the remainder being maroon in color. The nine white points represent Qatar's inclusion as the ninth member of the "reconciled Emirates". The color maroon symbolizes the historical production of shellfish dye which was often used in the purple dye industry which was prominent during the Sasanian Empire.

The color orange on flags, however, can have various meanings. For example, on the Irish flag, orange is representative of the Protestant minority within the country. The Niger flag on the other hand is believed to use orange in the top band to represent the Sahara Desert with an orange circle representing the sun. On the flag of India, the orange or "saffron" color is used to represent strength and courage.

Answer: Burundi

The flag of Burundi only has three stars. These stars represent the three major ethnic tribes within the country; Hutu, Twa and Tutsi.

The Solomon Islands flag has five white stars in the upper left quadrant. These stars represent the five original provinces at the time of independence.

The Kosovo flag consists of six white stars that represent the Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Gorani, Romani and Bosniaks which are considered to be the six major ethnic groups.

The Venezuelan flag consists of eight stars and represent the major provinces found in the country. These provinces are Barcelona, Cumana, Caracas, Barinas, Merida, Margarita, Trujillo and Guayana.

Answer: Mozambique

The Mozambique flag does not contain the sun, but rather a white book crossed with a rifle and hoe over top of a yellow star. The yellow star symbolizes Marxism and internationalism, the rifle stands for defence, the hoe represents the importance of agriculture and the book symbolizes education.

On the Argentinian flag, the sun is centered over a white band with two blue bands above and below. The white band represents the clouds while the two blue bands represent the sky. The sun represents the "Sun of May" which symbolizes the Incan sun god Inti.

The Uruguayan flag contains seven alternative stripes of blue and white represent the original departments of Uruguay. The sun is another representation of the "Sun of May", but is used to symbolize the May Revolution of 1810.

The Rwandan flag with three bands of blue, yellow and green and a sun was adopted in October 2001. Blue represents happiness and peace, yellow economic development and green representing hope and prosperity. The sun on the Rwandan flag symbolizes the concept of enlightenment. The previous flag of Rwanda was removed out of respect for those killed during the 1994 genocide.

Answer: Maldives

The star and crescent date back to the Ottoman Empire of the 19th Century. It was used metaphorically to symbolize the "Ottoman" and "Persian" empires that were ruling during this time period. Over time, it was then re-interpreted as a symbol of Islam.

Some scholars suggest that the meaning of these two symbols are conventional to Islam just as the "cross" is conventional to Christianity. Many Muslim scholars believe that there is no meaning to these symbols and have outright rejected the crescent specifically as a symbol of Islam.

Answer: India

The flag of India has a picture of a spinning wheel which represents Gandhi's goal of making Indian culture self-reliant. One method was through the use of making their own fabric and clothing.

The Canadian maple leaf represents the cultural heritage and natural resources (such as maple syrup production) that are prominent in the country. A cedar tree can be found on the flag of Lebanon and represents holiness, eternity and peace (a biblical reference). The Grenadian flag has a symbol of a clove on it, representing one of the prominent crops grown in the nation.

Answer: Kuwait

The flag of Kuwait consists of the Pan-Arab colors green, white and red as horizontal stripes with a black trapezoid on the left side. Symbolically, the colors represent land (green), deeds (white), swords (red) and battles (black).

The flag of Saint Lucia contains a white, yellow and black triangle which represent the Pitons (twin volcanic cones) found in the southwest part of the nation.

The Eritrean and Mozambique flag contains a red triangle representing the bloodshed in the struggle for independence and freedom.

Answer: Germany

The flag of Germany consists of three horizontal bands of black, red and yellow. These have consistently been the national colors of Germany and date back as early as 1778.

The Omani flag contains a dagger and two swords. These represent the national emblem of Oman.

The Sri Lankan flag depicts a sword being held by a lion. The sword is thought to represent authority.

The main symbol on the Barbados flag is the pitchfork or trident. It represents the trident associated with the mythological sea creature Neptune. It is broken at the bottom signifying Barbados' separation from Britain after independence.

Answer: Micronesia

Fiji, Tuvalu and New Zealand all depict the Union Jack in their upper left corners. The Union Jack on these flags represents their historical ties to the United Kingdom even though they are all independent nations. Micronesia on the other hand was historically divided by the three superpowers United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

After WWI, Micronesia became a mandate given to Japan. In 1986, Micronesia became an independent nation. The four white stars on the Micronesian flag represent the four states in the federation: Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and Yap surrounded by a blue background representing the Pacific Ocean.