Weeping Vexillologists: Deconstructing Flags Quiz

Answer: Canada

Red and white are the national colours of Peru. Legend states that General Jose de San Martin saw a flock of pelicans flying over his army when they were liberating Peru from Spain in 1820. Red also stands for the blood lost in the battle for independence. White stands for peace. The coat of arms appear on government flags but there is also a civilian version which is identical except it lacks the coat of arms.

The Canadian flag was introduced in 1965 to promote unity across Canada. Prior, the Canadian flag was a union Jack in the canton on a red field. The maple leaf has been a national symbol since 1860 which therefore precedes nationhood by seven years. Red and white are the national colours of Canada and were proclaimed by King George V in 1921. He added the maple leaf to Canada's coat of arms in recognition of Canada's sacrifice in WWI.

Answer: Iceland

Frederik Metzler designed the Norwegian flag in 1821, but it was not officially adopted until 1898. It represents a combination of the red and white Dannebrog, the Danish flag plus the blue of the Swedish flag. Red, white and blue is also a nod to the French Tricolore, a symbol of liberty.

The Icelandic flag was originally, in 1897, a white cross on a blue field. King Christian X of Denmark (the country that controlled Iceland from 1380-1918) declared the flag too close to that of Greece, but approved the current flag. Iceland retained the flag when it became a republic. Blue stands for mountains, white for ice and red, the fire from volcanoes.

Answer: New Zealand

After Australian federation in 1901, there was a national competition to determine the new country's flag. The Union Jack of the the United Kingdom was retained in the canton. The Southern Cross constellation represents Australia's location in the world and the larger seven pointed "Federation Star" represents the six states that became the federation and another point for all Australia's territories internal and external.

The first flag of New Zealand that was accepted by both Maori and settlers alike was a red cross on a white cross with a stylised Southern Cross depicted around a further red cross in the canton. In 1840 after the Treaty of Waitangi, the Union Jack was used. In 1869, a naval ensign submitted a design to Sir George Bowen, the Governor of New Zealand, which was similar to the current flag with a stylised Southern Cross with red stars carried over from the United Tribes flag. This 1869 flag that New Zealand flies today was officially accepted in 1902.

Answer: Greece

The Uruguayan flag is based on the Argentinian flag which was the first independent nation in South America. The nine bands represent the original nine Uruguay provinces, and while the sun is an ancient Inca symbol, it represents the sun shining through the clouds, the day Argentina overcame the Spanish Viceroy in Buenos Aires in 1810. (The sun also features on Argentina's flag).

The Greek flag was proclaimed in 1822 though there have been minor changes since, particularly with the shade of blue. The most popular reason given for the nine bands is that it represents the nine syllables of the Greek war cry, "Freedom or Death". There is an alternative theory about the nine bands representing the nine muses, the goddesses of art and civilisation.
However, there is no ambiguity about the cross - it represents the Greek Orthodox church.

Answer: Poland, Monaco, Singapore

The Indonesian flag is known as (in English) as "The grand bicolour of red and white". It is based on the flag of the Javanese Majapahit Empire. Red (physical) and white (spiritual) are sacred colours. Red also symbolises bravery and freedom. White stands for purity and justice. The current flag was first raised on August 17, 1945 to proclaim Indonesia's independence from the Dutch.

Poland's flag was can be traced back to the red banner with white eagle of Vladislav Jagiello at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1410. The Polish parliament Sijm) accepted the colours of red and white as national colours in 1831. The present flag was adopted in 1919.

The Grimaldi family can trace its ruling of Monaco to 1297. In 1339, red and white were declared the heraldic colours of the principality. Prince Karl III adopted the national flag in its current guise in 1881.

The Singaporean flag was adopted in 1959. The red band symbolizes "universal brotherhood and equality of man", and the white band represents "pervading and everlasting purity and virtue". The crescent and stars represents the young country "on the ascendant: Democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality". The nation's ideals are symbolised in each of the five stars. The crescent and the moon in this context predate the same symbols representing Islam.

Answer: Jamaica

The Saltire of Scotland can be traced back to 1180 where the martyr Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland who was crucified on an X-shaped cross at Patras, was depicted in folklore. The earliest depiction of the saltire as the flag of Scotland was in the early 1500s. The merger of the saltire in the union flag appeared as early as 1606. It was officially adopted into the current Union Flag in 1801.

Upon Jamaican independence in 1962, a competition was held to design a national flag. The final design emerged from this competition. A design favouring gold, black and green was the starting point as it was agreed that the gold represented the long hours of sunshine, the green represented agriculture and hope, and the black represented hardships overcome. These colours were arranged in horizontal bands but this was considered too close to the flag of Tanganyika at the time), so the current design was proposed and accepted with the additional concepts of the saltire representative of Scots ancestry and the gold, green and black representing Pan-African colours of the black majority. Along with Mauritania, these are the only two countries that do not have red, white or blue in their national flag.

The Ian Fleming connection is that while Fleming was born in London, his family, his protagonist (James Bond) and his 'leading man ' (Sean Connery) all came from Scotland. Fleming always took three months off from his London job per year to spend at his house ("Goldeneye') in Jamaica where he wrote his Bond novels.

Answer: Lithuania

Pan-African colours refer to two different sets of three colours: red, gold and green (based by the flag of Ethiopia - the only African nation not colonised), and red, black, and green. They are used in flags in Africa and the Caribbean to represent Pan-African ideals and values. The gold, green and red colours are the colours of the African Democratic Party that led the decolonisation of Africa. As such, several countries in northern Africa have flags of these three colours. Mali has the colours arranged in the same manner as the French Tricolore as a nod to their colonial past.

Lithuania adopted its flag in 1989 just before it re-gained independence from the Soviet Union. The design goes back to 1918 when it first achieved independence but the flag ratio was different. The three colours of the flag are traditional colours of Lithuania: yellow for grain and wealth; green for forests and hope; and red for bloodshed in the quest for independence.

Answer: Botswana

Estonia's flag is called the "sinimustvalge" which means literally blue, black, white. While there are over 50 countries with a three-colour horizontal tri-band national flag, having a central black band is unusual as is the bottom band being white. The flag was originally the flag of the Estonian University Student organisation in 1884. The flag was adopted when Estonia first became independent in 1918. Banned under Soviet oversight, it was re-adopted in 1990 when Estonia once again shrugged off Soviet control. There are many interpretations of the meaning of each band but the most popular explanation is one attributed to Martin Lipp, an Estonian poet: the blue band represents the "vaulted sky above the native earth"; black represents the soil of the homeland and the "fate of Estonians with struggles in the past" and white is for "purity, hard work and commitment".

The Botswana flag colour combination of blue, black and white is unique in Africa. This was to distance itself from South Africa which wanted Botswana to be incorporated into their country. This was resisted mightily by Botswana's people who actually gained independence from Great Britain in 1966. The white, black, white stripes signify racial harmony (and a swipe at the apartheid regime of South Africa). Black and white are also symbolic of the zebra, the national animal. The blue bands represent water, specifically rain which is so precious in Botswana.

Answer: Tanzania

The Democratic Republic of Congo's flag was adopted in 2006. However, it is similar to previous versions active between independence from Belgium in 1960 and the formation of Zaire in 1971; the main difference is the colour change of the field to sky blue from navy blue. Blue represents peace. Red stands for bloodshed in the struggle for independence and yellow is the country's wealth. The star is a symbol of a bright future for this country.

The flag of Tanzania, which as a country came into being in 1964, is a combination of the two territories that merged to form the new country. Zanzibar was an island sultanate administered by Great Britain. Tanganyika Territory was part of German East Africa until WWI when it was occupied by Britain and then made a trust territory after WWII. British colonialism was resisted and a new state of Tanganyika came into being in 1961, and along with newly independent Zanzibar in 1963, a merge to form Tanzania occurred in 1964. The new flag was a representation of both territories' previous flags: the green represents natural vegetation and agricultural; black represents the Swahili people who are native to Tanzania; blue represents both the Indian Ocean, and the lakes and rivers; the gold stripes stand for Tanzania's mineral wealth.

Answer: Belgium

In 1894, Uganda became a protectorate of Great Britain but gained independence in 1962. The flag is based on the three colours of the Ugandan People's Congress and repeated to form six bands. The colours mean, respectively, its black population, sunshine, and brotherhood through the connection of blood. The crested crane is the national bird, and the bird stands on one leg to indicate the country's progress.

The Belgian national colours can be traced back to the Seal of the Count Philip of Flanders which featured a black lion on a gold field. About the same time the Duchy of Brabant's flag was a gold lion with a red tongue on a black background. These three colours were displayed in the Brabant Revolt against Austria in 1787-9, which failed. However the same colours were hoisted in 1830 rebelling against the rule of the Netherlands' William I. The country's flag in its current form was officially adopted a year later. It is based on the French Tricolore.