Weeping Vexiollogists IV: Towards Red Flags Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Pictured is the flag of Sweden. 1. Change the field colour to red. 2. Change the cross color to dark blue 3. Make the blue cross thinner leaving a larger white cross surrounding the new blue cross To which country does this new red flag belong?

Answer: Norway

The four Scandinavian flags plus Iceland all share a similar design; A Scandinavian (offset) cross on a dark field. This is due to the region has a common ancestry and the flags are all based on the Danish flag, the "Dannebrog" which is one of two of the oldest current flags in the world.

The Danish flag is a wide cross on a red back ground. The Swedish colours presumably come from the Swedish coat of arms which feature three gold crowns on a blue background.

2. Here is the Estonian flag. The tri-band is common to national flags but the colour combination is not. 1.Swap the position of the white and black bands 2. Make the white band half as wide as it as it is now. 3. Make the other two bands wider to accommodate the smaller white band 4. Change the black and blue bands to a dark red What national flag have you just created?

Answer: Latvia

The colours of the Estonian flag are unusual. Only the flag of Botswana has the same colours of light blue, black and white. The colours of the Estonia flag are conventional though: Blue represents the sky, sea, lakes and loyalty, black is the colour of the soil and the suffering of its people and white represents struggles for freedom and independence. The Latvian flag is mired in folklore.

There is no doubt that the red stands for blood (shed for freedom and or independence - a common theme in red flags).

The white is meant to reflect a Latvian leader who fought bravely for his country in battle and was covered in blood (of others). The only white part of his tunic was when he remove the sash from around his waist. Whether it is true or not is debatable but it makes a good story.

3. A simple flag: the two-banded Ukrainian flag. 1. Squash the blue and yellow bands down a bit to add a white band 2. Make sure the three bands are of equal height 3. Change the yellow band to red What country owns this new flag?

Answer: Russia

The Ukrainian flag first appears in 1918 when the country saw a brief period of independence from Russia. The blue represents the sky and the yellow the vast Ukrainian grain fields. The flag was quickly suppressed but when Ukraine became independent again, in 1991, the original flag was rejuvenated.

The red, white and blue Russian tricolour dates back to 1799. It is the major influence on the Pan-slavic colours of the flags of the Balkan Peninsula. The Russian flag is unusual as a tricolour as it has the white band on top, where the majority of this design have the white band in the middle.

4. The flag of Nicaragua. 1 Remove the coat of arms 2. Change the white band to red 3. Split the top blue band in two. Make the lower half white 4. Split the bottom blue band in two. Make the upper half white 5. Place an oval to the left of the red band. Add the correct coat of arms What is the country of the flag you are now looking at?

Answer: Costa Rica

There is a commonality in Central American flags as the United Provinces of Central America broke away from Spain in 1823. It is unclear whether the colours are based on the Argentinian flag or were traditional colours of the region. Regardless, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras all share a similar flag with the coat of arms the usual distinguishing feature.

Costa Rica used a similar flag until 1848 when it added a red band to honour France. It also added its own coat of arms at this point.

5. San Marino's flag has a coat of arms in its national variant, but not on its civil flag. 1. Remove any coat of arms. 2. Rotate the flag 90 degrees counter-clockwise to produce a flag with two vertical bands 3. Add a green band to the left hand side to create a flag with three equal vertical bands 4. Change the blue vertical band to red The flag of which country am I looking at?

Answer: Italy

San Marino is one of the oldest countries in the world with its independence noted as far back as 301 AD. Its flag in existence since 1797 is based on its coat of arms where blue represents the sky and the white the snow on Mt Titano, the location where this tiny nation is located an enclave of Italy.

The Italian flag is based on the French Tricolour. Napoleon was influential in the region and it is said the green replaced blue as it was Napoleon's favourite color. After Napoleon fell in 1815, it was discarded but rejuvenated in 1861 when the Kingdom of Italy was formed. The coat of arms was removed when the monarchy ended in 1946.

6. The Guatemalan flag has similar colours to some of its neighbours as it was all a single country until 1823. 1. Remove the coat of arms 2. Make the left-hand blue band green, and the right-hand blue band red 3. Add the coat of arms (The one with the eagle and the snake) Which country's flag are you now looking at?

Answer: Mexico

The original Guatemala flag was similar to the blue=white-blue tricolurs of Central America until 1851 when a pro-Spanish faction took over and restored the red and yellow colors of the Spanish flag. In 1871 the traditional colours of the flag were restored but in a blue-white-blue vertical stripe configuration presumably to distinguish itself from its neighbours whilst honoring its past.

The Mexican flag is based on the tricolour of France where the red, white and green are the colours of the National Liberation Army of Mexico. Dating back to 1821, it precedes the Italian n flag with the same colours. The snake and eagle coat of arms tells of an Aztec legend that selected the site of the modern Mexico City.

Note. if you look really closely at the coat of arms, the quetzal, the national bird is red and yellow. However, it is so small it is hard to see that it is a bird let alone what colour it is. Also note when discussing colours of flags, most vexillologists do not count the colours in coats of arms, their presence is merely acknowledged. This practice though is not standardised.

7. Botswana flag is pictured. Bear with me. this one is tough. 1. Take the black band and the two small white bands and twist counter-clockwise to form a diagonal from bottom left to top right 2. Make the black diagonal a bit wider (without adjusting the white bands) 3. Change the upper blue triangle to dark blue, the bottom blue triangle to green 4. Add a yellow sun figure to the blue triangle 5. Change the black diagonal to red Which of Botswana's neighbour's flag am I now looking at?

Answer: Namibia

The Botswana flag is an unusual flag as it is not based on the Pan African colours or Red-green-yellow, or the colours of the dominant political party. In a drought-prone land water is precious and is represented by the two blue bands. The black band represents the people and in conjunction with the two white bands, the zebra which is the national animal.

The Namibia flag's four major colours represent the two major parties: Southwest African People's Organisation (Red-blue-green) and the Popular Democratic Movement, formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (Red-white-blue). The gold sun represents life and energy.

8. Behold the flag of Brazil, a unique combination of colours. 1. Remove the blue night sky depiction, stars, motto and white equatorial band 2. Change the yellow lozenge into a single cental vertical stripe, one third as wide as the flag 3. Reshape the green areas to form two equal vertical bands either side of the central stripe. 4. Change the yellow stripe to white. Change the green stripes to Red 5. Add the correct coat of arms (not a leaf!). Which country's flag are you now looking at

Answer: Peru

The Brazilian flag has an obscure history. While the green and yellow are allegedly proclaimed by Prince Regent Dom Pedro upon proclamation of independence from Portugal. The reason the yellow was adopted as a lozenge is not known. The night sky depiction was added much later in 1889. It is based on the armillary sphere featured on the Portuguese flag. Each star represents a single Brazilian state.

The Peruvian flag of red and white is based on the traditional Incan colours of red and white. Originally a sun figure was featured but this was removed in 1825. The coat of arms was added to the official state flag in 1950.

9. Pictured is the national flag of Israel. 1. Make the blue bands a little wider until each band is about a quarter the height of the flag 2. Change the blue bands to red 3. Remove the Star of David 4. In the centre of the flag add a tree (You will know which one). What country's flag are we now looking at?

Answer: Lebanon

The Israeli flag was designed by the Zionist Movement 50 years before the State of Israel was declared in 1948. The Star of David is a traditional symbol that has been used on Jewish flags for several centuries. The blue and white colours are the colours of the Jewish prayer shawl (Tallith).

The Lebanese flag was designed just before her independence from France in 1943. The colours are meant to be neutral so as not to be associated with any other country. Officially the red stands for sacrifice in the struggle for independence. White stands for purity. The Cedar of Lebanon has been a national symbol since the time of King Solomon, 2000 years ago.

10. You are looking at Argentina's national flag. As you have now transformed a few of these flags, you actually do not need any instructions to transform the last one. So, please tell me (look back at the previous answers if you like), what will be the country of the 'transformed' Argentinian flag?

Answer: Chile

OK If you must:
1. Remove the sun symbol
2. Remove the top blue stripe. Cut it into four equal pieces, discard three squares, reserve one of these squares.
3. Stretch the flag upwards to produce two horizontal bands
4. Take the reserved blue square and place it in the canton (top LHS) so it covers the white band but none of the lower band
5. Make the blue square a darker blue and add a 5 point white star centrally.
6. Change the blue lower band to a red band.

The common theme for all ten questions was the country belonging to the original flag shares a land border with the country whose red flag was created. With the exception of some specific areas (Latin America, the Middle east and Northern Africa, which all share a common 'ancestor' flag or history), there is little relationship between flags of neighbouring countries.
Also what is not apparent from this quiz was the lack of 'starting material'. From the 196 countries of the world only 48 of them do not have any red colour in their design.

Source: Author 1nn1

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

TOUGH QUIZ AHEAD. Red is my favourite colour None of the flags below contain any red. Help me change them to a red flag. By question 10 you will have identified a pattern and you won't need any instructions. Colouring pencils and paper ready?

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