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Flags & Emblems
Banners & Symbols
National flags, their parts and what they were meant to say.
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The flag of Japan depicts what?
Flag Colours and What They Mean
Colours on flags are almost never chosen for looks alone. Ten questions on borrowed palettes, political compromises and the countries that ended up with the same two stripes.
About this topic
Look at enough national flags and you stop seeing individual designs and start seeing families. Red, gold and green run across Africa. White, blue and red run across the Slavic countries. Red, white, green and black run across the Arab world. Each of those sets has a traceable origin, usually a single flag that everyone else copied on purpose. The rest of the time a colour is a compromise between groups who had recently been fighting, or a civic colour promoted to national status during a revolution. This quiz works through both kinds, with the stories attached.
Questions & answers
Flag Colours and What They Mean: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1On the flag of Ireland, the orange band is generally understood to represent which group?
- A Speakers of the Irish language
- B Irish Protestants Correct
- C Irish Catholics
- D The Irish overseas diaspora
Answer: B. Irish Protestants
Why: Green stands for the Gaelic and Catholic tradition, orange for the Protestant tradition of William of Orange, and the white between them for peace between the two. The tricolour was presented as a gift from French sympathisers in 1848.
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2The red, gold and green used across many African flags are usually traced back to which country?
- A Ethiopia Correct
- B Ghana
- C Liberia
- D Kenya
Answer: A. Ethiopia
Why: Ethiopia held on to its independence through the colonial era, so its colours became the obvious model for newly independent states. Ghana adopted them in 1957 and added a black star.
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3The white, blue and red of the Pan-Slavic flags were modelled on the flag of which country?
- A Poland
- B Serbia
- C Bulgaria
- D Russia Correct
Answer: D. Russia
Why: The scheme was agreed at the Prague Slavic Congress of 1848, taking the Russian tricolour as the template. Russia had in turn borrowed the arrangement from the Dutch flag under Peter the Great.
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4Red, white, green and black are known collectively as which set of flag colours?
- A The Pan-Slavic colours
- B The Nordic colours
- C The Pan-Arab colours Correct
- D The Pan-African colours
Answer: C. The Pan-Arab colours
Why: They appear on the flags of Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and others. The four are usually linked to the banners of successive Arab dynasties.
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5The blue and red of the French tricolour were originally the colours of which city?
- A Orléans
- B Paris Correct
- C Lyon
- D Marseille
Answer: B. Paris
Why: Blue and red were the civic colours of Paris, placed either side of the royal white in 1789. The vertical arrangement was fixed by law in 1794.
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6Italy's green, white and red tricolour was inspired by the flag of which country?
- A France Correct
- B Spain
- C Austria
- D Greece
Answer: A. France
Why: The republics set up in Italy during the Napoleonic period copied the French tricolour and swapped blue for green. The first official use was by the Cispadane Republic in 1797.
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7Indonesia's red-over-white flag is almost identical to that of which European state?
- A Poland
- B Austria
- C Denmark
- D Monaco Correct
Answer: D. Monaco
Why: Monaco uses the same two horizontal bands in the same order, differing mainly in proportion. Poland is often guessed here but has the colours the other way round, white over red.
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8Which national flag contains none of red, white or blue?
- A Senegal
- B Zambia
- C Jamaica Correct
- D Ghana
Answer: C. Jamaica
Why: Jamaica uses only green, gold and black, which makes it the sole national flag avoiding all three of the most common flag colours. Gold stands for sunlight and mineral wealth, green for the land.
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9On the flag of India, the saffron band is usually described as representing what?
- A Justice and equality
- B Strength and courage Correct
- C Peace and truth
- D Fertility and growth
Answer: B. Strength and courage
Why: Saffron is read as strength and courage, white as peace and truth, and green as fertility and growth. The philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan offered a more abstract reading of the same three bands as renunciation, light and the life of the soil.
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10How many colours does the flag of South Africa contain?
- A Six Correct
- B Four
- C Five
- D Seven
Answer: A. Six
Why: Black, gold, green, white, red and blue give it more colours than any other national flag. It was designed in a hurry in 1994, and the horizontal Y is generally read as separate paths converging.
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