The flag of the Philippines is flown with the red band uppermost under what circumstances?

During periods of national mourning

On the anniversary of independence

Denmark's Dannebrog is usually described as which kind of record holder?

The oldest national flag still in use

The largest national flag ever flown

The first flag flown from a ship

The only flag with no official proportions

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Flags & Emblems Hard ⚡ 10 Questions ⏱️ ~9 Mins +100 XP

Flags That Break the Rules

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Most national flags are a rectangle divided into bands. These ten are the exceptions, and every oddity in them was deliberate.

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~9m

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About this topic

A national flag has to work at a distance, in bad light, on a moving pole, so the conventions are strict: simple shapes, few colours, a rectangle roughly half as tall as it is wide. Designers who break those rules almost always have a reason, and the reason is usually written down somewhere. This quiz collects the flags that ignore one convention or another, from the two square flags to the one that carries an assault rifle. If you know the standard rules, these are the ten cases where you can watch a country decide the rule did not apply to it.

Questions & answers

Flags That Break the Rules: 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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1The off-centre cross used by Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland is known as what?
- A The saltire
- B The Maltese cross
- C The Cross of Lorraine
- D The Nordic cross Correct
Answer: D. The Nordic cross

Why: The arms meet nearer the hoist rather than the middle, a pattern taken from the Danish Dannebrog. Faroese and Åland flags use the same layout with different colours.
2Alongside Vatican City, which country has a square national flag?
- A Belgium
- B Slovakia
- C Switzerland Correct
- D Austria
Answer: C. Switzerland

Why: Switzerland and Vatican City are the only two sovereign states with square flags. The Swiss flag used on ships is rectangular, because a square ensign is awkward at sea.
3Which national flag is best known for showing a different emblem on each side?
- A Ecuador
- B Paraguay Correct
- C Uruguay
- D Peru
Answer: B. Paraguay

Why: One side of the Paraguayan flag carries the national coat of arms, the other the seal of the treasury with a lion guarding a staff. Almost every other country prints the same design on both sides.
4The flag of Nepal is made up of how many stacked pennants?
- A Two Correct
- B Three
- C One
- D Four
Answer: A. Two

Why: Two triangular pennants were combined into the single shape now used, the upper one carrying a moon and the lower a sun. The exact geometry is set out as construction instructions in the constitution.
5The flag of the Philippines is flown with the red band uppermost under what circumstances?
- A During periods of national mourning
- B On the anniversary of independence
- C When the president is abroad
- D When the country is at war Correct
Answer: D. When the country is at war

Why: Blue over red signals peace and red over blue signals a state of war, an instruction written into Philippine law. The eight rays of the sun stand for the first eight provinces to rise against Spanish rule.
6Which national flag includes an AK-47 rifle?
- A Zimbabwe
- B Guatemala
- C Mozambique Correct
- D Angola
Answer: C. Mozambique

Why: Mozambique places a rifle, a hoe and an open book on a yellow star, a combination kept through repeated debates about redesigning it. Angola went with a machete and half a cogwheel instead.
7Denmark's Dannebrog is usually described as which kind of record holder?
- A The only flag with no official proportions
- B The oldest national flag still in use Correct
- C The largest national flag ever flown
- D The first flag flown from a ship
Answer: B. The oldest national flag still in use

Why: The design has been in continuous use since at least the fourteenth century. Legend has it falling out of the sky during a battle in Estonia in 1219, which is where the traditional date comes from.
8Which country's flag is never lowered to half-mast because of the text it carries?
- A Saudi Arabia Correct
- B Iran
- C Iraq
- D Oman
Answer: A. Saudi Arabia

Why: The white script is the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, and lowering it is considered disrespectful. For the same reason the flag is made with a mirrored copy inside it, so the writing reads correctly from both sides.
9Which national flag is far longer relative to its height than any other, at a ratio of 11:28?
- A Bahrain
- B Kuwait
- C Jordan
- D Qatar Correct
Answer: D. Qatar

Why: Qatar's maroon and white flag is roughly two and a half times as long as it is tall, where most flags are half again. The maroon shade is usually explained as red dye that faded in the sun.
10Purple is very rare on national flags. Which country includes it in the plumage of a parrot?
- A Saint Lucia
- B Grenada
- C Dominica Correct
- D Jamaica
Answer: C. Dominica

Why: The sisserou parrot at the centre of the Dominican flag lives nowhere else in the world. Purple dye was historically expensive, which is the usual explanation for how little of it ended up on flags.

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