Flag quiz
Recognise country flags against the clock. Short rounds and instant feedback — great for a quick refresh.
Flags are older than most of the countries that fly them. Ancient Chinese and Roman armies carried standards into battle so soldiers could tell their own side from the enemy in the chaos of a fight. Centuries later those battle markers turned into the national flags we know today.
The oldest flag still in continuous use belongs to Denmark. Legend has it the Dannebrog fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia in 1219, and Denmark has flown it ever since.
Not every flag is a rectangle. Nepal is the only country in the world with a flag made of two stacked pennants instead of a rectangle. Switzerland and the Vatican are the only two with square flags. And between 1977 and 2011, Libya had what might be the simplest flag ever, one plain green rectangle with no symbol at all.
Red shows up on more national flags than any other colour, with white and blue close behind. Play the flag quiz for a while and it becomes obvious how differently countries use the same handful of colours and shapes.