Flag Geeks: Try This Quiz Of The World’s Flags

How well do your kids know the flags of the world? The quiz below is designed so that you should be able to have a good educated guess at most of the answers, even if you don’t at first know them. Scroll down for the answers.

1. Only three sovereign states have flags that are not rectangular. Name two for half a point, or three for the full point.

2. Until 2011, Libya had the world’s simplest flag. It was just one colour, without any stripes, stars or other embellishments. What colour was it?

3. What record is held by the flag of Belize (pictured)?

4. What unlikely object appears on the flag of Bermuda? (a) A sea urchin, (b) a shipwreck, (c) a mermaid, (d) a dinosaur

5. In 2007 a titanium flag was planted on the seabed at the North Pole by a submersible from which nation?

6. What does it mean if the Union Flag is flying over Buckingham Palace?

7. The US flag contains 50 stars to represent the 50 states, but how many red and white stripes are there?

8. What animal appears on the flag of the Falkland Islands? (a) A lion, (b) A fish, (c) A wallaby, (d) A sheep

9. The oldest national flag, still in use, features a white cross over a red background. To which country does it belong?

10. And finally, a trick question. Which nation’s flag stands at the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon?

Answers

1. Switzerland (a square), Vatican City (a square), and Nepal (a pair of triangles, or pennon). Nepal’s flag is also the only one that is taller than it is wide.

2. Green. After the fall of Colonel Gaddafi, a previous flag was reintroduced, which is red, black and green.

3. It contains the most colours of any national flag (12).

4. (b) a shipwreck. The wreck, held aloft by a red lion, represents the Sea Venture, flagship of the Virginia Company, which was deliberately run aground in 1609 to prevent it sinking in a storm.

5. Russia. It was a symbolic act to claim the energy riches of the polar region.

6. That the Queen is NOT at home. The Royal Standard is flown when Her Majesty is in residence.

7. 13. These represent the 13 British colonies that declared independence from Britain.

8. (d) A sheep, representing sheep-farming, one of the main occupations of the islands.

9. Denmark. It has been used by the Danes since at least 1370.

10. None. A US flag was planted close to the lunar module but, it turns out, too close. Buzz Aldrin noticed the flag get knocked over from the rocket blast, as the crew ascended from the surface. Flags from other landings do stand, but may now be bleached out after decades of exposure to intense UV light from the Sun.

Score: 0-3 flying at half mast; 4-7 flag flying high; 8-10 flag planted proudly on the summit.