FLAGS OF THE WORLD
FOR EVERY COUNTRY THERE IS A FLAG...
...and if you scroll down below you'll see there's a LOT of them! Country flags were first used to show others that a territory or land belonged to a certain people, government or kingdom. This continues to this day and now every country has it's own flag. Also so do most cities, towns and territories.
Learn about the world and it's flags with some great stories on how they were made. Click the country buttons below to read a fun fact and story on how they were designed.
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Can you spot the country you live in?
CHAD & ROMANIA
There is no doubting that both Chad and Romania's flags look VERY similar. The only difference (if you look really closely) is that the blue is slightly darker on the Chad flag.
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So why are they so similar? It all started way back in 1920 when France ruled Chad. The flag then was the French flag, blue, white and red. Chad then gained independence in 1960 and changed the white to yellow to represent the sun and desert.
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Meanwhile Romania had the blue, yellow and red colours but they had a crest in the centre making it then different from the Chad flag. Romania then changed i's leadership in 1989 and removed the former leaderships crest...
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...and now both countries have the same flag, although neither are that happy about it!
CHAD
ROMANIA
DOMINICA
All country flags have a meaning behind them and often relate directly to the people and land that it represents.
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The Dominican flag is no different and every inch of it is carefully chosen to signify an aspect of this island nation.
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Black cross - The rich, dark, fertile soil used for growing crops.
White cross - The purity of the water that flows through the country.
Yellow cross - The indigenous peoples, the Carib and Arawak.
Red circle - A sign of unity and justice.
Green background - The great forests and lush vegetation.
Stars - The 10 local parishes, or areas, of the island.
Bird - The indigenous Sisserou Parrot that lives on the island.
DOMINICA
NEPAL
The only country flag that isn't in the common rectangular shape. Nepals flag has in fact got 5 sides not 4.
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The Nepalese flags original shape is based on the connection of two triangles. Both these triangles represent the Royal House and the Rana family. This strong combination stands for true independence.
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The two symbols of the moon above and the sun below are from the different houses. They now come to represent that Nepal will remain forever, like the sun and moon.
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The colours also have a deep meaning with blue standing for peace and the red being the same colour as Nepal's national flower, the Rhododendron.
NEPAL
SOUTH AFRICA
The flag of South Africa is one of the most interesting and important flags in the world. Its design is based on creating a unity, or bringing together, of its people.
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South Africa over many years had a great racial divide which was thankfully resolved in 1994. In order to unite the people and cultures from all over the country a flag was created.
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Using an unheard of 6 colours they are each non-representative. This was a conscious decision in order not to separate the nation into different peoples and instead bring them together.
This unity is shown in the flag by the use of the 'Y' shape. It represents two paths becoming one.
SOUTH AFRICA
UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom is made up of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) and Northern Ireland. They all come together under the banner of a flag called the Union Jack.
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Over many hundreds of years the United Kingdom grew it's union. Firstly England united with Scotland and their two flags combined together. Their flags were from their patron saints, St George for England and St Andrew for Scotland.
Some years later Northern Ireland entered the union and their flag was added, the flag of St Patrick. This is the combination of 3 flags that is visible today.
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However Wales is not featured within this combination yet is still part of the United Kingdom. Sadly there are no plans to introduce it at this current time.
UNITED KINGDOM
St George
St Andrew
St Patrick
IRAN
Religion plays are large part in the Iranian flag due to the countries strong Islamic faith.
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As is traditional in many country flags the green represents religion (Islam), the white peace and red bravery and courage.
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The flag also contains Arabic words above and below the white strip. It translates as 'Allahu Akbar' meaning 'God is great'. This is repeated many times along the width of the flag.
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The central symbol is very stylised and represents the principles of Islam. The overall shape of a lotus flower represents patriotism.
IRAN
USA
The famed 'stars and stripes' helped to unify a new nation back in 1777.
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The flag of the United States of America is firstly made up of 13 stripes in alternating white and red that signify the first colonies within the country.
The second part is the stars set on a dark blue background meant to look like a new constellation. The stars represent each state that is currently part of the USA. These states number 50 at the current time.
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There is no set pattern to the stars and if the states were to increase or decrease the pattern would change. Many have already designed a new flag if the states were to gain in number. Another pattern possibility is circular.
USA
