Flags of the World

Nepal has the world’s only national flag that is not a quadrilateral — two stacked crimson pennants with a blue border, fixed in its current form in 1962.

Denmark’s Dannebrog is recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously used national flag; its red field and white cross were regulated in 1625.

Switzerland and Vatican City are the only sovereign states with a 1:1 square national flag; every other national flag is a rectangle.

Their blue-yellow-red flags are almost indistinguishable — the main difference is the shade of blue. Chad raised it with the UN in 2004, but Romania declined to change.

Both are a red band above a white band; the only real difference is proportion (Indonesia 2:3, Monaco 4:5). The resemblance is pure coincidence.

Paraguay is the only UN-recognized nation whose flag shows a different emblem on each side — the coat of arms on the front, the Treasury seal on the back.

The Philippines is the only country that flies its flag inverted — red stripe up — to mark a state of war; blue is uppermost in peacetime. It is written into the 1998 Flag Code.

Mozambique’s flag is the only current national flag to show a modern firearm — an AK-47 with a bayonet, crossed with a hoe over an open book — in use since 1983.

Belize’s flag is the most colorful, commonly counted at 12 colors, and the only one with people as a central design element — two woodcutters in its coat of arms.

Bhutan’s flag is the only national flag with a dragon — the white Thunder Dragon (Druk) clutching jewels, from the country’s name, “Land of the Thunder Dragon.”

Adopted in December 2024 after a change of government, Syria’s green-white-black tricolor with three red stars is the most recently adopted national flag.

Red appears on about 74% of national flags — more than any other color — followed by white (~71%) and blue (~50%).