World.ie

Every flag in the world, and what colour it actually is

All 195 national flags, grouped by continent. Search for a country by name, or, if all you remember is the colours, filter by those and work back to the flag you are thinking of. Open one for the local time there.

Find a flag

Europe 44

Africa 54

Asia 47

North America 23

Oceania 15

South America 12

States outside the UN 2

Kosovo and Taiwan both govern themselves. How many countries recognise them is the part people disagree about.

Britain, Ireland’s neighbours and the EU 6

The four flags of the United Kingdom get asked about constantly from this side of the Irish Sea. None of them is a sovereign country’s flag.

  • Flag of England England A nation of the United Kingdom
  • Flag of European Union European Union Not a country: 27 member states, Ireland among them
  • Flag of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Part of the United Kingdom. It has no official flag of its own; the Ulster Banner shown here has had no official status since 1973.
  • Flag of Scotland Scotland A nation of the United Kingdom
  • Flag of United Nations United Nations Not a country: 193 member states
  • Flag of Wales Wales A nation of the United Kingdom

Territories and dependencies 55

Real flags, real places, but not independent countries: Greenland, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico and the rest.

  • Flag of Aland Aland A territory of Finland
  • Flag of American Samoa American Samoa A territory of United States
  • Flag of Anguilla Anguilla A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Antarctica Antarctica No sovereign state, governed by the Antarctic Treaty
  • Flag of Aruba Aruba A territory of Netherlands
  • Flag of Ascension Island Ascension Island A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Bermuda Bermuda A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Bonaire Bonaire A territory of Netherlands
  • Flag of Bouvet Island Bouvet Island A territory of Norway
  • Flag of British Indian Ocean Territory British Indian Ocean Territory A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Cayman Islands Cayman Islands A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Christmas Island Christmas Island A territory of Australia
  • Flag of Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cocos (Keeling) Islands A territory of Australia
  • Flag of Cook Islands Cook Islands A territory of New Zealand
  • Flag of Curacao Curacao A territory of Netherlands
  • Flag of Falkland Islands Falkland Islands A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Faroe Islands Faroe Islands A territory of Denmark
  • Flag of French Guiana French Guiana A territory of France
  • Flag of French Polynesia French Polynesia A territory of France
  • Flag of French Southern Territories French Southern Territories A territory of France
  • Flag of Gibraltar Gibraltar A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Greenland Greenland A territory of Denmark
  • Flag of Guadeloupe Guadeloupe A territory of France
  • Flag of Guam Guam A territory of United States
  • Flag of Guernsey Guernsey A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands A territory of Australia
  • Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong
  • Flag of Isle of Man Isle of Man A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Jersey Jersey A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Macao Macao A territory of China
  • Flag of Martinique Martinique A territory of France
  • Flag of Mayotte Mayotte A territory of France
  • Flag of Montserrat Montserrat A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of New Caledonia New Caledonia A territory of France
  • Flag of Niue Niue A territory of New Zealand
  • Flag of Norfolk Island Norfolk Island A territory of Australia
  • Flag of Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands A territory of United States
  • Flag of Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico A territory of United States
  • Flag of Reunion Reunion A territory of France
  • Flag of Saint Barthelemy Saint Barthelemy A territory of France
  • Flag of Saint Helena Saint Helena A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Saint Martin Saint Martin A territory of France
  • Flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon A territory of France
  • Flag of Sint Maarten Sint Maarten A territory of Netherlands
  • Flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Svalbard and Jan Mayen Svalbard and Jan Mayen A territory of Norway
  • Flag of Tokelau Tokelau A territory of New Zealand
  • Flag of Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands A territory of United Kingdom
  • Flag of U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Minor Outlying Islands A territory of United States
  • Flag of U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands A territory of United States
  • Flag of Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna A territory of France
  • Flag of Western Sahara Western Sahara Disputed between Morocco and the Sahrawi Republic

The world’s flags, by colour

How many of the 195 national flags carry each colour across 1% or more of their area. Use the colours at the top of the page to filter by one.

No flag anywhere uses purple or pink at that scale. A hairline of gold in a crest doesn’t count the same as a gold stripe.

Think you know them?

Ten flags, four options, one guess, no sign-up. Miss one and you get a link to the flag.

Take the flags quiz Or the geography quiz

Questions

How many flags are there in the world?

There are 195 national flags, counting the 193 UN member states plus Vatican City and Palestine, which are UN observer states. Add Taiwan and Kosovo and you get 197, though the status of both is disputed. Territories and dependencies (Greenland, Puerto Rico, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and the rest) have their own flags too, and there are 55 of those on this page, listed separately because they are not countries.

What is the most common colour on flags?

Red. It covers 1% or more of 153 of the 195 national flags, 78% of them, and where it appears it takes up 39.1% of the flag on average. Then white (143), blue (97), green (92) and yellow (80). These are measured off the actual artwork rather than counted by eye: each flag is drawn at 320 pixels wide and every pixel is sorted into a colour family.

Which colours never appear on a national flag?

Purple and pink. Neither reaches 1% of any of the 195 flags. The usual explanation is cost: purple dye was made from sea snails and was famously expensive until synthetic mauveine arrived in 1856, by which point most flags already existed. Brown (7 flags) and grey (4) are almost as rare, and both only turn up inside coats of arms rather than as a field colour.

Which flag has the most colours?

Ecuador, with 7. The coat of arms in the middle does most of the work. At the other end, 36 flags use just two colours, Albania, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh and 32 others among them. Three colours is the most common design of all: 85 flags.

Is every flag a rectangle?

Almost. Nepal's is the only national flag that is not: it is two stacked pennants, and the shape is written into the country's constitution. Switzerland's and Vatican City's are square rather than the usual 2:3 or 1:2, although the images on this page are drawn to a common 4:3 so they can sit in a grid together.

What are the colours of the Irish flag?

Green, white and orange, in three equal vertical bands, measured at 33%, 33%, 33% of the flag. The green is #009a49 and the orange #ff7900 as drawn here. The order matters and is often got wrong: green is on the hoist side, the side nearest the flagpole.

Flag artwork from flag-icons (MIT), the official designs, not redrawn. Country names, capitals and continents from countries-list (MIT). Colour percentages measured off that artwork, not judged by eye.