How to tell look-alike flags apart
Flags that look a lot alike in color or design and are easy to mix up. For each group, a short note says what to look for.
Chad, Romania, Andorra, Moldova
No emblem: Chad (dark navy blue) or Romania (brighter blue). Red cows on the center shield: Andorra. A brown eagle holding a shield: Moldova.
Indonesia, Monaco, Poland, Singapore
Red on top: Indonesia or Monaco, which look almost the same (real proportions 2:3 and 4:5). White on top: Poland. Red with a white crescent and five stars: Singapore.
Ireland, Ivory Coast, Italy, Mexico
Orange on the left: Ivory Coast. Green on the left and orange on the right: Ireland. Red on the right: Italy, and if an eagle holding a snake is in the middle, Mexico.
Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia
White-blue-red, no emblem: Russia. Blue shield with a white mountain and three yellow stars, upper left: Slovenia. Red shield with a white double cross: Slovakia. Red on top: red-blue-white with a double-headed eagle is Serbia; red-white-blue with red-and-white checks is Croatia.
Australia, New Zealand, Tuvalu, Fiji
On navy blue: white stars mean Australia (big seven-pointed star below), and four red stars edged in white mean New Zealand. On light blue: yellow stars mean Tuvalu, and a shield means Fiji.
Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon
Green-yellow-red: plain is Mali, and a green star in the middle is Senegal. Green-red-yellow with a yellow star: Cameroon. Red on the left (red-yellow-green): Guinea.
Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia
Equal yellow, blue, and red stripes with white stars in an arc on the blue: Venezuela. Yellow filling the top half: Colombia, and with a condor emblem in the middle, Ecuador.
El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Argentina
Check the middle of blue-white-blue. Five blue stars: Honduras. A sun with a face: Argentina. A triangle ringed by green leaves and flags: El Salvador. Just a triangle inside a ring of lettering: Nicaragua.
Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen
Horizontal red, white, and black stripes. Plain: Yemen. Two green stars on the white: Syria. Green Arabic script: Iraq. A golden eagle: Egypt.
Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates
Check the left shape and color order. Red triangle with a white star, black-white-green: Jordan. Green triangle, red-white-black: Sudan. Black trapezoid, green-white-red: Kuwait. Red vertical band, green-white-black: the United Arab Emirates.
Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden
White cross on red: Denmark. Navy cross edged in white: Norway. On blue: a red cross edged in white is Iceland, and a yellow cross is Sweden. Blue cross on white: Finland.
Bolivia, Lithuania, Ghana, Ethiopia
Red-yellow-green from the top: Bolivia (emblem) or Ghana (black star in the middle). Yellow-green-red: Lithuania. Green-yellow-red with a yellow star in a blue disc: Ethiopia.
Germany, Belgium, Uganda
Horizontal black-red-yellow: Germany. Vertical black-yellow-red: Belgium. Six black-yellow-red stripes with a bird (crowned crane) in a white disc: Uganda.
Hungary, Bulgaria, Iran, Tajikistan
Red on top: plain red-white-green is Hungary; a wider white stripe with a crown and stars is Tajikistan. White on top (white-green-red): Bulgaria. Green on top (green-white-red) with a red emblem in the middle and white script along the stripe edges: Iran.
Austria, Latvia, Lebanon, Peru
Vertical red-white-red: Peru. Horizontal with a green cedar in the white: Lebanon. Dark red (officially red) with a thin white stripe: Latvia. Bright red with equal stripes: Austria.
United States, Liberia, Malaysia
In the blue upper left: many small white stars mean the United States, one big white star means Liberia, and a yellow crescent and star mean Malaysia.
Japan, Bangladesh, Palau, Laos
Red disc on white: Japan. Red disc on green: Bangladesh. Yellow disc on light blue: Palau. A white disc in the middle of red-blue-red stripes: Laos.
Turkey, Tunisia, Maldives
A white crescent and star right on red: Turkey. A red crescent and star inside a white disc: Tunisia. A green rectangle with a white crescent (no star) in the middle: the Maldives.
China, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan
One big yellow star and four small ones in the upper left: China. One big star in the middle: Vietnam. A yellow sun with many rays in the middle: Kyrgyzstan.
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Paraguay, France
Vertical stripes (blue-white-red): France. Horizontal red-white-blue with an emblem in the middle: Paraguay. Plain with dark blue at the bottom: the Netherlands; with light blue: Luxembourg.
Czech Republic, Philippines, The Bahamas
Blue triangle on the left with white and red stripes: the Czech Republic. White triangle with a yellow sun and three stars, on blue and red: the Philippines. Black triangle with aqua-yellow-aqua: the Bahamas.
Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Togo
Green vertical band on the left, yellow and red on the right: Benin. Red vertical band with a black star on the left: Guinea-Bissau. Five green and yellow stripes with a white star on red in the upper left: Togo.
Sierra Leone, Gabon, Rwanda
Green-white-blue from the top: Sierra Leone. Green-yellow-blue: Gabon. A wide blue stripe on top (blue-yellow-green) with a yellow sun in the upper right: Rwanda.
Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tanzania, Republic of the Congo, Namibia
A black band edged in white on red: Trinidad and Tobago. A black band edged in yellow with two white stars: Saint Kitts and Nevis; no stars and blue in the lower right: Tanzania. Just a yellow band: the Republic of the Congo. A red band edged in white, plus a sun: Namibia.
Qatar, Bahrain
Qatar is maroon with nine jagged points. Bahrain is bright red with five jagged points.