African Flags Quiz: Name the Flags of Africa

How to play the African flags quiz

Every round uses the 54 flags of Africa. Choose how to answer:

• Name the flag. One flag, four country names. The choices include flags with the same colors, so look at stars, stripes and emblems.
• Type the country. One flag, no choices. Spelling is forgiving: "Ivory Coast" works for Côte d'Ivoire and "Swaziland" for Eswatini.
• Pick the flag. A country name and four flags.

Then choose a mode. Learn shows all 54 flags on a wall, with names on or off. Practice has no timer and brings misses back later. Quiz is timed with three tries per flag. Challenge gives you 60 seconds, and every five in a row multiplies your points.

The pan-African colors

Many African flags use some mix of red, gold (yellow) and green, often with black. These colors have two main sources.

Ethiopia used green, yellow and red long before most of Africa was independent. Because Ethiopia defeated an Italian invasion at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 and remained independent, apart from Italy's occupation from 1936 to 1941, its colors became a symbol of African freedom. When Ghana became the first sub-Saharan colony to win independence in 1957, it chose red, gold and green with a black star, and many newly independent countries followed.

Red, black and green, the colors of the Universal Negro Improvement Association founded by Marcus Garvey, appear in the flags of Kenya, Malawi and South Sudan, among others.

Countries explain their colors in their own words, but common meanings are red for the struggle and sacrifice of independence, gold for mineral wealth and the sun, green for the land and forests, and black for the people.

Flag families of Africa

Look-alike African flags

Flags that tell a story

• South Africa's flag was first raised in 1994, the year of the country's first election open to all races. Its Y shape is often described as different groups coming together and moving forward as one.
• Uganda's flag shows a grey crowned crane, the national bird, in a white circle.
• Lesotho's flag shows a black mokorotlo, a traditional Basotho straw hat.
• Kenya's flag has a Maasai shield and two crossed spears to stand for the defense of freedom.
• Libya brought back its 1951 independence flag, with a crescent and star on a black band, in 2011.
• Mauritania's flag gained red stripes in 2017 to honor those who died for the country's independence.

When Africa's flags were born

Most African flags are young. In 1950, only four African countries were fully independent: Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia and South Africa, plus Libya from 1951. Then came a wave of independence. In 1960 alone, 17 African countries became independent, including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Madagascar and most of French West and Central Africa, and each raised a new flag. By the end of the 1960s, most of the continent was independent.

That timing explains a lot about the flags. Leaders of new countries often chose colors to show unity with the rest of Africa, which is why the pan-African colors appear across West Africa. Former French colonies often chose vertical tricolors like France's, while many former British colonies, such as Kenya, Uganda and Sierra Leone, chose horizontal stripes. Countries that won independence after long wars, such as Mozambique, Angola and Zimbabwe, often put symbols of that struggle on their flags. Some of the newest changes came after that era: Namibia's flag dates from 1990, Eritrea's from 1995, South Africa's from 1994 and South Sudan's from 2011.

Tips for learning the flags of Africa

1. Sort by color family first. In Learn mode, find every green, gold and red flag, then every crescent, then every flag with an animal. Grouping makes 54 flags feel like six small sets.
2. Learn the North African crescents together. Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania all have a crescent; each is a different color scheme.
3. Use the map. Neighbors often share colors. Find each country on the Africa map quiz right after its flag.
4. Practice the look-alikes in a row. When you miss one, read its "Looks like" line and study the pair.
5. Say the story. Remembering that Uganda's flag has a crane, or Lesotho's a hat, makes the flag impossible to forget.

Keep learning

Pair this quiz with the Africa map quiz and the blank map of Africa, then try the world flags quiz to see how African flags fit among all 197. Story-based history programs and kids' geography magazines, like the ones below, are a good way to learn more about African countries and cultures.