North American Flags Quiz

Flags of North America and the Caribbean.

Flags of North America and the Caribbean — a short list of famous ones and a long tail of island nations almost nobody knows.

Two quizzes in one

North America splits cleanly into two halves with completely different difficulty.

The mainland — Canada, the United States, Mexico and the seven Central American states — is largely flags people already know or can reason their way to. The Caribbean is where the real work is, and where most people discover they can name perhaps three of thirteen island nations.

The Central American pattern

Here is the single most useful fact in this quiz: five Central American countries share a blue-white-blue horizontal layout, because they were once the Federal Republic of Central America.

Honduras — five blue stars scattered across the white band.
El Salvador — coat of arms in the centre of the white band.
Nicaragua — a triangle containing a rainbow in the centre.
Guatemala — the bands are vertical, not horizontal, with arms in the middle. That rotation is the tell.
Costa Rica — adds a broad red band through the middle, so it reads blue-white-red-white-blue.

Learn the federation and those five stop being interchangeable.

The Caribbean long tail

This is where scores are won. The island flags are visually distinctive — the problem is purely unfamiliarity.

Jamaica — a gold saltire dividing green and black. The only national flag with no red, white or blue.
Trinidad and Tobago — red with a black diagonal edged in white.
Barbados — blue-gold-blue with a black trident head.
Bahamas — aquamarine and gold bands with a black hoist triangle.
Saint Lucia — blue with a yellow and black triangle.
Dominica — the only national flag featuring a parrot, in purple.
Antigua and Barbuda — a rising sun over black, blue and white in a V.
Grenada — red border with nutmeg, reflecting the island's main export.
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba.

Cuba and Puerto Rico are the pair to watch: same design, swapped colours. Cuba has a red triangle and blue stripes; Puerto Rico has a blue triangle and red stripes.

The easy points

Canada's maple leaf, Mexico's eagle-and-serpent, and the Stars and Stripes are free. Do not let them lull you — they are three of roughly twenty-three, and the other twenty are where this quiz is decided.

Where to go next

North American Capitals is the companion, and the Caribbean half is harder still: Basseterre, Roseau, Castries and Saint John's are rarely encountered outside a quiz.

Frequently asked questions

How many countries are in North America?

Twenty-three sovereign states when the Caribbean and Central America are included, which is how most quizzes count it. The mainland three — Canada, the United States and Mexico — are only a small part of the continent by country count.

Why do Central American flags look similar?

Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica were all part of the Federal Republic of Central America, and kept its blue-white-blue scheme. They differ by emblem, and Guatemala also rotated the bands to vertical.

What is the difference between the flags of Cuba and Puerto Rico?

The colours are swapped. Cuba has a red triangle at the hoist with blue and white stripes; Puerto Rico has a blue triangle with red and white stripes. The layouts are otherwise the same, which makes them a classic quiz trap.

Which flag has a parrot on it?

Dominica. It shows a Sisserou parrot, the national bird, in purple — the only purple bird on any national flag and one of very few uses of purple at all.

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