There are almost 200 independent states in the world, and each one has or should have a different flag. Most are quite straight forward, in spite can have a separate meaning. Rectangular, a couple of colors, and that is it. But I bet you know there are some special flags and you might wonder why. I did it myself and I have decided to seek some interesting facts about them and actually offer some slight explanations. Which one to start with?

1. Nepal – it is the only not rectangular flag of an independent country and it seems that the shape, with two uneven triangles represents two of the mighty Himalayan peaks – though, not clear which! – and also, in the middle, there is each a represented moon and a sun, respectively, but this last aspect is not core of interest, the shape is more important to explain. Should those triangles represent Everest and Lhotse, both from the border with China? Maybe!
2. Brazil – it is rectangular, but the representation it is one of the most complicated from all the countries. And Brazil is a significant country at world level, having a staggering population of 216 million people (!) A green rectangle, with a yellow diamond in the middle, which has in the middle a circle with 27 white stars, representing each states. Now, the way in which the stars are aligned in the way in which they show the exact sky from 15th of November 1889, above Rio de Janeiro, when the Brazilian Republic was proclaimed!
3. Kenya – the source of my research has a quite common flag, whit three colors, except the fact that in the middle it has some symbols: a traditional red-black-white Maasai – one of the main ethnic groups of the country – shield on top of two spears. Their idea is to protect the core values of the Kenyan nation, one of the most impressive from the whole continent of Africa.
4. Switzerland – you might now that this country, alongside Vatican’s flag, are the only two rectangular, but… square! If the symbol of the white cross on red background is from the 14th century, with military origins,  and this is actually why it remained square. Because at that time, the coat or arms where square and so Switzerland decided to keep this particularity.
5. Saint Lucia – the light blue background of the Caribbean insular country is not something unusual, but the triangle three colored shape from the middle is. So what does this shape symbolize? Well… the two Pitons, two pyramidal shaped peaks that are next to each other and very popular in Saint Lucia in terms of attracting tourists.
6. Lesotho – the small African state from inside the Republic of South Africa has also a three-stripe background, like many countries, but in the middle it has a special symbol, that might represent a mystery for many. Actually, that is a Mokorotlo, a traditional sotho straw hat which local people wear very often.
7. Mongolia – a huge country in central Asia, it has a symbol on the left hand side as we are looking at the flag that might not look as obvious of the ones from the flags of Canada, Lebanon or Cambodia. What is it? Well, it is a very complex symbol, the Soyombo. Which is a geometric abstraction that represents fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and a Taijitu symbol representing the duality of yin and yang.
8. Papua New Guinea – another flag that caught my eye is the one from the country that has a joint border with Indonesia, even though it is on another continent. The colors separated by a diagonal have the Constellation of “Southern Cross” on the left hand side and Raggiana bird-of-paradise on the upper right hand side. The black and red colors bring a boost to the general image of this flag and it catches my top.
9. Barbados – another archipelago from the Caribbean, it stands out from the rest a bit, thanks to the center of the flag, where a broken trident lies. A black one, but only the head. Before 1966, the flag of Barbados, a British colony back then, contained a image with Britannia holding a trident, so now, only its head represents literally the break from UK, and becoming an independent state.
10. Albania – the list of interesting and inedited flags can be much longer, but I will end a list of ten with another European country, that has a double-head eagle on its flag. A symbol from the Bronze age, adopted to augment the the single headed Roman eagle. The actual flag of Albania was adopted in 1912, after liberation from the Ottoman Empire.
11. Kyrgyzstan – last, but not least, I will bring to light some very interesting flag, from central Asia. The red sky with a yellow sun in the middle is not such uncommon, but on top of the sun there is another distinctive element: tunduk. This is the opening situated on top of a yurt, a traditional nomadic tent. This is actually the first thing somebody who wakes up in a yurt sees.

Romania vs. Chad flag

The epilogue of this article is linked to resemblances. There are several flags that might resemble, but there is nothing alike the ones of Chad, from Africa, and Romania, from Europe. The only way in which you can distinguish them is to check the blue color which, indeed, is a bit darker on Chad’s flag. But who had it first? Actually, Romania has it from mid of XIX Century, but in 1960, when Chad gained it’s independence from France, and adopted it, Romania had a communist mark on its middle so, therefore, at that moment, Chad was not actually replicating it. But, indeed, the first to use it was Romania, and in 2004, when allegedly Chad condemned the similarity, Romanian president stated the flag belongs to Romania.

Photo source: pixabay.com