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Building A of the Palace of Nations (United Nations Office at Geneva), seen from the park (south).
Photo: Credits to Mourad Ben Abdallah / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Capitals & Flags Around the Globe

This capitals and flags quiz goes past the usual 'name the capital' drill. Find out why cities were built from scratch, what the symbols on flags mean and which banners hide a surprise.

15 questionsMedium~3 minNo timer

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About this Capitals and Flags quiz

This capitals and flags quiz is for anyone who already knows the big capitals and wants the stories one layer down. In 15 questions you will meet capitals built from nothing, a parliament that guards a thousand-year-old crown, and flags that carry hats, dragons, rifles and maps.

Capitals and flags look like pure memory work, but most of them have a reason behind them. New capitals are often built to settle a rivalry or to pull a country's centre of gravity inland. Flags are designed by committees and constitutions, so every colour and symbol usually has an official meaning, and a few flags break the rules that nearly all others follow.

The quiz suits trivia nights, team icebreakers and students preparing for general knowledge rounds. Each answer comes with a short explanation, so even a wrong guess teaches you something you can use the next time a flag round comes up. Play once for a score, read the notes, then try again and see how many you can now explain to a friend.

Capitals and Flags questions with answers

Show answers

  1. An American architect couple from Chicago won a 1912 world contest to plan this town around a central lake. Its parliament is shown here. Name it.

    A low modern building with a giant flagpole on a green hill.
    Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Perth
    • Canberra
    • Brisbane
    • Adelaide

    Answer: Canberra. Walter Burley Griffin won with drawings by his wife, Marion Mahony Griffin. Canberra was built as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne.

  2. One country's constitution includes a step-by-step geometry recipe for drawing its banner: two stacked pennants, a moon above and a sun below. Which country?

    • Bhutan
    • Sri Lanka
    • Nepal
    • Mongolia

    Answer: Nepal. Schedule 1 of Nepal's constitution sets out the construction line by line. It is also the only national flag that is not four-sided.

  3. Myanmar moved its government in 2005 to a brand-new city, home to this giant pagoda. What is the new city's name usually translated as?

    A huge golden pagoda with a tall spire lit at dusk.
    Photo: Hybernator, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Abode of kings
    • Golden land
    • City of lakes
    • River mouth

    Answer: Abode of kings. Naypyidaw is usually rendered 'abode of kings' or 'royal capital'. Its Uppatasanti Pagoda, shown here, is modelled on Yangon's Shwedagon.

  4. Rio, watched over by this statue, ran Brazil until a new seat of government, laid out like a bird in flight, took over in the interior. Name it.

    A huge white statue with outstretched arms on a hilltop above a city.
    Photo: Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons
    • São Paulo
    • Salvador
    • Belo Horizonte
    • Brasília

    Answer: Brasília. Brasília became the capital in 1960. UNESCO notes that Lúcio Costa's plan for it is often compared to a bird in flight.

  5. By the Flag Code of India, the Tiranga shown here can be made in any size, but its length and height must keep which ratio?

    A horizontal tricolour flag with a blue wheel in the centre.
    Photo: Government of India, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
    • 3:2
    • 2:1
    • 4:3
    • 5:3

    Answer: 3:2. The Flag Code fixes the proportion at 3:2 and lists nine standard sizes, from 6300 × 4200 mm down to 150 × 100 mm.

  6. Mozambique's flag, shown here, crosses a hoe and an AK-47 rifle over an open book. What does the book stand for?

    A flag with horizontal stripes, a red triangle and a yellow star with a book and rifle.
    Photo: FRELIMO, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Religion
    • Education
    • Law
    • History

    Answer: Education. Its constitution pairs the book with education, the rifle with defence and vigilance, and the hoe with farming.

  7. The Thunder Dragon on Bhutan's flag grips something in each of its claws. What?

    • Arrows
    • Thunderbolts
    • Jewels
    • Lotus flowers

    Answer: Jewels. The jewels, called norbu, stand for the nation's wealth. The dragon, Druk, gives Bhutan its own name, Druk Yul.

  8. A famous aid emblem, adopted in 1864 for battlefield medics, is Switzerland's square flag with its colours swapped. Which emblem?

    • Red Crescent
    • Olympic rings
    • Blue Shield
    • Red Cross

    Answer: Red Cross. The ICRC says the red cross on white was chosen as the reverse of neutral Switzerland's flag. Switzerland and Vatican City fly the only square national flags.

  9. Since 2000, Hungary's Holy Crown has been on display under the dome of this riverside parliament. Where is it?

    A huge neo-gothic parliament with a central dome on a riverbank.
    Photo: Kilyann Le Hen, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Vienna
    • Prague
    • Budapest
    • Bratislava

    Answer: Budapest. The crown moved from the National Museum to the Parliament's Domed Hall on 1 January 2000. The building stands on the Danube in Budapest.

  10. This round building in Wellington holds the offices of New Zealand's prime minister and cabinet. What is it called, after its shape?

    A round modern government tower with a stepped base.
    Photo: Ulrich Lange, Bochum, Germany, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • The Beehive
    • The Pinecone
    • The Wedding Cake
    • The Lighthouse

    Answer: The Beehive. The Beehive grew from a concept by British architect Basil Spence and is the executive wing of New Zealand's Parliament.

  11. This island nation's flag shows a copper-coloured outline of the whole island above two olive branches. The metal's own name traces back to the island. Which country?

    • Malta
    • Cyprus
    • Iceland
    • Sri Lanka

    Answer: Cyprus. Ancient Cyprus supplied much of the Mediterranean's copper, and the Latin 'cyprium aes', Cyprus metal, gave us the word. The olive branches stand for peace.

  12. Indonesia's red-over-white flag is almost a twin of a tiny European country's. Only the proportions differ. Which country?

    • Poland
    • Malta
    • Austria
    • Monaco

    Answer: Monaco. Monaco's flag is 4:5 and Indonesia's is 2:3. Poland's is the same two colours, but white over red.

  13. A black straw hat called the mokorotlo sits in the middle of which African country's flag?

    • Lesotho
    • Eswatini
    • Botswana
    • Malawi

    Answer: Lesotho. Lesotho adopted the flag with the traditional Basotho hat in 2006, for 40 years of independence. It replaced an older flag with a shield and spear.

  14. Legend says this red flag with a white cross fell from the sky during a battle in 1219, in what is now Tallinn. Whose flag is it?

    • Norway
    • Switzerland
    • Denmark
    • England

    Answer: Denmark. The Dannebrog story is set at the Battle of Lyndanisse in Estonia. Denmark's flag is often called the oldest national flag still in use.

  15. This South American flag is the only national flag with a different emblem on each side, a treasury seal with a lion on the back. Which country?

    • Uruguay
    • Bolivia
    • Ecuador
    • Paraguay

    Answer: Paraguay. Paraguay's front shows the national seal with a yellow star. The back shows a lion under a liberty cap and the motto 'Paz y Justicia'.

Frequently asked questions

What is the study of flags called?

It is called vexillology, from the Latin 'vexillum', a kind of banner carried by Roman soldiers. A person who studies flags is a vexillologist.

Which national flags are square?

Only two national flags are square: Switzerland's and Vatican City's. Almost every other national flag is a rectangle, wider than it is tall.

How hard is this capitals and flags quiz?

It is a medium-level quiz. It assumes you know the basics and asks about the stories behind capitals and flag symbols, so most players get a good share right and learn something new from the rest.