Red, white and blue flags: every country that uses them and how to tell them apart
Twenty-two of the world’s 195 countries (193 UN members and 2 observer states) have flags in red, white and blue only: France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Czechia, Slovakia, the United States, Cuba, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Liberia, Thailand, Laos, North Korea, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.
Red, white and blue is the most familiar colour trio on national flags, and that is exactly why the flags that share it are so easy to mix up. This guide lists every country whose flag uses only these three colours, compiled by looking at the 195 national flags themselves, adds the flags where the trio dominates beside a small fourth colour, explains with sources why the combination spread, and gives a quick test for each group of look-alikes. At the end you can check yourself in the free flags quiz at VITON13 SCHOOL.
Key ideas
- Twenty-two national flags use only red, white and blue: nine in Europe, five in the Americas, one in Africa, four in Asia and three in Oceania.
- About a dozen more are mainly red, white and blue with a fourth colour in an emblem, among them Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
- The Dutch flag inspired the Russian and French tricolours, the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes passed the trio on, and in 1848 white, blue and red became the pan-Slavic colours.
- Most look-alikes split on one detail: the order of the stripes, a coat of arms, the number of stripes and stars, or the direction of the stripes.
Which countries have red, white and blue flags?
Twenty-two countries have flags made of red, white and blue and nothing else, counted across the 193 UN members and the 2 observer states. Europe has nine: France (vertical blue, white, red), the Netherlands (horizontal red, white, blue), Luxembourg (red, white, light blue), Russia (white, blue, red), the United Kingdom (the Union Jack), Iceland (a red Nordic cross edged in white on blue), Norway (a blue Nordic cross edged in white on red), Czechia (white over red with a blue triangle at the pole) and Slovakia (white, blue, red with a red, white and blue shield).
The Americas have five: the United States (13 stripes and 50 stars), Cuba (five blue and white stripes and a red triangle with a white star), Chile (white over red with a white star on a blue square), Panama (four quarters, two of them with a star) and Costa Rica (blue, white, a double-width red stripe, white, blue; the state flag adds the coat of arms). Africa has one, Liberia (11 red and white stripes and a white star on a blue square). Asia has four: Thailand (red, white, a double-width blue stripe, white, red), Laos (red, blue, red with a white disc), North Korea (blue and red bands with a red star in a white disc) and Nepal (two crimson pennants edged in blue with a white moon and sun). Oceania has three: Australia (the Union Jack and white stars on blue), New Zealand (the Union Jack and four red stars edged in white on blue) and Samoa (red with a blue corner of five white stars).
A second group is mostly red, white and blue but adds touches of another colour, usually in a coat of arms or an emblem. In nine of them the extra colours are small: Belize, Cambodia (whose white temple is drawn with black lines), Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Haiti, Paraguay, Serbia and Slovenia. The flags tool’s “Only these colours” filter ignores any colour that covers less than 2% of a flag, so it shows these nine together with the 22, 31 flags in all. In others the fourth colour is larger and the filter leaves them out: yellow in Cape Verde, the Philippines and Malaysia, black in South Korea’s trigrams.
Why are red, white and blue so common on flags?
The usual answer starts in the Netherlands. The Dutch flag began in the late 16th century as the orange, white and blue Prince’s Flag; red gradually replaced orange in the 17th century, and the red, white and blue States Flag became the oldest tricolour in continuous use. As a flag of the move from monarchy to republic, it inspired the Russian flag and, after the French Revolution of 1789, the vertical French tricolour, and both of those in turn influenced many others.
In Russia, the white, blue and red flag was introduced in the late 17th century, and accounts of its origin connect it to the Dutch flag on the ships of the time. In 1848 the Prague Slavic Congress took blue, white and red, based on the colours of the Russian flag, as the pan-Slavic colours. That is why Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Czechia use them today, although Serbia had already adopted its red, blue and white tricolour in 1835 and Czechia took its three colours in 1920 with the founding of Czechoslovakia.
Two more flags passed the trio on by descent. The Union Jack stands in the corner of the flags of Australia and New Zealand, a mark of their British history. The Stars and Stripes became the model for Liberia, founded by free people of colour and formerly enslaved people from the United States: its flag, adopted on 24 August 1847, has 11 stripes for the signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence and one white star. Malaysia’s 14 red and white stripes and blue corner belong to the same stars-and-stripes family.
How do you tell red, white and blue flags apart?
Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia share the order white, blue, red from top to bottom, so look for a shield. Russia’s flag has none. Slovakia’s shield is large, sits towards the pole across all three stripes and shows a white double cross on three blue hills. Slovenia’s is smaller, in the upper corner, and shows the white peak of Mount Triglav under three yellow stars. Serbia turns the order round to red, blue, white and adds a white double-headed eagle on its state flag.
The Netherlands and Luxembourg are both red, white and blue from top to bottom. The Dutch flag has a darker red and a cobalt blue and is 2:3; Luxembourg’s is longer and its blue is a clear light blue. Croatia uses the same order with a red and white chequered shield in the centre, and Paraguay with a round emblem in the middle.
France and the Netherlands are a classic trap: the French stripes are vertical, blue at the pole, then white, then red, while the Dutch stripes are horizontal. Turn the French flag a quarter turn anticlockwise and its colours run red, white, blue from the top, as on the Dutch flag, so the direction of the stripes is the whole difference. Mirror pairs work the same way: Norway is a blue cross on red and Iceland a red cross on blue, both edged in white; Thailand runs red, white, blue, white, red with a double blue band, and Costa Rica blue, white, red, white, blue with a double red band.
For stars and stripes, count. The United States has 13 red and white stripes and 50 white stars in a blue corner. Liberia has 11 stripes and a single large white star in a square corner. Malaysia has 14 stripes and a yellow crescent with a 14-point yellow star, the only one of the three with a fourth colour. Chile has one star and only two bands, and Cuba puts its star in a red triangle instead of a blue square.
How to practise red, white and blue flags with a quiz
The quickest way to master these look-alikes is to see them side by side and then be tested on them. In the free flags tool at VITON13 SCHOOL, tap red, white and blue under Colours and switch on “Only these colours”. You get 31 flags: the 22 from this guide plus the nine with small multicoloured arms or emblems, because the filter ignores colours under 2% of the flag. Add a continent to see each group at once, then click any flag to open its card with the capital, the continent and the flags it is easy to confuse with.
Next, use the similar-flags comparison, where close pairs such as Chad and Romania, Indonesia and Monaco or Ireland and Côte d’Ivoire sit next to each other, and practise spotting the one detail that differs. Finish with the quiz: guess the country from its flag, with multiple choice or typed answers, on one continent or all of them, and keep your score. The world map is the natural next step, to see where each of these countries lies.
In everyday language
Imagine a box with only three crayons: red, white and blue. Twenty-two countries drew their flags with just those crayons, so you tell them apart by the shapes: stripes going down or across, a cross, a star or a shield. Learn the shape and you know the country.
Try it yourself
Open the flags tool, tap red, white and blue under Colours and switch on “Only these colours”. Find the nine flags that are not among this guide’s 22, then play one quiz round on Europe.
Expected result
31 flags, among them France, the Netherlands, Russia, the United States and Thailand; the nine extra ones are Belize, Cambodia, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Haiti, Paraguay, Serbia and Slovenia, each with a small coat of arms or emblem. After the round you have a score to beat next time.
Check your answer: A flag has 11 red and white stripes and one white star on a blue square. Which country is it?
Liberia. The United States has 13 stripes and 50 stars, and Malaysia has 14 stripes with a yellow crescent and star.
Questions
Which flag is white, blue and red from top to bottom?
Russia’s, with three plain stripes. Slovakia and Slovenia use the same order but add a coat of arms, and Serbia reverses it to red, blue and white.
What do red, white and blue mean on a flag?
There is no shared meaning: each country explains its own colours. Liberia, for example, says its red and white stand for courage and moral excellence.
Learn the 22 red, white and blue flags by shape, meaning stripe direction and order, crosses, stars and shields, and test yourself on the look-alikes in the free VITON13 SCHOOL flags quiz.