Twelve flags, twelve country names, and a line to write the matching letter on. The flags were picked so that most of them can be worked out rather than simply remembered: several share a family look, and noticing that is half the skill.
After the matching activity there are five pairs of flags that even adults mix up, with a one-line way to tell each pair apart. That part is worth doing on screen too, since it is the part that sticks.
How to use it
- Guess first. Let a child match the flags they are sure of, then reason out the rest: which flags look Scandinavian, which look like a stripe pattern they already know. Guessing from a clue is good practice, not cheating.
- Say why. Asking "what made you pick that one?" turns one right answer into a rule they can use on the next flag.
- Check at the end. The answers are on a separate page when printed.
The answers print on a separate page.
Match the flags
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
Write the letter of the matching flag next to each country.
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Japan
- Nigeria
- Ukraine
- Bangladesh
- Switzerland
- Ireland
- Finland
- Sweden
- Italy
Answers
- France: K
- Germany: F
- Greece: I
- Japan: A
- Nigeria: J
- Ukraine: D
- Bangladesh: G
- Switzerland: E
- Ireland: H
- Finland: L
- Sweden: B
- Italy: C
Flags that are easy to mix up
Each pair below looks nearly the same at a glance. The tip under each pair is the quickest way to tell them apart.
Chad and Romania
Probably the hardest pair to tell apart. Both are blue, yellow and red stripes running top to bottom. The only differences are in the shades, most visibly the blue: Chad's is darker. On a printout you usually cannot tell them apart, so the fair answer is to know that both flags exist.
Indonesia and Monaco
Both are red over white. Look at the shape: Monaco's flag is squarer (4 by 5), Indonesia's is longer (2 by 3). Poland is the same two colors the other way up, white over red.
Ireland and Côte d'Ivoire
Mirror images. Check which color is next to the flagpole: Ireland puts green at the pole and orange at the far end, Côte d'Ivoire does the opposite. Ireland's flag is also longer.
Netherlands and Luxembourg
Both are red, white and blue stripes running across. Luxembourg's blue is a lighter sky blue and its flag is a little longer. The Netherlands uses a darker blue.
Norway and Iceland
The same cross with the colors swapped. Norway is a red flag with a blue cross edged in white; Iceland is a blue flag with a red cross edged in white.
About the flag pictures
The flags on this page were drawn for this site as simple shapes, using each flag's official proportions: its width compared with its height, and the size and position of its stripes, crosses or disc. National flag designs are generally treated as public domain, and nothing was copied from an image collection. The colors are close approximations. Official shades are set in different ways by different countries, so no screen or printer shows them exactly. Flags with detailed emblems, such as a coat of arms or a field of stars, were left out of this worksheet rather than drawn inaccurately.
Keep going
Flags are easier to learn as families than one at a time. How to teach kids world flags explains the eight families most flags fall into, and the flags that break the rules.
Flags of the World is our full-color guide to all 193 countries: each one has its flag, capital, a map, quick stats and fun facts, and the book is color-coded by continent. For a quiz that goes beyond flags, try the geography quiz for kids, or browse all the free printables.
