Flags of the World: Hits and Misses, Part I

Being a junior in high school I'm in the beginning of the wonderfully stressful college application process. The other week I toured Macalester and felt very much at home as soon as I saw all the dozens of national flags hanging in the dining hall.

I sort of have a thing for flags. As I walked around with my mom, I was naming them as I passed, muttering to myself, "Sri Lanka... Saint Lucia... Trinidad and Tobago... Vietnam." I think it began when I made this drawing:

It's Europe (obviously) with the flag of each country within its borders.
Done with colored pencils, water colors and sharpie. Like a boss.
By "boss" I mean geography nerd.

 Since that time, I have memorized the flags of many countries. (I'd conservatively guess 100, but I'd egotistically guess 175.) In doing so, I have come to judge each of these countries I've never set foot in (apart from USA, obviously, Canada and the Bahamas) based solely on their primary national symbol. Let the judgement fest commence. Here are my picks for best flags. (Worst flags in a separate post.)

Some of the World's Best Flags - in no particular order, and I tried to pick the interesting ones that people might not be familiar with. I'll include some basic information on each country so this post has some worth.

Kazakhstan's flag has two great colors and a better design. I just like looking at it. Kazakhstan is located in western Asia and its capital is Astana. It borders Russia, China, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is the largest of the "stans" and its primary language is Kazakh. Don't you love learning?!

Nepal earned itself one of the most recognizable flags by going with a shape other than a rectangle. Bold choice. Nepal is located in the Himalayan region of Asia, bordering China and India. Its capital is Kathmandu and its official language is Nepali.

Swaziland's flag just kind of makes me want to go to Swaziland. It's so cool and tribal looking. Swaziland is a tiny little African country wedged between South Africa and Mozambique. They speak English and Swati. Its capital is Mbabane. And to clarify, you probably do not want to vacation here, assuming it was featured in a video at Feed My Starving Children when I volunteered there a week or two ago. But lovely flag, really.

Albania's flag is just super badass, what with that crazy, two-headed, badass bird thing. It makes me understand why hit men in movies are always Albanians. Albania is an eastern European country where Albanian is spoken. Surprise, surprise. Its capital is Tirana and it borders Greece, Macedonia and Montenegro (whose flag always features a crazy, two-headed, badass bird thing, but is less in-your-face about it).

Kiribati's flag is befitting an island nation and it's just really beautiful. Kiribati is an archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Tarawa and its official language is English. I imagine the weather is lovely there this time of year. And every time of year. But I did no research to back this up, except for staring at its flag longingly.

Antigua and Barbuda’s is similar to Kiribati’s but more geometric and probably looks better on tee-shirts. It’s certainly easier to draw. (I got this picture off the CIA website, which sketches me out a bit.) Antigua and Barbuda are each an island in the Caribbean that together constitute this tiny country. Its capital is Saint John's and its official language is English. And apparently the CIA is keeping tabs on it.

Papua New Guinea’s flag also has a bird (see a pattern?) but in this case it’s the raggiana bird of paradise. Sweet. Papua New Guinea is located in Oceania, just north of Australia. Its capital is Port Moresby and its primary language is Tok Pisin. I think I remember hearing that this country has the highest concentration of different languages on earth. Whether or not that's actually true, there is a huge diversity of languages spoken here.

The flag of Seychelles is colorful and different from other flags (trust me; I would know) and I'm just generally a fan. Seychelles is yet another island nation, located off the east coast of Africa (a bit north of Madagascar). Its capital is Victoria and its official language is English. Island nations always have the best flags and this one looks especially great blowing in the wind. (From what I can tell from Google  Images, not to be confused with real life experience.)



      

The flag of Barbados has a trident on it. Enough said. Barbados is a tiny Caribbean island whose capital is Bridgetown and official language is English. And something about tridents, I presume.



See this post for some of the worst flags.