Stripe orders below are given from top to bottom. For vertical bands, start at the hoist: the side attached to the pole.
Flags with one prominent star
Cuba
Five equal stripes alternate blue and white, with blue at the top and bottom. A red triangle reaches inward from the hoist of Cuba, holding one white five-pointed star.
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Chile
Chile has white across the top half and red across the bottom. A blue square occupies the upper corner beside the pole, with a single white star inside. Unlike Texas’s state flag, the blue section does not run the full height.
Liberia
Count eleven stripes on Liberia’s flag, alternating red and white. One white star sits in a blue square at the upper hoist. That single star is the quick way to separate it from the much busier US flag.
North Korea
A broad red center band lies between narrow white separators and blue outer bands. Toward the pole, a red five-pointed star sits inside a white disk.
Horizontal bands and central symbols
United States
The United States flag has thirteen alternating red and white stripes. Its blue canton holds fifty white stars, one for each state. The stripes recall the thirteen original colonies.
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Laos
A large white disk sits in the middle of a wide blue band. Red strips run along the top and bottom, each half the height of the blue band. The white circle stands out against the dark middle band.
Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde adds a fourth color: ten yellow stars form a ring on a blue field. A narrow white-red-white stripe group crosses the lower part of the flag. The ring sits toward the hoist rather than at the flag’s center.
Netherlands
Red sits above white and blue on the Netherlands flag. All three bands have the same height. Its darker blue is worth comparing with Luxembourg’s light-blue stripe.
Thailand
The flag of Thailand uses five bands: red, white, dark blue, white and red. The blue middle band is twice as wide as each of the other bands. Earlier flags of Thailand featured a white elephant.
Russia
White, blue and red run from top to bottom on the flag of Russia. Slovenia and Slovakia share this stripe order but add shields near the hoist.
Slovenia
Slovenia adds a small shield near the upper hoist to its white-blue-red bands. Inside it, white Mount Triglav rises above two wavy blue lines. Three gold stars sit overhead.
Luxembourg
Red, white and light blue appear in three equal bands. That lighter blue is the easiest color clue when comparing Luxembourg with the Netherlands.
Costa Rica
Blue and white bands frame a double-width red middle stripe. Read from top to bottom, the sequence is blue-white-red-white-blue. Costa Rica’s plain national flag has no emblem. The state pavilion adds the national arms within the red band.
Vertical bands
France
France turns the tricolor upright: blue beside the pole, white in the middle and red at the outer edge. The present stripe order was established in 1794.
Nordic crosses
Iceland
A white-edged red cross stretches across a blue field on the flag of Iceland. Its upright bar is offset toward the pole.
Norway
Norway places a blue Nordic cross, edged in white, on a red field. The cross reaches every edge and sits closer to the pole than to the center. Norway: red field, blue cross. Iceland: blue field, red cross.
Stars, crosses and shields
Australia
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A dark-blue field carries the Union Jack in the upper-hoist quarter. Below it sits the large seven-pointed Commonwealth Star. Five more white stars on the right represent the Southern Cross.
Samoa
On Samoa’s flag, most of the field is red. A blue rectangle at the upper hoist contains five white stars depicting the Southern Cross. Unlike Australia’s flag, there is no Union Jack or separate Commonwealth Star.
Czech Republic
A blue triangle extends from the hoist to the middle of the flag. White fills the upper half beyond it, and red fills the lower half.
Dominican Republic
A white cross divides the flag into four quarters. Blue fills the upper-hoist and lower-fly quarters. Red fills the other two. The national coat of arms sits at the center of the cross. Its small details include foliage in green, so the full design contains more than three colors.
Fiji
Fiji uses a light-blue field with the Union Jack at the upper hoist and a shield on the fly. The shield adds other colors, including a gold lion and green plant details. The pale blue takes up most of the design, unlike the dark blue on Australia’s flag.
The current flag dates to 10 October 1970, when Fiji became independent.
Panama
Four equal quarters form the flag of Panama. At the top, a white quarter with a blue star sits beside a solid red quarter. Below, a solid blue quarter sits beside white with a red star. Each star uses one of the two main colors, set against white.
United Kingdom
The Union Flag layers crosses on a blue field: St George’s red upright cross, St Andrew’s white diagonal cross and St Patrick’s red diagonal cross. White separates the red crosses from the blue field. The diagonal red stripes sit off-center within their white borders.
The first combined flag dates to 1606, under James VI and I, King of Scots and England. The present design dates to 1801, when St Patrick’s cross was added.
Serbia
Serbia’s bands run red, blue and white from top to bottom. The state flag adds the crowned coat of arms toward the hoist. The national flag is the plain tricolor. On the state version, a white double-headed eagle stands out against the red shield.
Slovakia
A red shield overlaps Slovakia’s white and blue bands near the hoist. It contains a white double cross above three blue hills. Beside Slovenia’s mountain-and-stars shield, that double cross is the detail to look for.
Nepal’s double-pennant flag
Nepal
Two joined pennants give Nepal its unmistakable outline. The field is crimson, edged in dark blue. A white moon appears in the upper part and a white sun in the lower part. This is the one flag here that refuses to fit inside a rectangle.
Which red, white and blue flag did you see?
- One star in a blue square: Chile has two broad bands; Liberia has eleven narrow stripes.
- Three plain horizontal bands: the Netherlands and Luxembourg begin with red. Russia begins with white.
- A Nordic cross: check the background first. Iceland is blue; Norway is red.
- Red and blue quarters: Panama has two separate stars. The Dominican Republic has a large white cross.
For more flags with stars, compare the number, color and placement of the stars. Those details usually help more than the color trio alone.
A selection of red, white and blue flag designs.
Looking beyond this trio? Compare Red and White Flag, Red, Yellow, Green and Green White Red.