10 Most Beautiful Flags (And What They Mean)

Last Updated on April 7, 2024 by Adam Watts

I really like flags. They look really neat, especially if they’re waving proudly at the top of a pole. But some places have really horrible looking flags which I’ve written about here and here. Let’s ignore those for today. Let’s look at the 10 most beautiful flags.

Before we start though, the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags is called vexillology. There’s your word of the day. Try and use it in conversation, I dare you.

Also, to explain the rules of this list, only sovereign nations count. Wales has a freaking dragon on their flag, but they’re not included here because they’re part of the UK (which definitely doesn’t have a cool flag).

Now, onto the list of most beautiful flags:

Seychelles

The flag of the Seychelles is a beautiful thing to behold. It’s super colorful and in-your-face and just by looking at the flag you’d imagine that life in the Seychelles is full of gorgeous beaches and blue skies and a stress-free life.

And indeed that is literally what the flag shows: the blue depicts the sea and the sky, yellow is for the sun, red is for the people working in unity and with love, white is for harmony and social justice, and green is for the land. Sounds like a flag for a utopia.

Apparently the bands themselves symbolize a dynamic new country moving into the future, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to pack my bags and book a flight to the Seychelles because I’ve found where I want to spend the rest of my life.

Ukraine

Next up, the Ukraine.

You’ll quickly learn from this list that I’m a simple chap. Put bright colors in front of my face and I’ll ooohh and aahhh for hours.

And that’s the case here too. As a kid, yellow was my favorite color (yeah, I was a weird kid), so brownie points for Ukraine here. And the yellow works really well with the blue.

In terms of symbolism, the blue represents the sky and yellow represents the wheat of this historically agricultural nation.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan flag depicts a lion holding a kastane sword and you better watch your back, friend. This lion means business. It’s gonna stab you right in the gut.

The four leaf things pointing at the lion are Bo leaves that represent the four Buddhist concepts of Mettā (benevolence), Karuṇā (compassion), Muditā (joy) and Upekshā (equanimity).

The stripes on the left represent the two main minorities in the country, Sri Lanka Tamils (orange) and Sri Lanka Muslims (green).

It’s a super complex flag with a lot of symbolism (if you want to know what the lion’s great big honker represents, see Wikipedia), but it’s also very striking and colorful. So it makes this list.

Albania

Remember when I said I liked the vibrant colors and bright bands of the Seychelles flag? Yeah, forget that. This is my new favorite flag. I love me a two-headed bird creature that looks like it’s oozing blood.

The bird is actually a double-headed eagle and it represents Albania as a sovereign nation, while the red background stands for bravery, strength and valor.

Bhutan

If sword-wielding lions and double-headed eagles can’t impress you, maybe a snarling dragon will. Enter the Bhutanese flag.

The yellow signifies civil tradition as embodied by the Dragon King of Bhutan, the Druk Gyalpo.

Wait, hold up. The DRAGON KING OF BHUTAN. Forget presidents and prime ministers, I want to be in a country led by a dragon king!

Anyway, before this derails too far, the Dragon King of Bhutan typically wears yellow, hence the flag.

The orange is symbolic of Buddhist spiritual tradition. Now back to that dragon.

The dragon is from Bhutanese mythology, and in fact the country’s name in the Bhutanese language of Dzongkha translates to “Dragon Country”. If you look closely, the dragon is also holding jewels that represent Bhutan’s wealth and the security and prosperity of its people.

North Macedonia

The most interesting thing about the flag of North Macedonia is that their flag isn’t what they wanted as their flag.

They wanted the flag with the Vergina Sun symbol below. But Greece was none too happy, because they consider it a Greek symbol, so they placed an economic embargo on the then Republic of Macedonia and lodged a formal request with the World Intellectual Property Organization. Quite the double whammy: a trade dispute and some paperwork. It’s basically the plot of The Phantom Menace.

For what it’s worth, the Vergina flag looks much meaner than the cute sunbeam version they currently have.

Okay, onto another flag, because I keep thinking “vagina” in my head every time I write “Vergina”.

Nepal

If you need a home project to do and all the easy stuff is done (jigsaws, baking a cake, rearranging your furniture for better feng shui), I would suggest making your own geometrically-accurate Nepalese flag.

The official Nepalese constitution has a handy guide, with directions as easily understood as “(19) Bisect line AF at U and draw a line UV parallel to line AB touching line BE at V.”

Got that?

But, yes, Nepal doesn’t have a rectangular flag. It’s not even a square. It’s the only country in the world to have a five-sided flag, which is enough by itself to make a list of coolest world flags.

The design is a simplified version of two pennants/pennons (triangles, basically) on top of each other, and those pennant-shaped flags are very common in South Asia. According to the Nepalese government, the pennants represent Buddhism and Hinduism, the two major religions of Nepal.

The white symbols are the Sun and the Moon, which can pretty much mean whatever you want them to mean. Some people say they represent the fact that Nepal wants to last as long as the Sun and the Moon, some say they represent old ruling dynasties, some say pride and peace.

And the flag used to be super cute because the Sun and the Moon had little faces on them. But alas, no longer.

A LOT more info on the Nepal flag here.

Switzerland

Now, I know what you’re thinking. By their very definition, squares are not cool.

What is cool is having an almost-unique square-shaped flag. Almost-unique because there’s one other country with a square flag. Bonus points for anyone who knows it.

Any guesses?

Hint: it’s in Europe.

*drum roll please*

The answer is…

Vatican City!

The Swiss flag is similar to the emblem of the Red Cross, only with the colors reversed. That fact isn’t a coincidence. The Red Cross was originally founded in Geneva, Switzerland, and to honor that fact they chose to reverse the Swiss flag as their emblem.

Ethiopia

The flag of Ethiopia is beautiful but not super interesting. No offense, guys.

Let’s just get the symbolism and stuff out the way because there’s a lot more interesting context behind this flag.

Blue represents peace, the star represents diversity and unity, and the sun’s rays symbolize prosperity. The green relates to the land, yellow stands for peace and hope, and red is symbolic of strength.

But like I said, its context is important. A lot of African countries have similar flags that use the same green, gold/yellow and red that Ethiopia uses. It makes them really annoyingly difficult to learn.

The reason for Ethiopia’s influence over other African flags is because Ethiopia remained largely free of European control during the colonial era, notably by defeating the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. And as a result, Ethiopia drew a lot of admiration from other countries in Africa when they became independent, starting with Ghana in 1957.

For a list of all African flags using these Pan-African colors, see here.

Kiribati

Remember the Seychelles at the top? Colorful and suggestive of an idyllic life on an island somewhere. Well, here we are again. Kiribati.

First off, poor dear, let me correct your pronunciation. It’s Kiri-bas, not Kiri-baa-ti. In case you ever meet anyone from Kiribati, you’ll now impress them.

The flag of Kiribati makes me happy and its symbolism is pretty straightforward.

The waves represent the Pacific ocean, the white lines represent the three main island groups of the nation (Gilbert, Phoenix and Line Islands).

The yellow frigatebird symbolizes command and power over the sea, freedom, and authority.

The sun represents Kiribati’s place on the equator.

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And that, my friends, is the last of the most beautiful flags I know. There are other good ones, but these are my favorites among sovereign nations.

If you’re looking for more educational material, here are my recommendations on how to learn geography facts.

And for some actual adventures, click here!