The 10 Best Flags of the World
published August 9, 2009
The flag is an all-important symbol of an entire nation. It usually is a rectangle that supposed to represent everything about the country, it's people, and it's belief system. Colors, stripes, logos and symbols are all chosen very carefully. It's natural that some flags are going to be awesome, and some are going to suck. I went through all the flags and through the extensive scientific process of eliminating the crappy flags, I've picked the 10 best. Here they are.
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Just missed:
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Turkmenistan (Nice intricate design)
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Seychelles (cool ray of colors)
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Morocco (satanic looking)
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Isle of Man (three legs running)
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Dominica (awesome bird)
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#10 - Qatar - This flag always drew me in as a kid, maybe because it looked like maroon construction paper that someone used those zigzag scissors on. Nonetheless I still think it's a neat flag. The maroon stands for bloodshed in Qatar's history, and the white is for peace. The 9 points in the serrated line symbolizes the fact that Qatar was the 9th member of the "Reconciled Emirates" of the persian gulf in a treaty signed in 1916. Bahrain has a similar flag, but it's not nearly as good lookin'.
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#9 - Saudi Arabia - I dig this flag strictly for aesthetics and the sword. Once I dug into the symbolism of the flag, I started to hate it. The gibberish above is actually text and it says something along the lines of "Allah is the only true god, Muhammed is his Messenger." They'll probably have to redesign it when they educate themselves and realize Odin is the only true god.
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#8 - Kenya - I love this flag for the color scheme and especially the tribal spears and shield. The symbolism is pretty badass too. Black is the majority, red for bloodshed, and green for natural wealth. The traditional colors of black, red and white of the shield symbolize the defense of the country.
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#7 - Papua New Guinea - I've always been drawn to black, red, and yellow as a color combination, and this flag balances the colors well. On the bottom left, the smallest of the constellations is depicted (the Southern Cross). The yellow silhouette is a bird of paradise. The colors are from German colonization.
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#6 - Nepal - This is the only flag that dares to think outside the box, because it is the only one that isn't a box. The blue represents peace, and surrounds the red bloodshed. Th sun and the moon symbolizes that Nepal will last as long as these two celestial bodies.
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#5 - Mozambique - How about a flag with an assault rifle, a hoe, a book, and a Marxist star. This flag has all of the above. The assault rifle obviously represents the country's struggle for independence, the hoe for agriculture, and the book for knowledge. There has been a movement to design a new flag, but it met resistance and this remains the flag to date.
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#4 - Swaziland - This flag is badass enough to hang behind your couch. Again, the blue symbolizes peace to surround the red bloodshed. The interesting symbolism is the black and white shield, representing the racial harmony between blacks and whites and the protection of the nation.
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#3 - Uganda - I love the Uganda flag. Not only does it have the appealing black yellow and red stripes, it's got am awesome rooster with a mohark in the middle. The black is for the people, yellow for sunshine and red for bloodshed. The rooster with a mohawk is actually a Grey Crowned Crane, which is one of the awesomest birds in existence.
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#2 - Bhutan - This is widely considered most the best flag in most people's opinion. I agree for them for the most part. I mean, it is an awesome fiery dragon on roller skates. Bhutan's Tibetan name means "Land of the Dragon," and the rollerskates are actually jewels that represent wealth. Yellow depicts monarchy and orange symbolizes Buddhism.
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#1 - Sri Lanka - I think this is the one flag that tops the Bhutan flag. The lion holding a sword wins. Again the Yellow symboizes Buddhism, and the green and the orange symbolize Muslims and Tamils respectively. The golden lion apparently symbolizes people, but I think they just wanted to have an awesome lion with a sword.
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That rounds out my favorite world flags. Stay tuned for the 10 worst flags in the future!
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