On January 7, in 1797, the modern Italian flag was first used when the XIVth Parliament of the Cispadane Republic decreed that the colours green, white, and red be used on their flag. This quiz is about flags.

1 The crosses of three saints adorn the Union Jack of Britain. Two of them are the red cross of St George of England and the red saltire of St Patrick of Ireland. Name the third.

2 With which entity would you associate the snow lion flag? The flag combines the snow lion, mountains and the three-coloured jewel.

3 It was originally designed in 1978 by San Franciso artist Gilbert Baker. Originally in eight colours, two were dropped for production purposes. The colours chosen represented life, healing, sunlight, nature, harmony and spirit. Which flag?

4 Though in use since the ’20s, the Swaraj flag was adopted as the official flag of the Congress in their 1931 session and is regarded as the ancestor of the current national flag. Though it used the same tricolour scheme, what symbol was present instead of the Ashok Chakra at the centre of the flag?

5 Which Indian state uses a red flag with three white vertical stripes that stand for its three main geographical divisions?

6 Which African nation uses the same blue colour as the UN in its flag, in honour of the UN’s help in gaining its independence?

7 Easy one: The flag of which country is in the shape of two stacked triangles?

8 This one is for Formula 1 buffs. The green flag is traditionally used in car races to indicate the start of a race, and the chequered flag signals the end of the race. But under what circumstances do track stewards wave a yellow flag with red stripes?

9 In the world of espionage, what is a ‘false flag?’

10 Pirates often flew under a black flag known as the ‘Jolly Roger’, which had many variations, the most famous being the skull and crossbones symbols. But what was indicated when pirates ran out a red flag instead of the traditional black?

Answers

1. St Andrew of Scotland. The white saltire in the flag represents him.

2. The Tibetan Government in Exile. The Free Tibet flag was first adopted by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1916

3. The LGBT Rainbow flag used in all Gay Pride events. Also known as the Freedom flag. Pink and Turquoise were removed as they were difficult to reproduce

4. The ‘Charkha’ or spinning wheel

5. Jammu and Kashmir, the regions being Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. J&K is the only Indian State with its own official flag

6. Somalia; the central symbol is a five-pointed star

7. Nepal. Interestingly, the flag of Ohio State is actually a five-sided shape with a triangle embedded in the figure

8. It indicates to the drivers that track conditions have changed, usually due to oil or debris on the track. Normally used for just a couple of rounds till the drivers adjust to the new conditions

9. False flags are enemy operations that seem to be done by a specific group of people, but are actually done by a completely different set. A good example was Nazi saboteurs pretending to be Polish and attacking a German post in 1939 so that they could blame the Poles and declare war

10. It meant that no quarter would be given, it would be a fight to the death

Joy Bhattacharjyais a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup

Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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