Geography Games

Countries With Red, White and Blue Flags

It is the palette of the French Revolution, the American Republic and the British Union — and it spread from there to every continent.

Updated August 29, 2026

Countries With Red, White and Blue Flags

Red, white and blue is the single most common colour scheme in world flags. More than 30 national flags use exactly those three colours and no others, and many more use them with an added element. The reason is history: three of the most imitated flags in the world — the French Tricolore, the Stars and Stripes and the British Union Jack — all use this palette.

The French lineage

The Tricolore of 1794 inspired a wave of vertical red-white-blue flags: the Netherlands (actually the older influence, horizontal), and then Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Luxembourg and more. Many Slavic states use red, white and blue specifically as the "Pan-Slavic" colours, taken from the Russian flag at an 1848 congress in Prague.

The British and American lineage

The full three-colour list

National flags using only red, white and blue include: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Netherlands, Chile, Cuba, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Norway, Iceland, Luxembourg, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, Nepal, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico (a territory), Samoa, Taiwan, Liberia, Cape Verde and the Faroe Islands. Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tuvalu belong here too via the Union Jack.

The odd ones in the family

Nepal is the only non-quadrilateral flag in the world and it is red, white and blue — a crimson field with a blue border and white celestial symbols. Norway and Iceland are Nordic-cross flags in the same palette. North Korea and Laos both use a red band with white and blue. Same three colours, wildly different designs.

Red-white-blue flags produce similar colour breakdowns, which makes telling them apart by proportion a real skill. Try the pie chart game.

Play the flag pie chart game →

FAQ

How many national flags are red, white and blue?
More than 30 use exactly those three colours, and around a dozen more use them together with other colours. It is the most common palette in world vexillology.
Why are so many flags red, white and blue?
Because the three most-copied flags in history — France's Tricolore, the United States' Stars and Stripes, and the British Union Jack — all use this palette, and newer nations modelled their flags on one of the three. Slavic countries also adopted red, white and blue as pan-Slavic colours.
Which red, white and blue flag is the odd one out in shape?
Nepal's — the only national flag that is not a rectangle or square. It is two stacked pennants, crimson with a blue border and white sun and moon symbols.
Do the UK, Australia and New Zealand flags count?
Yes. All three use only red, white and blue, and Australia and New Zealand carry the British Union Jack in the canton, which itself is red, white and blue.

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