Most flag designers avoid text: it is hard to read from far away, it looks wrong when the flag blows toward you and reverses, and it does not translate. The national flags that use writing anyway fall into two groups — religious phrases and national mottos.
Religious script
- Saudi Arabia — the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith ("There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God"), in white Thuluth script above a horizontal sword, on green. Because the text is sacred, the flag is never lowered to half-mast and manufacturers make a special double-sided version so the writing reads correctly on both sides.
- Iraq — the takbir ("God is great", Allahu akbar) in green Kufic script between the three stars' former positions on the red-white-black tricolour. The script has been redrawn several times; the current version dates from 2008.
- Afghanistan — the flag used before 2021 carried the shahada and the takbir within the national emblem. (The Taliban's flag is white with the shahada in black.)
- Iran — the phrase Allahu akbar is repeated 22 times in stylised Kufic script along the inner edges of the green and red bands, and the central emblem is a stylised rendering of the word "Allah".
- Brunei — the flag carries Arabic script in its crest, including the national motto "Always in service with God's guidance" and the country's name.
National mottos
- Brazil — the positivist motto "Ordem e Progresso" ("Order and Progress") on the white band across the celestial globe.
- Equatorial Guinea — the Spanish motto "Unidad, Paz, Justicia" ("Unity, Peace, Justice") on a scroll in the coat of arms.
- Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize, Haiti, Andorra, San Marino, Fiji, Eswatini and others — carry a national motto on a ribbon within a detailed coat of arms, so they technically contain writing, though it is rarely legible at flag size.
The one with a date
Haiti's coat of arms, in the centre of its flag, includes a ribbon reading "L'Union Fait La Force" ("Unity Makes Strength"). Several Central American flags similarly carry text within the arms. And the flag of Belize contains the most words of any national flag — the Latin motto "Sub Umbra Floreo" ("In the shade I flourish") plus the names of the two woodcutters depicted.
The two most recognisable text flags — Saudi Arabia and Brazil — come up often in Guess the Flag. Learn them as a distinctive pair.
Spot the script →