Kwanzaa Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
6correct to beat the crowd
98 free Kwanzaa trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
44 free Kwanzaa trivia questions with answers. Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration of African-American culture built around seven principles, seven symbols and a branch of candles called the kinara. This quiz covers the whole of it: the activist who created the holiday in 1966, the Swahili phrase behind the name, why the word carries an extra letter, what each of the Nguzo Saba principles means, the colours and lighting of the candles, the unity cup and the feast, and the greeting exchanged on each of the seven days. It is written for classrooms, community celebrations, cultural programs and anyone brushing up before December 26. Roughly a third of the questions are easy enough for younger celebrants (how many candles, what colours, when it starts); the rest reach into the history and the meanings of the Swahili terms. Every answer is checked against the Kwanzaa entry in the encyclopedia and the biography of its founder, and the sentence that establishes it is shown under each question, so a teacher or host can confirm any detail on the spot.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does Kujichagulia, the principle honoured on the second day of Kwanzaa, mean?
Self-determination
Self-determination: Kujichagulia asks people to define, name, create and speak for themselves, which is why Karenga said mixing Kwanzaa's symbols with another culture's would violate it.
Q 02Who was US president when the first Kwanzaa was celebrated?
Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson was president in December 1966, when Karenga's group held the first Kwanzaa, which makes the holiday younger than the Civil Rights Act he signed in 1964.
Q 03On what date does Kwanzaa begin each year?
December 26
December 26 opens a week modelled on southern African harvest celebrations, which also fall around the turn of the year.
Q 04On what date does Kwanzaa end?
January 1
January 1 is the seventh and final day, so every Kwanzaa starts in one year and ends on the first day of the next.
Q 05The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase, "matunda ya kwanza", meaning what?
First fruits
First fruits is the meaning of "matunda ya kwanza": Karenga modelled Kwanzaa on African harvest festivals such as those of the Zulu and Ashanti, then gave it a Swahili name.
Q 06By Karenga's account, why was an extra "a" added to the name Kwanzaa?
To make it seven letters long
To make it seven letters long: Karenga says seven children in his organisation each wanted to represent a letter, and the Swahili word kwanza has only six.
Q 07What is the Swahili name for the seven principles of Kwanzaa?
Nguzo Saba
Nguzo Saba is Swahili for "seven principles", and they explain the holiday's length: Karenga made Kwanzaa a week long so that each principle would have a day of its own.
Q 08Which Kwanzaa principle, honoured on the first day, means "unity"?
Umoja
Umoja comes first for a reason: Karenga calls unity the foundation of the other six principles, the thing without which a community cannot begin its work.
Q 09Which Kwanzaa principle stands for "collective work and responsibility"?
Ujima
Ujima, the third principle, asks people to build their community together and to treat a neighbour's problems as their own, to be solved together.
Q 10Which Kwanzaa principle refers to "cooperative economics"?
Ujamaa
Ujamaa, the fourth principle, urges people to build and run their own shops and businesses and to profit from them together; the word literally means familyhood.
Q 11Which Kwanzaa principle means "purpose"?
Nia
Nia, honoured on the fifth day, asks people to treat building and developing their community as a shared vocation.
Q 12Which Kwanzaa principle stands for "creativity"?
Kuumba
Kuumba, the sixth principle, asks people to do as much as they can to leave their community more beautiful and beneficial than they inherited it.
Q 13Which Kwanzaa principle, honoured on the final day, means "faith"?
Imani
Imani closes the week on purpose: Karenga says a community can begin its work by coming together, but only faith in one another and in their cause can sustain it.
Q 21In a Kwanzaa ceremony, the libation for the ancestors is poured from what?
The unity cup
The unity cup is used to pour a libation for the ancestors, and is then passed round so that everyone present can sip from it.
Q 22What does the Kwanzaa term "Zawadi" refer to?
Gifts
Zawadi are the gifts, usually given to children on the last day of Kwanzaa, often handmade rather than store-bought to avoid commercialism.
Q 23The Karamu, Kwanzaa's communal meal, is formally known as the Feast of what?
Faith
Faith gives the Karamu its formal name, the Feast of Faith, and the evening is as much a programme as a meal, with a libation for the ancestors and cultural performances.
Q 14What is the Kwanzaa candle holder called?
Kinara
Kinara is the name of the holder for the holiday's candles, and it carries a meaning of its own: the people's roots in Africa, the ancestors from whom celebrants descend.
Q 15In a Kwanzaa set, what are the Mishumaa Saba?
The candles
The candles: one more is lit each evening, and each stands for one of the principles, which the household talks over that night.
Q 16Which mix of colours makes up the set of Kwanzaa candles?
One black, three red, three green
One black, three red, three green: the candles take the colours of the Pan-African flag, and one more is lit on each day of the holiday.
Q 17On the Kwanzaa candle holder, what does the black candle stand for?
Unity
Unity: the black candle stands for the first of the principles and, by its colour, for the people themselves, and it is always the first to be lit.
Q 18The mat on which the other Kwanzaa symbols are placed is called what?
Mkeka
Mkeka is the mat beneath everything else, and that is its meaning: it stands for tradition and history, the foundation on which the rest is built.
Q 19What does the Kwanzaa symbol "mazao" refer to?
Crops
Crops: the mazao, usually fruit, nuts and vegetables, stand for the rewards of shared work, as in the African harvest festivals behind the holiday.
Q 20The ears of corn in a Kwanzaa set, the muhindi, stand for whom?
The children
The children: families set out one ear of corn for each child in the household, as a sign of the hope the community places in them.
Q 24The Karamu, Kwanzaa's big communal feast, is usually held on which day?
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is the sixth night of Kwanzaa, and the Karamu turns it into a community party, with a shared meal, music and dancing.
Q 25What does the daily Kwanzaa greeting "Habari gani?" mean in English?
How are you?
"Habari gani?" means "How are you?", or more literally "What is the news?"; during Kwanzaa the expected reply is the name of that day's principle.
Q 26The black, red and green flag associated with Kwanzaa is known by which Swahili name?
Bendera
Bendera is simply Swahili for flag; Kwanzaa's version takes the red, black and green of the Pan-African flag and reorders them to put black first.
Q 27Which historical event's aftermath prompted the creation of Kwanzaa?
The Watts riots
The Watts riots of August 1965 set Karenga looking for ways to rebuild and unite Black Los Angeles; he founded an organisation of his own and, a year after the riots, created Kwanzaa.
Q 28What name was Kwanzaa's creator given at birth in 1941?
Ronald McKinley Everett
Ronald McKinley Everett became Maulana Karenga in the 1960s; the organisation he went on to lead had its members learn Swahili too.
Q 29How does Karenga translate his adopted title "Maulana"?
Master teacher
"Master teacher" is how Karenga renders Maulana, a title that comes from the Arabic for "our lord" and is more often given to Muslim scholars.
Q 30Kwanzaa is one letter away from the kwanza, the currency of which African country?
Angola
Angola's currency is the kwanza, a name usually traced to the country's Kwanza River, though it may share the holiday's Swahili root.