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This state flag trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers all the flags worth knowing something about: Ohio's swallowtail, the orphan who drew Alaska's stars, why Hawaii flies the Union Jack, the last grizzly on California's flag, Maryland's medieval banner, New Mexico's Zia sun, the pelican tearing its breast on Louisiana's, and the redesigns of the 2020s in Mississippi, Utah and Minnesota. It also gets into the vexillologists' verdicts: which flag was voted the best design in North America, which was worst, and why so many states fly a 'seal on a bedsheet'. The early questions suit a classroom geography unit or a family road-trip game; the later ones ask about eagles, torches, crossing rifles and Helvetica Bold. Play it before a Flag Day or Fourth of July gathering, or as a round in a US geography quiz. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and state flag statutes, and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which is the only US state flag that is not rectangular?
Ohio
The swallowtail 'burgee' was designed by John Eisenmann in 1901; its 17 stars mark Ohio as the 17th state and the disc suggests the letter O.
Q 02Which state's flag was designed by a 13-year-old orphan, Benny Benson, in a 1927 territorial contest?
Alaska
His eight gold stars show the Big Dipper and Polaris on a blue field; it beat roughly 700 other entries.
Q 03Which state flag features the Union Jack of the United Kingdom in its canton?
Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was never a British possession; the flag reflects King Kamehameha I's friendship with the Royal Navy, and its eight stripes are the eight main islands.
Q 04Which mainland state's flag once served as the national flag of an independent country?
Texas
The Lone Star Flag flew over the Republic of Texas; its designer is not known for certain.
Q 05The bear on the Bear Flag is said to be modelled on Monarch, who was what?
The last of the state's grizzlies held in captivity
Monarch was captured in 1889 by a reporter for William Randolph Hearst; California grizzlies are now extinct.
Q 06Maryland's distinctive black-and-gold, red-and-white flag is the heraldic banner of which family?
The Calverts, Barons Baltimore
It quarters the arms of the 1st Baron Baltimore with those of his grandmother's Crossland family, and was adopted in 1904.
Q 07The red sun on a yellow field, adopted as a state flag in 1925, comes from which Native American people?
The Zia
The red and yellow are the colours of old Spain; the flag was adopted in 1925.
Q 08Which flag topped a 2001 North American Vexillological Association survey of 72 state, territorial and provincial flags?
New Mexico
Texas came second and Alaska fifth; Georgia's then-flag came dead last.
Q 09The orange-coloured star at the centre of Arizona's flag represents what?
The state's copper production
The 13 red and gold rays above it stand for the original colonies and the colours of Spain.
Q 10The gold disc inside the red C on Colorado's flag represents what?
The state's abundant sunshine
The blue is the sky, the white the snow-capped Rockies and the red the ruddy earth; it was adopted in 1911.
Q 11The palmetto tree on South Carolina's flag honours the tree's role in what?
Absorbing British cannon fire at Fort Moultrie
Palmetto logs laid over sand walls let the fort survive the 1776 attack; the crescent came from militia cap badges.
Q 12Which state adopted a brand-new flag in January 2021, featuring a magnolia blossom and 21 stars?
Mississippi
It replaced the 1894 flag that had carried the Confederate battle flag in its canton.
Q 13On the magnolia flag adopted in 2021, what does the single gold star at the top represent?
The state's Native American tribes
Q 21Rhode Island's flag shows a gold anchor and 13 stars above which one-word motto?
Hope
The 13 stars mark the original colonies and Rhode Island's place as the 13th state to ratify the Constitution.
Q 22Which state's flag was ranked worst of 72 in a vexillology survey for violating 'all the principles of good design'?
Georgia
Georgia scrapped that flag in 2003; Nebraska's came second-worst.
Q 23Which state's flag, rated second-worst of 72 in a 2001 vexillology survey, was only designated a flag in 1963?
Nebraska
Adopted as a banner in 1925, it was not designated the official state flag until 1963.
The other 20 white stars mark Mississippi as the 20th state.
Q 14The Peach State's flag adopted in 2003 is based on which historic banner?
The Confederacy's first national one
The 'Stars and Bars' design left Georgia's as one of the few state flags still referencing the Confederacy after Mississippi changed in 2020.
Q 15Which state's 2024 flag features a gold beehive above a white star inside a blue hexagon?
Utah
The 1913 flag was kept as a co-official 'Historic State Flag' and still flies year-round at the Capitol.
Q 16Which state adopted a new state flag that took effect in May 2024?
Minnesota
Its dark blue shape echoes the state outline and carries an eight-pointed North Star; the old seal-based flag was criticised for its imagery.
Q 17Which state's flag has a white silhouette of an American bison bearing the state seal on its side?
Wyoming
The blue field is bordered in white and red; it was adopted in 1917.
Q 18Which is the only US state flag with a different design on each side?
Oregon
The front shows the state escutcheon and the reverse a gold beaver, the state animal.
Q 19Which is the only US state flag with a green field?
Washington
It is also the only one bearing the likeness of a US president, whose portrait forms the seal.
Q 20The stars on Tennessee's flag represent what?
The state's Grand Divisions
East, Middle and West Tennessee are legally distinct regions; the blue circle around the stars stands for their unity.
Q 24Oklahoma's flag shows a war shield of which Native American nation?
Osage
The shield carries six crosses and seven eagle feathers on a sky-blue field.
Q 25Indiana's flag shows a gold torch surrounded by how many stars, marking its order of admission?
19
Thirteen stars form the outer circle for the original colonies; designed by Paul Hadley in 1917.
Q 26Louisiana's flag shows a pelican doing what?
Tearing its breast to feed its young
The heraldic term is 'vulning'; the motto beneath reads Union, Justice, Confidence.
Q 27Which two state flags consist of a red diagonal cross (saltire) on a white field?
Alabama and Florida
Alabama's is a plain crimson St Andrew's cross from 1895; Florida's adds the state seal in the centre.
Q 28Arkansas's flag shows a large white lozenge. What shape is it, and how many small white stars border it?
A diamond, with 25
The 25 stars mark it as the 25th state, and four larger blue stars sit inside the diamond.
Q 29The wreath on Nevada's flag is made of which plant, the state flower?
Sagebrush
The silver star inside it refers to the Silver State nickname; the flag dates from 1929.
Q 30Kansas's flag pairs the state seal with which flower?
Sunflower
The state's name was added at the bottom in 1961.