Red and Blue Flags

Which countries have red and blue flags?

Red and blue appear together on many flags, so the list is long. The easiest way to sort it is by design family.

• Vertical and horizontal tricolors: France, the Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Thailand and others. Many follow the French and Dutch tricolors.
• Union Jack flags: the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Bermuda, the Falkland Islands, Cayman Islands and other territories.
• Stars and stripes: the United States, Liberia, Malaysia, Cuba, Chile, Puerto Rico and Panama.
• Nordic crosses: Norway (red with a blue-edged white cross), Iceland (blue with a white-edged red cross), and the Faroe Islands.
• Latin America and the Caribbean: Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Haiti, Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
• Asia: North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Nepal and Thailand.
• Africa: Cape Verde, Liberia, Gambia and others.

The four flags that use only red and blue are Guam (a blue field with a red border), Liechtenstein (blue and red bands with a gold crown), Taiwan (red with a blue canton and white sun) and Samoa (red with a blue canton and five white stars).

Why are red and blue so common on flags?

Three historical patterns explain most of the list.

Republican tricolors. The French Revolution made red, white and blue a symbol of liberty, and the Dutch tricolor came earlier. Both inspired many national flags.

Pan-Slavic colors. Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic use red, white and blue as the Pan-Slavic palette, which goes back to the Russian flag.

British heritage. The Union Jack carries red and blue, and countries and territories such as Australia and New Zealand include it, along with blue and red ensigns.

Elsewhere the colors have local meanings. In Samoa, red stands for courage and blue for freedom, and the Southern Cross reflects the Pacific location. In Latin America, many flags borrow the colors of the independence movement.