Orange and Red Flags

Which countries have orange and red flags?

• Sri Lanka (Asia): a maroon panel with a gold lion holding a sword, next to green and orange vertical stripes, all inside a yellow border.
• Zambia (Africa): a green field with an orange eagle and, at the fly, three vertical stripes of red, black and orange.
• Andorra (Europe): blue, yellow and red vertical stripes with a coat of arms in the center. The crest has red and gold details, which our color data counts as orange.

All three are easy to separate. Sri Lanka has the lion, Zambia has the eagle over green, and Andorra has a crest between blue and red stripes.

Orange is a rare flag color. On many flags it is hard to tell from red or yellow, so this list follows how our color data classifies each flag.

What do orange and red mean on these flags?

Sri Lanka's lion flag descends from the banner of the Kandyan kingdom. The orange stripe stands for the Tamil community, the green stripe for the Muslim community, and the maroon field and lion for the Sinhalese majority. The four bo leaves in the corners are Buddhist symbols, and the golden border stands for the country's other minorities. The flag was adopted in 1948 and redesigned in 1972.

On Zambia's flag, green stands for the country's natural resources, red for the struggle for freedom, black for the people and orange for copper and other mineral wealth. The eagle symbolizes the nation's ability to rise above its problems.

Andorra's tricolor is related to the flags of France, Catalonia and Foix, and the crest brings together emblems tied to the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix, who historically shared rule of the valleys. For a different pairing, see the orange and green flags.