Flags of Southern Africa
Recognise the 14 national flags of Southern Africa by their colours and design, one family at a time.
14 cards · Geography
Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the chapter a few at a time.
Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 27 Oct 2026
Sources: Gallery of sovereign state flags (Wikipedia), flag-icons by Lipis, MIT licence (the pictures)
Preview
Red over black, a half gear wheel and a machete
Show answerHide answer: Red over black, a half gear wheel and a machete
Angola
Learn more: The gear and machete stand for factory and farm workers, under a star like the Soviet one.
Light blue, with a black band edged in white
Show answerHide answer: Light blue, with a black band edged in white
Botswana
Learn more: Blue stands for water and rain, precious in a country that is mostly the Kalahari Desert.
Blue, yellow and red bands, with a shield
Show answerHide answer: Blue, yellow and red bands, with a shield
Eswatini
Learn more: Known as Swaziland until 2018. The shield's black and white stand for black and white people living together.
Blue, white and green bands, with a black hat
Show answerHide answer: Blue, white and green bands, with a black hat
Lesotho
Learn more: The hat is a mokorotlo, the Basotho straw hat. The country lies wholly inside South Africa.
Black, red and green bands, with a red rising sun
Show answerHide answer: Black, red and green bands, with a red rising sun
Malawi
Learn more: The rising sun stands for the dawn of hope and freedom across Africa.
About this topic
This chapter of Flags of the World covers the national flags of Southern Africa. Each card shows a flag and asks which country flies it, with a hint and a short story of where its colours and shapes come from.
The flags of the south tell of long struggles for freedom: a rifle, a machete, a rising sun. South Africa's Y shape of 1994 shows a country coming together, and the Indian Ocean islands fly bright bands and stars.
Learn the family first, then the one detail that sets each flag apart: the order of the colours, a shade of blue, a cross, a star or an emblem. Once you know most of this chapter's flags, the next chapter of the Book starts arriving in your Daily Zap.
All 14 cards
Red over black, a half gear wheel and a machete
Angola
Learn more: The gear and machete stand for factory and farm workers, under a star like the Soviet one.
Light blue, with a black band edged in white
Botswana
Learn more: Blue stands for water and rain, precious in a country that is mostly the Kalahari Desert.
Blue, yellow and red bands, with a shield
Eswatini
Learn more: Known as Swaziland until 2018. The shield's black and white stand for black and white people living together.
Blue, white and green bands, with a black hat
Lesotho
Learn more: The hat is a mokorotlo, the Basotho straw hat. The country lies wholly inside South Africa.
Black, red and green bands, with a red rising sun
Malawi
Learn more: The rising sun stands for the dawn of hope and freedom across Africa.
Green, black and yellow bands, a rifle, hoe and book
Mozambique
Learn more: The only national flag with a modern rifle, an AK-47, crossed with a hoe over an open book.
Blue and green, a red diagonal and a gold sun
Namibia
Learn more: Adopted at independence from South Africa in 1990. Its golden sun has twelve rays.
A green Y shape, with red, blue, black and gold
South Africa
Learn more: Adopted in 1994, the year of the first free elections. The Y shows different peoples coming together.
Green, with red, black and orange bars and an eagle
Zambia
Learn more: Orange stands for copper, long its main export. The eagle in flight stands for freedom.
Green, gold, red and black stripes, a bird on a triangle
Zimbabwe
Learn more: The bird is a soapstone carving found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the stone city that named the country.
Four bands, a green triangle with a crescent and stars
Comoros
Learn more: Four stars and four bands for four islands, though one of them, Mayotte, is still ruled by France.
White bar at the pole, red over green
Madagascar
Learn more: The world's fourth-largest island. Red and white were the colours of its old Merina kingdom.
Red, blue, yellow and green horizontal bands
Mauritius
Learn more: Red for the struggle for freedom, blue for the Indian Ocean, yellow for light and green for its farms.
Five coloured rays fanning out from the bottom corner
Seychelles
Learn more: Blue, yellow, red, white and green spread like a fan: a young nation moving into the future.
Image credits
- Red over black, a half gear wheel and a machete: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Red over black, a half gear wheel and a machete
- Light blue, with a black band edged in white: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Light blue, with a black band edged in white
- Blue, yellow and red bands, with a shield: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Blue, yellow and red bands, with a shield
- Blue, white and green bands, with a black hat: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Blue, white and green bands, with a black hat
- Black, red and green bands, with a red rising sun: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Black, red and green bands, with a red rising sun
- Green, black and yellow bands, a rifle, hoe and book: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Green, black and yellow bands, a rifle, hoe and book
- Blue and green, a red diagonal and a gold sun: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Blue and green, a red diagonal and a gold sun
- A green Y shape, with red, blue, black and gold: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: A green Y shape, with red, blue, black and gold
- Green, with red, black and orange bars and an eagle: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Green, with red, black and orange bars and an eagle
- Green, gold, red and black stripes, a bird on a triangle: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Green, gold, red and black stripes, a bird on a triangle
- Four bands, a green triangle with a crescent and stars: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Four bands, a green triangle with a crescent and stars
- White bar at the pole, red over green: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: White bar at the pole, red over green
- Red, blue, yellow and green horizontal bands: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Red, blue, yellow and green horizontal bands
- Five coloured rays fanning out from the bottom corner: flag-icons by Lipis, MIT, MIT Source: Five coloured rays fanning out from the bottom corner
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