Flags of the world come in all colors and designs. One flag type is the quartered flag: one that is divided into four equal blocks of color. The last flag on our list is the one that comes closest – but not quite – to being a flag with only four simple blocks. For our list, we’ve taken some liberties and included flags with dividing stripes and other design elements but still have four identifiable blank or nearly blank sub-fields. For each, we’ll tell you a little about the symbolism of the flag and the history and culture of the people who call it their own. So here we go, these are the countries with quartered flags.
Burundi
Burundi is a landlocked East African country wedged between Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was colonized in the 19th century by Germany and then by Belgium before winning independence in 1962. Like its neighbor Rwanda, Burundi has been troubled by violent conflict between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnicities that has spilled over into civil war from 1993 to 2006.
Flags such as Burundi’s with a diagonal cross are called “saltires.” The white color symbolizes peace. The three stars in the center are the country’s three ethnic groups: the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The four approximate quarters of the background field are red to memorialize the sacrifices and loss of life in the country, and green to symbolize hope for future progress. Thus, Burundi’s flag invites its people to remember the past, have hope for the future, and move forward together in peace.
©Tatohra/Shutterstock.com
Dominica
Dominica is a tropical Caribbean island nation that, like many of its neighbors, is a popular tourist destination attracting visitors from around the world. Dominica was a British colony but attained independence in 1978. As one of the countries with quartered flags, Dominica has chosen to emphasize green as the dominant color, representing the island’s abundant tropical vegetation. Yellow, black, and white stripes arranged in a cross pattern separate these fields. Those colors represent the sun, the African heritage of the Dominican people, and the island’s purity of heart. In the center is a depiction of the sisserou parrot, a critically endangered species found only in Dominica. As depicted on the flag, the sisserou parrot’s feathers are hues of green and purple. The use of purple depicting their treasured national bird makes Dominica one of the very few nations in the world to use purple in its flag.
©mapsandphotos/Shutterstock.com
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is one of two countries on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, the other being Haiti, located on the western 1/3 of the island. Christopher Columbus visited the island in 1492 during his first visit to the Americas. Tragically, the colonizers subsequently enslaved the indigenous TaÃno people, who were decimated by disease and violent abuse. After hundreds of years, in 1821 the Dominican Republic achieved independence from Spain.
The flag of the Dominican Republic is divided into four quarters by a white cross with the national coat of arms in the center. The cross symbolizes the country’s Christian heritage and unity between the Spanish and TaÃno peoples. The blue quarters represent liberty, and the red quarters represent the blood shed for the country’s freedom.
©N. Vector Design/Shutterstock.com
Georgia
Georgia is a country on the Black Sea in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. It borders Russia to the north and Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey to the south. Georgia was mentioned in Greek mythology as the origin of the magical Golden Fleece. It also figured in Christian tradition, allegedly having been visited by the apostles Simon and Andrew in the first century. Georgia was a thriving kingdom in the Middle Ages, but constantly had to fight off the predations of more powerful neighbors, such as the Mongols and Persians. Imperial Russia took control of Georgia in the 18th century, and it remained under Russian control until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Georgia’s flag features a red cross separating four identical white fields, each with its own red cross at its center. White represents purity and red stands for blood shed: the blood of Christ and the blood of the martyrs who died for Georgian freedom.
©iStock.com/Alexandra Bykova
Grenada
Grenada is a Caribbean Island nation that was a colony of Great Britain until gaining independence in 1974. As one of the countries with quartered flags, its national standard is divided into triangular quarters, in this case, yellow and green. The yellow hue recalls the bright Caribbean sun and the friendliness of the people of Grenada. Green represents the country’s agriculture, including its chief export – nutmeg – which is depicted in the hoist side green triangle. A yellow star in a red disc occupies the center, and the whole flag has a red border with three yellow stars at the top and three at the bottom. Red is symbolic of harmony, unity, and courage, and the seven stars stand for the seven parishes of the island.
©MATULEE/Shutterstock.com
Jamaica
Like most of the countries we’ve looked at so far, Jamaica is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. After centuries of British rule, it became independent in 1962. The saltire (diagonal cross) design of the flag is borrowed from the British Union Jack, but the colors are distinctively Jamaican. Yellow represents the sun in a place that is almost always sunny; green is a salute to the beautiful green land of Jamaica; and black honors the strong African Caribbean people who are building their nation.
©iStock.com/kckate16
Panama
Located in Central America, Panama is a crossroads connecting North and South America and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Indigenous people groups lived there for thousands of years before the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 16th century, led by the conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa. For centuries the natural resources of the region, including gold, helped Spain finance its empire. Panama attained independence in 1819 as part of Colombia but separated from that country in 1903 with the help of the United States, which wanted favorable terms for building a canal across the country. Opened in 1914, the Panama Canal greatly reduced the cost of shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Usage fees for the canal remain a major income source for Panama today.
Of all the countries with quartered flags, Panama’s perhaps comes closest to being what we would consider a true quartered flag. It is divided into four simple quadrants of red, white, and blue without any borders or dividing lines. The two white quadrants each have a five-pointed star, one of red and one of blue. The colors follow those of the United States but are interpreted with a different symbolic meaning in Panama. White represents peace; blue represents the conservative party; and red represents the liberal party. Thus, the flag as a whole embodies the hope that people from opposite sides of the political spectrum will still be able to live together in peace in a free and prosperous country.
©Osman Bugra Nuvasil/Shutterstock.com
Up Next:
- Every Flag In The World: Photos, History, and More
- 22 Different Flags with Circles or Spheres
- The 10 Countries with Stars on Their Flags, and Their Meaning
- Countries with Striped Flags
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