Can you name the country by the religious symbols shown on their national flags?

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Religious Imagery on Flags Quiz

by puckett86

Created Feb 12, 2012 in Religion
Featured Nov 25, 2012
Game Plays 26,967

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	najacob:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 04:16 GMT		11 points
	Wow. I totally thought Japan's flag was just a random big red dot.

	Zak6009:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 04:21 GMT		29 points
	Kinda ironic that of all flags with the star and crescent you chose Turkey to use. I would say ANY other flag with it probably would have been a better choice. Why? Because Turkey is the only flag where it's not a 'religious symbol'. If my understanding is correct, modern day Turkey is what's left of the Ottoman empire's land, and it is specifically meant to be a secular country, not a Muslim country (hence why it is a popular vacation spot for Israelis). And the symbol actually originally belonged to the Ottoman empire, before Islam took it, and it got on flags like Pakistan, Libya, Algeria, etc. Turkey had it from before it was a religious symbol.

	Zak6009:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 04:26 GMT		3 points
	But I guess I can kinda see Turkey being the initial choice coming to mind since it's a 'basic' flag with it on a solid background and guessable. Pakistan could fit that bill too though and would be a better choice anyway.

	emussoni:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 05:13 GMT		6 points
	Actually, if I understand it, all the other countries borrowed the Star and Crescent from the Ottoman Empire and the Ottomans took it from the Byzantines.

	devo31:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 05:47 GMT		20 points
	how did I not even try Vatican City ..

	BamaRainbow:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 06:14 GMT		10 points
	@zak6009: Turkey is what's left of the Ottoman Empire but the Ottoman Empire was a Muslim nation. In fact, for much of its existence, it claimed to be the Caliphate and the Ottomans were deemed to be the protectors of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. But, the fact remains that the star and crescent have become identified with Islam since at least the Ottoman era.

	Zak6009:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 07:40 GMT		2 points
	BamaRainbow, Ottoman may have been a Muslim nation, but still it was a symbol of the empire and its nation, not of their religion. Either way, even if the star/crescent are associated with Islam, the fact remains that Turkey today, despite having that symbol in the flag, is officially a SECULAR country, and not a Muslim country like most of the other 5-7 flags with that symbol. So it's just odd to use that one in this quiz, of all possible flags with it, to represent it as a religious symbol.

	climber_v12:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 11:09 GMT		8 points
	"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Did Lebanon use a cedar tree on their flag just because of that verse?

	BigSwitz98:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 12:19 GMT		2 points
	^^^ Not only because of that, but it was in large part of it. Also, the cedar is a symbol of the Maronite Catholic people of the country.

	indiekid:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 13:11 GMT		5 points
	The olive branches on the Cypriot flag are meant to symbolize peace between the island's Greek and Turkish communities, I don't see how this is religious.

	WJB1:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 13:36 GMT		6 points
	@indiekid: It's probably got something to do with the story of Noah, specifically Genesis 8:11, with the olive branch symbolising God's peace with humanity, and by extension, peace in general.

	partypirate:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 13:42 GMT		1 point
	Mauritania comes to mind

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	Q_Pheevr:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 15:17 GMT		14 points
	The flags on the coat of arms on the Dominican Republic's flag are very nearly the flag of the Dominican Republic—they just lack the coat of arms in the middle. I can't understand why any country would come that close to having an infinitely recursive flag and not go all the way.

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	johnspartan4187:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 17:52 GMT		2 points
	I always thought that Indian wheel was orange, had to google it to make sure it was blue!

	Colmar:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 19:11 GMT		3 points
	I don't think Cyprus' flag should be included. The olive branch may symbolize peace /because/ of religion, but it is not a religious symbol or contains any religious themes. I'm pretty sure when making the flag, they even avoided the use of Christian/Muslim symbols; so as to remain neutral to both sides of Cyprus.

	samcash13593:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 20:52 GMT		2 points
	It never occurred to me that the keys on the Vatican flag were the keys to heaven. How do they know what they even look like?

	mewmdude77:	Nov 25th, 2012 at 23:14 GMT		2 points
	There's a lot of countries with religious symbols on their flags! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_national_symbols

	deskwarrior332:	Nov 26th, 2012 at 01:05 GMT		4 points
	I always guess Kyrgyzstan just 'cause.

	Yunel:	Nov 26th, 2012 at 01:28 GMT		8 points
	I like that the Dominican Republic's is the least-guessed one even though it has "Republica Dominicana" on it.

	bizzlebiz13:	Nov 26th, 2012 at 04:51 GMT		9 points
	I might be the only one who thinks this, but the middle of the Dominican Republic's kinda looks like the head of a fox. There is a "nose", two blues "eyes", and "ears" that are in the upper blue and red sections. It may sound crazy, but every time I look at it, I see a fox.

	Colmar:	Nov 26th, 2012 at 07:29 GMT		5 points
	@bizzlebiz13: This cannot be unseen.

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	rrafay:	Nov 26th, 2012 at 16:25 GMT		5 points
	@rastafari_seth Sorry buddy, but that the Khanda (Sikh) and the Iranian symbol are very different, and I am sure Persians and Sikhs are both offended by that. It reminds of how foreign tourists think they see the Nazi Swastika all around India. @Zak6009 What exactly are you up in arms about? Many countries included in this list are secular. The symbol is ISLAMIC...end of story. Slovenia, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Cyprus, Mongolia, Japan...are ALL SECULAR. Turkish people are Muslim, that flag is Muslim-based.

	Haythem19:	Jan 8th, 2013 at 15:12 GMT		2 points
	The Turks adopted the star and crescent symbol from the Byzantines, so emussoni is correct here. It was the symbol of Constantinople before the Turkish invasion and goes all the way back to ancient times when Artemis, the moon goddess, was commonly worshiped in Anatolia. The ruins of the massive Temple of Artemis near Selçuk, Turkey along with lack of lunar imagery in Islam before 1453 support this theory.