Countries with a Blue, White and Red Flag – Complete List

Among the 35 countries with a blue, white and red flag, only one has strictly vertical stripes: France, with its famous blue, white and red tricolor adopted in 1794.

12 countries have a blue, white and red flag with horizontal stripes, notably in Europe, Asia and the Americas:

12 countries have a blue, white and red flag featuring one or more stars, across all continents:

The Union Jack is the flag of the United Kingdom. It appears in the canton (top left corner) of two other blue, white and red flags: those of Australia and New Zealand, reflecting their historical ties to the British Crown.

It's the flag of Nepal! It is the only national flag in the world that is not rectangular. Its unique shape consists of two stacked triangular pennants, giving it a distinctive double-triangle silhouette. The crimson red symbolizes national courage, the blue border represents peace, and the white of the sun and moon embodies the permanence of the Nepalese nation.

7 European Union member countries have a blue, white and red flag:

6 Asian countries have a blue, white and red flag:

Some blue, white and red flags are often confused due to their strong similarities:

Netherlands and Luxembourg — both are horizontal tricolors in red, white and blue. The main difference: Luxembourg's blue is lighter (sky blue) than the Netherlands' darker blue.

Netherlands and Paraguay — both are horizontal tricolors in red, white and blue, in the same order from top to bottom. The difference: Paraguay features its national coat of arms in the center.

Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia — all three are horizontal tricolors in white, blue and red. They can be told apart by their coat of arms: Russia has none, while Slovakia features a double white cross and Slovenia displays mountains and stars on theirs.

Costa Rica and Thailand — both feature horizontal blue, white and red stripes. The main difference: Costa Rica has a wide red central stripe flanked by white and blue stripes, while Thailand has a wide blue central stripe flanked by white and red stripes.

Iceland and Norway — both feature a Nordic cross on a colored background, and their similarity is no coincidence: Iceland was under Norwegian rule for several centuries (from the 13th to the 14th century), then under Danish rule until 1944. When Iceland created its own flag in 1915, it drew inspiration from the Scandinavian tradition of Nordic cross flags — simply reversing the colors of the Norwegian flag: where Norway displays a blue cross bordered in white on a red background, Iceland shows a red cross bordered in white on a blue background.

Australia and New Zealand — both feature the Union Jack and stars on a blue background. The main difference: New Zealand has only 4 red stars bordered in white, while Australia has 6, including one large 7-pointed star.

The flag that most closely resembles the United States flag is that of Liberia. Both flags share the same horizontal red and white stripes, and a blue canton featuring a white star. The main difference: the American flag has 13 stripes and 50 stars, while Liberia's has only 11 stripes and 1 star. This is no coincidence — Liberia was founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves, and its flag was directly inspired by that of the United States.

The flag that most closely resembles the French flag is that of Italy. Both flags are vertical tricolors made up of three equal stripes — the difference: Italy replaces the French blue with green, resulting in a green, white and red flag.

This resemblance is no coincidence: it was Napoleon Bonaparte who, during his Italian campaign in 1796, drew inspiration from the French tricolor to create the flag of the Cisalpine Republic — one of the Italian states he had just founded. Green was chosen because it was the color of the Milanese Civic Guard uniforms. This flag later became the model for the Italian flag at the time of the country's unification in 1861.