Flags with red and white
103 of the 196 national flags here contain red and white; 17 use only those colours.
Only red and white (17)
With red and white and other colours too (86)
What the list shows
103 of the 196 national flags here contain red and white; 17 use only those colours. That is 53% of the flags in this list. The list is the 196 states the United Nations recognises as members or observers, plus Kosovo; territories are left out because most of them share their parent's flag.
By continent: Asia 31 of 47, Europe 24 of 46, Africa 22 of 54, North America 12 of 22, Oceania 8 of 14, South America 6 of 13. Asia has the most (31), and Asia has the highest share (66% of its flags).
Colours and layout
Other colours that turn up alongside them: blue on 49, green on 42, yellow on 27, black on 26. For comparison, red is on 77% of all 196 flags and white on 69%.
Layout: 38 of these 103 are built from stripes (31 horizontal, 7 vertical) and 65 are not. Across all 196 flags the stripe share is 42%.
Exactly these colours
Exactly these colours and no others: 17 — Austria, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Georgia, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Monaco and 7 more. The other 86 add at least one more colour, often in a small emblem or a canton.
Capitals of the first few, to place them: Algeria (Algiers), Antigua and Barbuda (St. John's), Australia (Canberra), Austria (Vienna), Azerbaijan (Baku), and so on down the list. The shortest names here are Cuba, Fiji and Iran.
How the labels were made: colours are measured from the flag image (a colour counts if it covers at least 0.6% of the flag, edges excluded, so a small emblem can add a colour), and symbols were labelled by hand. A flag with a detailed coat of arms can legitimately appear under several symbols. If a flag looks mislabelled, the corrections link on the about page is the way to say so.
How the flags are labelled. Images are from the open-source flag-icons set (MIT). Colours are measured from each image; symbols are labelled by hand. Names follow the source lists and do not imply any judgment on the status of any territory. Sources and limits.
What the list contains
This page lists every flag in which red and white are both present in a measurable amount. It is not limited to flags that are only red and white: 103 flags qualify, and 17 of them use no other colour. The rest add a third, such as blue, green or black, in a band, a crest or a corner. Both lists are shown, with the two-colour flags first, so you can see the cleanest matches at the top.
The two-colour group
The 17 flags that use only red and white fall into three layouts. Horizontal bands: Austria, Indonesia, Latvia, Monaco, Poland, Singapore. Vertical bands: Bahrain, Canada, Peru. No bands, with a symbol or cross on a plain field: Denmark, Georgia, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, Tonga, Tunisia, Türkiye. Several of the horizontal ones look very alike at a glance, and the order of the colours is what separates them, so read it from the top down. The flags with the same two colours and the same layout are the ones the similar flags page ranks, so it is worth a visit when you are down to two.
Red and white with a third colour
42 of the flags in the longer list have exactly three colours. Many of those are red, white and blue; others combine red and white with green, and a few add black. Since the third colour is often a small element, ticking it in the finder is a fast way to cut this group down. If you are not sure whether a flag has a third colour at all, start with the two-colour group above and widen.
Crosses are worth a separate note: 16 flags in this list include a cross of some kind, Australia, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Georgia, Iceland, Malta and 8 more. A cross can be a full-width Nordic design, a small badge or a cross inside a coat of arms.
Why red and white are so often paired
Red is the most common colour in this data (151 flags) and white is second (135), so the pair turns up often by chance as well as by history. Explanations for the choice vary from country to country and are frequently offered for blood, courage, peace or purity, but each country's own government or constitution gives the official reading. Two countries with the same colours may mean quite different things by them.
How to use this list
Scan the first group for your flag. If you are sure about the layout, open the finder with red and white ticked and add horizontal or vertical stripes. If the flag has an emblem, add the relevant symbol. If you can recall the continent, select it: of the 103 flags here, Asia and Europe contribute the most.
Questions
Why is a flag with a red and white crest listed? Because both colours are measured in the image, even if the field looks different. Are flags with pink or maroon included? Shades are grouped into the nearest of eight colours. Why does the count differ from other sites? Each list uses a different set of flags and a different rule for when a colour counts.