All of the world's flags, ranked by fussiness

From least fussy to most fussy, measured in Palaus

By Michael Lascarides

NOTE: For anyone that was here yesterday, I redrew the Palau scale to make the sorting a bit more sane and weighting for color changes. This is still not scientific at all and is presented for your amusement. If it still bugs you that Japan is ranked lower than Palau, please step away from the computer and take a walk outside. I hear it's lovely.

There are essentially two ways to draw things on a computer. One is bitmaps, the way your digital camera does it, by putting little dots on the screen. The bigger the picture, the more dots you need, and the bigger the filesize. But for a given quality, everything you take a picture of is more or less the same filesize.

However, there's another way of drawing, called vector graphics. This is the way logos, architectural drawings, and other "hard-edged", non-photographic images are made. In vectors, every line and flourish requires a bit of code. The more shapes, the more code. The advantage is that, for simple images, the filesize can remain small no matter how big the final output is. A properly-constructed vector image can be blown up to billboard size with no drop in quality.

Given that every mark in a vector image adds a bit to the file, the size of a vector file is a good indication of its complicatedness or fussiness. So when designers talk about a design being overly complicated, it's not a matter of taste, but actually something we can measure.

I've been thinking a lot about this in the context of the New Zealand flag debate, and the rivalry that has broken out between Kyle Lockwood's ferns and Aaron Dustin's "Red Peak". Full disclosure: I am totally on team #RedPeak for many many reasons besides filesize. But to scratch an itch, I've downloaded a set of Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) world flags (thanks to Sean Herron's Flag-Webicons Github repository), and I thought I'd spend an hour visualising the different world flags ranked by the filesize of their SVG representation, adding Lockwood's design from Wikimedia Commons.

This is unscientific as all heck but kinda fun. In order to display the difference between the contenders, I've invented a unit of vexillological fussiness called a Palau, after the simplest flag in our survey. Think of a Palau as a measure of the number of individual pencil moves needed to draw a flag. All other flags are presented as multiples of Palau (so 3 Palaus is 3 times more fussy than the simplest flag).

A few observations:

This actually matters. All those curves in that fern are hard to draw and hard to get right. If the fern is adopted as the new flag, be prepared to see it drawn wrong, over and over again. Contrast this with Dustin's instantly memorable instructions for drawing his flag.

Anyway, this insomnia project has rambled far enough. Here's hoping design sense prevails.

1 Palau

#1: PALAU 1 Palau
#2: JAPAN 1 Palau
#3: UKRAINE 1 Palau
#4: LATVIA 1 Palau
#5: NIGERIA 1 Palau
#6: PERU 1 Palau
#7: POLAND 1 Palau
#8: MONACO 1 Palau
#9: INDONESIA 1 Palau
#10: AUSTRIA 1 Palau
#11: BANGLADESH 1 Palau

2 Palaus

#12: BAHAMAS 2 Palaus
#13: BAHRAIN 2 Palaus
#14: FINLAND 2 Palaus
#15: SWEDEN 2 Palaus
#16: BELGIUM 2 Palaus
#17: SWITZERLAND 2 Palaus
#18: GREECE 2 Palaus
#19: YEMEN 2 Palaus
#20: NZ REDPEAK 2 Palaus
#21: NETHERLANDS 2 Palaus

3 Palaus

#22: BOLIVIA 3 Palaus
#23: THAILAND 3 Palaus
#24: BENIN 3 Palaus
#25: BULGARIA 3 Palaus
#26: PALESTINE 3 Palaus
#27: NIGER 3 Palaus
#28: GHANA 3 Palaus
#29: BOTSWANA 3 Palaus
#30: ITALY 3 Palaus
#31: IRELAND 3 Palaus
#32: ARMENIA 3 Palaus
#33: REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 3 Palaus
#34: ROMANIA 3 Palaus
#35: COLOMBIA 3 Palaus
#36: RUSSIA 3 Palaus
#37: COSTA RICA 3 Palaus
#38: COTE DIVOIRE 3 Palaus
#39: GERMANY 3 Palaus
#40: ICELAND 3 Palaus
#41: MALI 3 Palaus
#42: CZECH REPUBLIC 3 Palaus
#43: LAOS 3 Palaus
#44: DENMARK 3 Palaus
#45: HUNGARY 3 Palaus
#46: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 3 Palaus
#47: SIERRA LEONE 3 Palaus
#48: MADAGASCAR 3 Palaus
#49: GABON 3 Palaus
#50: LUXEMBOURG 3 Palaus
#51: TURKEY 3 Palaus
#52: KUWAIT 3 Palaus
#53: LITHUANIA 3 Palaus
#54: ESTONIA 3 Palaus
#55: GUINEA 3 Palaus
#56: FRANCE 3 Palaus
#57: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 3 Palaus
#58: CHAD 3 Palaus

4 Palaus

#59: TANZANIA 4 Palaus
#60: THE GAMBIA 4 Palaus
#61: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 4 Palaus
#62: MAURITIUS 4 Palaus
#63: SUDAN 4 Palaus
#64: NORWAY 4 Palaus
#65: SAINT LUCIA 4 Palaus
#66: TONGA 4 Palaus
#67: JAMAICA 4 Palaus

5 Palaus

#68: LIBYA 5 Palaus
#69: QATAR 5 Palaus
#70: PAKISTAN 5 Palaus
#71: SURINAME 5 Palaus
#72: MALDIVES 5 Palaus
#73: SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 5 Palaus

6 Palaus

#74: CUBA 6 Palaus
#75: MACEDONIA 6 Palaus
#76: TUNISIA 6 Palaus
#77: GUYANA 6 Palaus
#78: REPUBLIC OF CHINA 6 Palaus
#79: JORDAN 6 Palaus
#80: SEYCHELLES 6 Palaus

7 Palaus

#81: NAURU 7 Palaus
#82: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 7 Palaus
#83: DJIBOUTI 7 Palaus
#84: UNITED KINGDOM 7 Palaus
#85: MAURITANIA 7 Palaus
#86: VIETNAM 7 Palaus

8 Palaus

#87: PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA 8 Palaus
#88: BARBADOS 8 Palaus

9 Palaus

#89: AZERBAIJAN 9 Palaus
#90: CHILE 9 Palaus
#91: GUINEA BISSAU 9 Palaus
#92: MOROCCO 9 Palaus
#93: SOUTH SUDAN 9 Palaus

10 Palaus

#94: SAMOA 10 Palaus
#95: SOMALIA 10 Palaus
#96: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 10 Palaus
#97: SINGAPORE 10 Palaus
#98: NAMIBIA 10 Palaus
#99: COMOROS 11 Palaus
#100: BURKINA FASO 11 Palaus
#101: FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA 11 Palaus
#102: SOUTH AFRICA 12 Palaus
#103: CAMEROON 12 Palaus
#104: SENEGAL 12 Palaus
#105: LIBERIA 13 Palaus
#106: NORTH KOREA 13 Palaus
#107: TOGO 13 Palaus
#108: HONDURAS 13 Palaus
#109: SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 13 Palaus
#110: EAST TIMOR 13 Palaus
#111: GEORGIA 14 Palaus
#112: MARSHALL ISLANDS 14 Palaus
#113: SYRIA 14 Palaus
#114: MYANMAR 14 Palaus
#115: ETHIOPIA 16 Palaus
#116: CANADA 16 Palaus
#117: ISRAEL 17 Palaus
#118: CAPE VERDE 18 Palaus
#119: PANAMA 18 Palaus
#120: RWANDA 18 Palaus
#121: SOLOMON ISLANDS 19 Palaus
#122: UZBEKISTAN 19 Palaus
#123: ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 19 Palaus

20 Palaus

#124: ALGERIA 20 Palaus
#125: BURUNDI 22 Palaus
#126: MALAYSIA 22 Palaus
#127: MALAWI 23 Palaus
#128: SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 24 Palaus
#129: KENYA 24 Palaus
#130: GRENADA 24 Palaus
#131: VENEZUELA 24 Palaus
#132: SOUTH KOREA 27 Palaus
#133: INDIA 28 Palaus
#134: MONGOLIA 29 Palaus
#135: AUSTRALIA 29 Palaus

30 Palaus

#136: BELARUS 31 Palaus
#137: UNITED STATES 33 Palaus

40 Palaus

#138: TUVALU 40 Palaus
#139: SLOVENIA 41 Palaus
#140: TAJIKISTAN 45 Palaus
#141: ANGOLA 49 Palaus

50 Palaus

#142: PHILIPPINES 50 Palaus
#143: URUGUAY 56 Palaus
#144: MOZAMBIQUE 56 Palaus
#145: NEPAL 59 Palaus

60 Palaus

#146: IRAN 61 Palaus
#147: NEW ZEALAND 67 Palaus
#148: ARGENTINA 67 Palaus

70 Palaus

#149: VANUATU 75 Palaus
#150: ERITREA 76 Palaus
#151: BRAZIL 92 Palaus
#152: LESOTHO 97 Palaus

100 Palaus

#153: KIRIBATI 107 Palaus
#154: PAPUA NEW GUINEA 122 Palaus
#155: UGANDA 146 Palaus
#156: ZIMBABWE 158 Palaus
#157: IRAQ 162 Palaus
#158: SLOVAKIA 162 Palaus
#159: NZ LOCKWOOD 169 Palaus
#160: ALBANIA 184 Palaus
#161: EQUATORIAL GUINEA 189 Palaus
#162: CYPRUS 191 Palaus

200 Palaus

#163: LEBANON 263 Palaus
#164: SWAZILAND 282 Palaus
#165: ZAMBIA 288 Palaus
#166: SAUDI ARABIA 292 Palaus

300 Palaus

#167: KAZAKHSTAN 350 Palaus
#168: OMAN 393 Palaus
#169: MALTA 396 Palaus

400 Palaus

#170: MOLDOVA 452 Palaus

500 Palaus

#171: EGYPT 527 Palaus
#172: KYRGYZSTAN 652 Palaus
#173: BRUNEI 667 Palaus
#174: SRI LANKA 709 Palaus
#175: PORTUGAL 737 Palaus
#176: LIECHTENSTEIN 774 Palaus

1000 Palaus

#177: DOMINICA 1109 Palaus
#178: AFGHANISTAN 1339 Palaus
#179: ANDORRA 1441 Palaus
#180: PARAGUAY 1641 Palaus
#181: SPAIN 1667 Palaus
#182: BHUTAN 2017 Palaus
#183: MONTENEGRO 2768 Palaus
#184: SAN MARINO 2884 Palaus
#185: TURKMENISTAN 2911 Palaus
#186: CAMBODIA 3199 Palaus
#187: MEXICO 3836 Palaus
#188: HAITI 3896 Palaus
#189: FIJI 3935 Palaus
#190: VATICAN CITY 4268 Palaus

5000 Palaus

#191: CROATIA 6216 Palaus
#192: BELIZE 6727 Palaus
#193: NICARAGUA 7815 Palaus
#194: GUATEMALA 7870 Palaus
#195: EL SALVADOR 8449 Palaus

10000 Palaus

#196: ECUADOR 10734 Palaus
#197: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 15787 Palaus

30000 Palaus

#198: SERBIA 30015 Palaus