Purple is a symbol of many good qualities, including power, independence, monarchy, nobility, riches, devotion, tranquilly, and pride. For this reason, it is not surprising to see it included in the designs of most national flags.
That, however, is not the situation. Indeed, only two of the world’s 195 national flags—both of them in the Middle East—use the colour purple. There are several, but some of them are:
Dominica Flag

The Republic of Dominica’s current flag was officially approved in 1978. The current design is the product of tweaks made in 1981, 1988, and 1990.
A green field on the flag represents the country’s lush greenery. The green field is divided into quadrants by a white, black, and yellow cross.
The white depicts the clean water that flows across the nation, while the black and yellow reflect the rich soil and the people who first lived there. However, the prominent cross is a symbol of the Christian trinity.
The cross also has a crimson disc upon which a sisserou parrot sits, with 10 stars, each with five tails, surrounding the bird.
The red disc represents fairness, while the surrounding 10 stars symbolise the ten parishes in the country. The native parrot species of Dominica’s island are represented by the parrot. The parrot’s crest and underbelly are painted purple, making this flag unusual in its use of that hue.
Nicaragua Flag

Nicaragua’s flag is distinguished by its three horizontal stripes, which include the country’s coat of arms. However, the coat of arms depicts a scene with five volcanoes, a rainbow, the sun’s rays, another rainbow, a triangle, and a cap.
It is said that the five volcanoes in Central America symbolise the unity of the region’s five independent countries. The rainbow represents hope and harmony, while the triangle represents equality. The flag is one of a kind since the rainbow includes a purple segment.
The hat stands for national liberty, while the sun’s rays symbolise hope for the future. The coat of arms reads, “Republica De Nicaragua – America Central,” which translates to “Republic of Nicaragua – Central America” in English.
The Nicaragua flag has several different colours, including:
Blue featured on the horizontal bands at the bottom and top of the flag
White appearing between the two blue bands
Gold utilized in the text in the court of arms
Red used in the cap of liberty
Green and yellow are applied in the mountains
Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue purple featured in the rainbow
Why Are Purple Flags Not Common in The World?
Most likely, the lack of purple flags is due to a lack of purple dye in the 19th century.
Some legends attribute the Mediterranean’s distinctive purple to a kind of sea snail that is found nowhere else in the world.
Due to the snails’ slow metabolisms, it may take up to 10,000 of them to create just one gramme of dye, making the whole process very laborious and time-consuming. Unfortunately for many nations, the dye proved expensive to acquire.
Also See: Countries with Stars on Their Flags 2022
Some nations may avoid using the colour purple on their flags because of the stigma attached to them. In Italy, the colour purple is traditionally worn by mourners. As a result, even when William Henry Perkin created the shade, it was rejected by several countries.
Country | 2022 Population |
---|---|
China | 1425887.3370 |
India | 1417173.1730 |
United States | 338289.8570 |
Indonesia | 275501.3390 |
Pakistan | 235824.8620 |
Nigeria | 218541.2120 |
Brazil | 215313.4980 |
Bangladesh | 171186.3720 |
Russia | 144713.3140 |
Mexico | 127504.1250 |
Japan | 123951.6920 |
Ethiopia | 123379.9240 |
Philippines | 115559.0090 |
Egypt | 110990.1030 |
DR Congo | 99010.2120 |
Vietnam | 98186.8560 |
Iran | 88550.5700 |
Turkey | 85341.2410 |
Germany | 83369.8430 |
Thailand | 71697.0300 |
United Kingdom | 67508.9360 |
Tanzania | 65497.7480 |
France | 64626.6280 |
South Africa | 59893.8850 |
Italy | 59037.4740 |
Myanmar | 54179.3060 |
Kenya | 54027.4870 |
Colombia | 51874.0240 |
South Korea | 51815.8100 |
Spain | 47558.6300 |
Uganda | 47249.5850 |
Sudan | 46874.2040 |
Argentina | 45510.3180 |
Algeria | 44903.2250 |
Iraq | 44496.1220 |
Afghanistan | 41128.7710 |
Poland | 39857.1450 |
Ukraine | 39701.7390 |
Canada | 38454.3270 |
Morocco | 37457.9710 |
Saudi Arabia | 36408.8200 |
Angola | 35588.9870 |
Uzbekistan | 34627.6520 |
Peru | 34049.5880 |
Malaysia | 33938.2210 |
Yemen | 33696.6140 |
Ghana | 33475.8700 |
Mozambique | 32969.5180 |
Nepal | 30547.5800 |
Madagascar | 29611.7140 |
Venezuela | 28301.6960 |
Ivory Coast | 28160.5420 |
Cameroon | 27914.5360 |
Niger | 26207.9770 |
Australia | 26177.4130 |
North Korea | 26069.4160 |
Taiwan | 23893.3940 |
Burkina Faso | 22673.7620 |
Mali | 22593.5900 |
Syria | 22125.2490 |
Sri Lanka | 21832.1430 |
Malawi | 20405.3170 |
Zambia | 20017.6750 |
Romania | 19659.2670 |
Chile | 19603.7330 |
Kazakhstan | 19397.9980 |
Ecuador | 18001 |
Guatemala | 17843.9080 |
Chad | 17723.3150 |
Somalia | 17597.5110 |
Netherlands | 17564.0140 |
Senegal | 17316.4490 |
Cambodia | 16767.8420 |
Zimbabwe | 16320.5370 |
Guinea | 13859.3410 |
Rwanda | 13776.6980 |
Benin | 13352.8640 |
Burundi | 12889.5760 |
Tunisia | 12356.1170 |
Bolivia | 12224.1100 |
Belgium | 11655.9300 |
Haiti | 11584.9960 |
Jordan | 11285.8690 |
Dominican Republic | 11228.8210 |
Cuba | 11212.1910 |
South Sudan | 10913.1640 |
Sweden | 10549.3470 |
Czech Republic | 10493.9860 |
Honduras | 10432.8600 |
Greece | 10384.9710 |
Azerbaijan | 10358.0740 |
Portugal | 10270.8650 |
Papua New Guinea | 10142.6190 |
Hungary | 9967.3080 |
Tajikistan | 9952.7870 |
Belarus | 9534.9540 |
United Arab Emirates | 9441.1290 |
Israel | 9038.3090 |
Austria | 8939.6170 |
Togo | 8848.6990 |
Switzerland | 8740.4720 |
Sierra Leone | 8605.7180 |
Laos | 7529.4750 |
Hong Kong | 7488.8650 |
Serbia | 7221.3650 |
Nicaragua | 6948.3920 |
Libya | 6812.3410 |
Bulgaria | 6781.9530 |
Paraguay | 6780.7440 |
Kyrgyzstan | 6630.6230 |
Turkmenistan | 6430.7700 |
El Salvador | 6336.3920 |
Singapore | 5975.6890 |
Republic of the Congo | 5970.4240 |
Denmark | 5882.2610 |
Slovakia | 5643.4530 |
Central African Republic | 5579.1440 |
Finland | 5540.7450 |
Lebanon | 5489.7390 |
Norway | 5434.3190 |
Liberia | 5302.6810 |
Palestine | 5250.0720 |
New Zealand | 5185.2880 |
Costa Rica | 5180.8290 |
Ireland | 5023.1090 |
Mauritania | 4736.1390 |
Oman | 4576.2980 |
Panama | 4408.5810 |
Kuwait | 4268.8730 |
Croatia | 4030.3580 |
Georgia | 3744.3850 |
Eritrea | 3684.0320 |
Uruguay | 3422.7940 |
Mongolia | 3398.3660 |
Moldova | 3272.9960 |
Puerto Rico | 3252.4070 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3233.5260 |
Albania | 2842.3210 |
Jamaica | 2827.3770 |
Armenia | 2780.4690 |
Lithuania | 2750.0550 |
Gambia | 2705.9920 |
Qatar | 2695.1220 |
Botswana | 2630.2960 |
Namibia | 2567.0120 |
Gabon | 2388.9920 |
Lesotho | 2305.8250 |
Slovenia | 2119.8440 |
Guinea-Bissau | 2105.5660 |
North Macedonia | 2093.5990 |
Latvia | 1850.6510 |
Equatorial Guinea | 1674.9080 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 1531.0440 |
Bahrain | 1472.2330 |
Timor-Leste | 1341.2960 |
Estonia | 1326.0620 |
Mauritius | 1299.4690 |
Cyprus | 1251.4880 |
Eswatini | 1201.6700 |
Djibouti | 1120.8490 |
Reunion | 974.0520 |
Fiji | 929.7660 |
Comoros | 836.7740 |
Guyana | 808.7260 |
Bhutan | 782.4550 |
Solomon Islands | 724.2730 |
Macau | 695.1680 |
Luxembourg | 647.5990 |
Montenegro | 627.0820 |
Suriname | 618.0400 |
Cape Verde | 593.1490 |
Western Sahara | 575.9860 |
Malta | 533.2860 |
Maldives | 523.7870 |
Brunei | 449.0020 |
Bahamas | 409.9840 |
Belize | 405.2720 |
Guadeloupe | 395.7520 |
Iceland | 372.8990 |
Martinique | 367.5070 |
Vanuatu | 326.7400 |
Mayotte | 326.1010 |
French Polynesia | 306.2790 |
French Guiana | 304.5570 |
New Caledonia | 289.9500 |
Barbados | 281.6350 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 227.3800 |
Samoa | 222.3820 |
Curacao | 191.1630 |
Saint Lucia | 179.8570 |
Guam | 171.7740 |
Kiribati | 131.2320 |
Grenada | 125.4380 |
Micronesia | 114.1640 |
Jersey | 110.7780 |
Seychelles | 107.1180 |
Tonga | 106.8580 |
Aruba | 106.4450 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 103.9480 |
United States Virgin Islands | 99.4650 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 93.7630 |
Isle of Man | 84.5190 |
Andorra | 79.8240 |
Dominica | 72.7370 |
Cayman Islands | 68.7060 |
Bermuda | 64.1840 |
Guernsey | 63.3010 |
Greenland | 56.4660 |
Faroe Islands | 53.0900 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 49.5510 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 47.6570 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 45.7030 |
American Samoa | 44.2730 |
Sint Maarten | 44.1750 |
Marshall Islands | 41.5690 |
Liechtenstein | 39.3270 |
Monaco | 36.4690 |
San Marino | 33.6600 |
Gibraltar | 32.6490 |
Saint Martin | 31.7910 |
British Virgin Islands | 31.3050 |
Palau | 18.0550 |
Cook Islands | 17.0110 |
Anguilla | 15.8570 |
Nauru | 12.6680 |
Wallis and Futuna | 11.5720 |
Tuvalu | 11.3120 |
Saint Barthelemy | 10.9670 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 5.8620 |
Montserrat | 4.3900 |
Falkland Islands | 3.7800 |
Niue | 1.9340 |
Tokelau | 1.8710 |
Vatican City | 0.5100 |