# Why are so many national flags three-coloured?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 2, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767 "2004-12-02T21:21:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/21 "2004-12-03T22:51:27Z")

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anyone seen this site?

[http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/intro.html](http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/intro.html)

this guy gives a country’s flag a letter grade based on graphic design. Its got a lot of funny info.

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**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/22 "2004-12-04T07:17:32Z")

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Thanks for the info folks. Looks like it is a combination of inspiration and copycatting as well as following some design guidelines around simplicity.

> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#):
>
> anyone seen this site?
> 
> [http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/intro.html](http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/intro.html)

That site is hilarious. I love the little icons he awards for aesthetic violations.

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/23 "2004-12-04T07:32:28Z")

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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:

“Good effort for a country whose name sounds like a 50s rock’n’roll group”

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