FIFA Women’s World Cup – A Fun Facts About Flags special – Group A

Today marks the start of the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup, taking place in Australia and New Zealand.

There are 32 teams from across the world battling it out to be named the best women’s football team in the world.

The 32 teams have been split into eight groups of four for the first round of the tournament. The top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stages.

During the group stage, we’ll be bringing you fun facts about the flags of the teams in each group.

Today, we’re looking at the flags of the countries in group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines and Switzerland.

New Zealand

The flag of New Zealand was adopted in 1902 and is blue in colour with a Union Jack in the top left corner and four red stars representing the Southern Cross constellation.

Did you know:

• There was a referendum in New Zealand about changing the flag, in 2016! The result was close, with the country voting to keep the flag winning by 57% to 43%!
• The New Zealand flag was the first national flag to incorporate the Southern Cross constellation in stars on it.
• The flag was adopted as the national flag of New Zealand in 1902.

Norway

The Norway flag has a red background with a dark blue Nordic cross outlined in white.

Did you know:

• The flag of Norway was adopted in 1821, making it one of the oldest flags in the world.
• As many as nine other countries’ flags can be found within the Norway flag, leading to its nickname as “The Mother of All Flags”.
• The Nordic cross appears on the flags of all three Scandinavian countries as well as the surrounding Nordic countries.

Philippines

The flag of the Philippines has blue and red stripes with a white triangle on the left. The centre of the triangle has a star in each corner and a yellow sun with with eight rays in the middle.

Did you know:

• The Philippine flag is known by locals as the Pambansang Watawat ng Pilipinas (Philipor the Tatlong Bituin at Isang Araw (three stars and sun).
• The flag was first hoisted on June 12, 1898, during the declaration of Philippine Independence.
• In peacetime the blue segment of the flag should always be flown at the top. The red is flown at the top in times of war.

Switzerland

The Switzerland flag has a red background, with a white cross in the centre.

Did you know:

• The flag of Switzerland is one of only two flags of the world that is square; the other is the flag of Vatican City.
• The first national flag of Switzerland was green, red and yellow. It was introduced by Napoleon, but was short-lived.
• The flag as we know it today was adopted as the national flag on December 12th, 1889, making it over 130 years old!

Check back in the coming days when we’ll be exploring fun facts about the flags of the country’s in Group B of the FIFA Women’s World Cup: Australia, Canada, Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland.