Andorra vs Moldova

Why people mix them up

Both flags are vertical tricolours of blue, yellow and red with a coat of arms in the middle of the yellow stripe, and both are rarely seen outside flag quizzes, so players seldom get the practice needed to tell them apart. Romania and Chad use the same colours without an emblem, which makes this a four-way trap. The countries are at opposite ends of Europe: Andorra is a microstate high in the Pyrenees, Moldova is a landlocked country between Romania and Ukraine.

How to tell them apart

• Andorra's coat of arms is a quartered shield with a bishop's mitre, stripes and cows; Moldova's is an eagle holding a shield with an aurochs head.
• Andorra sits between France and Spain in the Pyrenees; Moldova sits between Romania and Ukraine in eastern Europe.
• Moldova is roughly 70 times bigger, about 33,800 km² against Andorra's 468 km², with about 2.5 million people against 80,000.
• Andorra's official language is Catalan and it uses the euro; Moldova speaks Romanian and uses the Moldovan leu.
• The capitals are Andorra la Vella (Andorra) and Chișinău (Moldova).
• Andorra's flag has a wider central stripe; Moldova's three stripes are equal in width.

Memory hook

Andorra is the "Pyrenees pocket" between France and Spain; Moldova is "more or less Romania's twin" on the far side of Europe, with Romania's colours and language.

On the map

For Andorra, find the border between France and Spain, which runs along the Pyrenees, and zoom in on its eastern half, near the Mediterranean end; the tiny country tucked into that line is Andorra. For Moldova, find Romania on the Black Sea and tap the narrow country attached to its north-eastern side, squeezed between Romania and Ukraine and just short of the coast.