Indonesia vs Monaco

Why people mix them up

Both countries fly a flag that is simply red on top and white underneath. Indonesia's flag, the Sang Saka Merah-Putih, dates from independence in 1945; Monaco's red-and-white comes from the Grimaldi family colours and was adopted in 1881. The only formal difference is the shape: Monaco's flag is almost square (4:5) while Indonesia's is a standard 2:3 rectangle. In a flag quiz, with both flags drawn at the same size, there is often nothing to see. Poland adds to the trouble by flying the same colours the other way up, white over red.

How to tell them apart

• Monaco's flag is nearly square; Indonesia's is a wider rectangle. If the flag looks stubby, think Monaco.
• Indonesia is a nation of roughly 17,000 islands in Southeast Asia, about 1.9 million km²; Monaco is a city-state of about 2 km² on the French Riviera, the second-smallest country in the world.
• Indonesia has around 275 million people, the fourth most in the world; Monaco has roughly 38,000.
• Indonesia's official language is Indonesian and its currency is the rupiah; Monaco speaks French and uses the euro.
• Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste; Monaco is surrounded by France on three sides and the Mediterranean on the fourth.
• The capitals are Jakarta (Indonesia) and Monaco itself.

Memory hook

Monaco is a tiny square of a country, so it gets the tiny square flag. Indonesia stretches a long way across the map, so its flag is the long one. Poland is the one with white on top.

On the map

For Indonesia, find the equator in Southeast Asia and tap the long chain of islands running east from Sumatra past Java and Borneo towards New Guinea; Indonesia is the one that stretches furthest. For Monaco, find the south-eastern corner of France where the coast meets Italy, and zoom in a long way on the coastline just west of the Italian border; the tiny dot there is Monaco.