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Spot the Imposter - U.S. State Flags

Each group of three contains two flags that are the current official flags of US states - the other is an imposter. See if you can identify the imposter for each question.
Quiz by PapaFurchetta
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Last updated: November 11, 2023
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First submittedSeptember 29, 2021
Times taken19,129
Average score73.3%
Rating4.51
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1. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Ohio 5/9/1902; b) former Louisiana (1861-1912); c) current Hawaii 12/29/1845
2. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) former Vermont (1770-1804); b) current Washington 3/5/1923; c) current Delaware 7/24/1913
3. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Missouri 3/22/1913; b) current Iowa 3/29/1921; c) current Dominican Republic
4. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Florida 5/21/1985; b) former Spain (1496 - ?); c) current Alabama 2/16/1895
5. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) former Vermont (1837-1923); b) current Maryland 3/9/1904; c) current Arkansas 2/26/1913
6. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Mississippi 1/11/2021; b) former West Virginia (1905-1907); c) current South Carolina 1/26/1861
7. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current New Mexico 3/15/1925; b) current New Jersey 5/11/1896; c) former Maine (1901-1909)
8. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Arizona 2/27/1917; b) former Oklahoma (1911-1925); c) current Colorado 3/31/1964
9. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current California 2/3/1911; b) current US Virgin Islands; c) current Rhode Island 11/1/1897
10. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) former Nevada (1905-1915); b) current Kansas 9/24/1961; c) current Wisconsin 5/1/1981
11. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Georgia 2/19/2003; b) current North Carolina 6/24/1991; c) former Georgia (2001-2003)
12. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Uganda; b) current Louisiana 11/22/2010; c) current Wyoming 1/31/1917
13. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) former Rhode Island (1882-1897); b) current Indiana 5/11/1917; c) current Alaska 5/2/1927
14. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Michigan 8/1/1911; b) former Massachusetts (1775-1780); c) current Pennsylvania 6/13/1907
15. Which is not the current official flag of a U.S. state?
a) current Texas 1/25/1839; b) current Tennessee 4/17/1905; c) current Puerto Rico
+8
Level 88
Dec 7, 2022
Good quiz, nominated. It was a little sneaky using the former Utah flag since all they did in 2011 was clean the design up a bit, but as a native Utahn it was easy for me! ;)
+2
Level 90
Dec 7, 2022
Thank you. I'll add a caveat noting that the other flags are mixtures of country flags and previous versions of state flags.
+4
Level 88
Dec 11, 2022
Now both the current AND former Utah flags have been removed :( Probably a good idea though...I think Utah is going to have another new flag in 2023.
+1
Level 24
Sep 27, 2023
You were correct!
+2
Level 90
Dec 11, 2022
Sorry about that, Loganite. QM gave me a few suggestions to clean up the quiz so it could be featured. One of those was specifically to get rid of any Utah flags from the quiz...just kidding, but he did suggest that I focus on the more interesting flags and thus I eliminated a lot of the ones that were variations on "state seal on a blue background." No offense intended as I've been to Utah and thoroughly enjoyed it!
+2
Level 92
Apr 18, 2023
I get that decision, but Utah's new flag is a shining beacon of hope for vexillology in the US, so I like seeing it anyway. And it'd be fun to have a future flag amongst all the formers for the next year or so.
+2
Level 90
Apr 18, 2023
I was not aware of the pending Utah flag redesign so I just checked it out - very cool. One boring blue flag down, 20+ to go!
+6
Level 24
Dec 8, 2022
1a is Uganda, not Zimbabwe.
+2
Level 90
Dec 8, 2022
Wow, not sure how I messed that up, but I've made the correction now. Thank you!
+6
Level 70
Dec 10, 2022
Spot the impostor answer in the impostor
+4
Level 50
Dec 8, 2022
sus
+1
Level 77
Dec 9, 2022
An impostor, you say?
+1
Level 66
Dec 11, 2022
Kinda sus.
+9
Level 90
Dec 11, 2022
The original version of the quiz was more sus (I guess) since it included versions of the flags that only had slight differences. QM helped me clean it up so that this version is decidedly less sus. (My kids would either be proud or mortified that I used "sus" two times in the same sentence.
+2
Level 89
Dec 9, 2022
That fake Georgia flag is busy. It reminds me of the famous TED Talk by the emotional flag guy.
+2
Level 81
Dec 10, 2022
nice and easy
+3
Level 90
Dec 11, 2022
The original version of the quiz was decidedly more difficult as it had 25 questions and included the flags of all 50 states and included "imposter" flags that differed only slightly form the current versions. Thankfully, QM had some great pointers on how to clean up the quiz so it could be featured.
+2
Level 65
Feb 4, 2023
I thought a lot of these were easy because the imposters just looked so ugly and amateur. Color me surprised that so many of them were real former flags.

I mean Oklahoma... y'all kept that for 14 years? and the old Massachusetts flag, jeez.

+6
Level 66
Dec 11, 2022
I love the prospect of Uganda being admitted to the Union.
+11
Level 77
Dec 12, 2022
The old Nevada flag is hilarious to me. It looks like a slot machine. I guess this makes sense since Las Vegas was founded in 1905, but I wonder if it was intentional.
+9
Level 90
Dec 12, 2022
I envision the state leadership sitting around a conference table asking: "What can we put on our flag to make people want to come to the middle of the desert?"
+2
Level 75
Dec 12, 2022
#bringbacktheoldNevadaflag
+2
Level 66
Jan 4, 2023
Additionally, bring back Colorado and Texas' old flags. And although it shouldn't be brought back, Mississippi's old flag is so much better than the new one, design-wise.
+2
Level 92
Apr 18, 2023
When I was growing up in Nevada, the letters of the state were arranged around the star. The N was above the north point, and then the remaining letters clockwise around the star in the gaps between points. As a kid, I liked it more than the boring redesign to write it underneath. As an adult, I wish they'd remove it entirely. To quote Vexillologist Ted Kaye: "If you have to write the name of your place on your flag, your symbolism has failed."
+3
Level 72
Dec 23, 2022
Would have been fun putting the Texas flag up against the flag of Chile.
+3
Level 90
Dec 23, 2022
Oh, how did I miss that one? I have a few others that I cut from the original quiz to shorten it when it got featured. Maybe I can put together a Quiz #2?
+1
Level 64
Jan 4, 2023
What is the old Massachusetts flag xD

Amazing quiz

+2
Level 90
Jan 4, 2023
It was the first flag adopted by Massachusetts after independence and used from 1775-1780.
+9
Level 38
Jan 4, 2023
AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN
+2
Level 67
Jan 4, 2023
I thought that Louisiana was Northern Ireland
+2
Level 43
Jan 4, 2023
im from northern ireland and i said the alabama flag was the fake considering thats our flag… i was very shocked to see it was wrong
+2
Level 49
Jan 4, 2023
That old West Virginia flag is a lot more appealing than our current one
+3
Level 75
Jan 5, 2023
Well, there are a lot of bad designs here, but New Jersey wins for worst (Q7). I know there's a lot of sand and all, but really?
+2
Level 90
Jan 5, 2023
Yes, I agree entirely on New Jersey's flag being a poor design. In addition, you should see the 20 state flags that didn't make this version of the quiz. Talk about uninspired - they are almost all variations of the state seal on a blue background design.

If you are interested in this topic, I suggest you check out the North American Vexillological Association website where they link to a report resulting from a 2001 survey they conducted on the best (and worst) state/provincial flag designs in North America. Both the summary and full report are entertaining reads (if this type of thing interests you).

+4
Level 32
Jan 6, 2023
Nice quiz. We need to redesign a lot of the state flags, some of them are pretty hideous
+2
Level 54
Jul 3, 2023
These are worse than the Liberian ones
+1
Level 48
Jul 3, 2023
Am I the only one who has never seen most of these flags before? I only recognized California and Texas :D
+2
Level 93
Aug 9, 2023
Man every time I see the state flags I am always bothered by how bad MOST of them look. There's maybe a dozen that I wouldn't change given the chance, especially since most are just the state seal on a plain background.
+1
Level 24
Sep 27, 2023
Why did I know exactly the state flags liek from heart?????