Switzerland and which other country are the only two sovereign states whose national flags are perfect squares (a 1:1 width-to-height ratio) rather than rectangles?
- San Marino
- Monaco
- Andorra
- Vatican City
Why D? And why not the others?
Correct answer: D. Vatican City
Switzerland's white cross on red has been flown in a square format since the country formally adopted it in 1889, a shape rooted in the flag's origin as an army banner rather than a maritime ensign. Vatican City copied the square proportions when it adopted its own flag in 1929 after the Lateran Treaty created it as a sovereign state. Among the roughly 190-plus national flags that use standard rectangular ratios, these two remain the sole exceptions with equal width and height. San Marino, Monaco and Andorra are all small European states whose flags could plausibly be guessed here, but each uses an ordinary rectangular ratio (San Marino and Monaco both use a 3:4 ratio, Andorra a 7:10 ratio), so none of them shares Switzerland's square shape.
Source: Britannica: flag of Switzerland; flag of Vatican City (aspect ratio); corroborated by CIA World Factbook flag descriptions for both countries