Lesson pack · 15 minutes · Ages 10 to 14

Africa's flags

By the end, students can: recognise the flags of 15 African countries and explain why many share the same colours.

The plan

0 to 2 min
Starter
Show three flags that use red, gold and green. Ask: what do you notice? Explain that many African countries chose these colours from the flag of Ethiopia, admired across Africa for keeping its independence.
2 to 10 min
Live game
Host the Africa sprint as a live game (15 flags, normal). It's the hardest region, so use teams if confidence is low.
10 to 13 min
Look-alikes
Put each pair below on the board and ask the class what's different before you reveal it.
13 to 15 min
Plenary
Ask three students to share one flag they'll remember and how.

Mali

Senegal

Senegal has a green star in the middle. Mali's is plain.

Guinea

Mali

Guinea is red, yellow, green from the pole. Mali is the other way round: green, yellow, red.

Côte d'Ivoire

Ireland

Côte d'Ivoire is orange, white, green. Ireland is the same colours the other way round.

Set the Africa sprint as homework, or choose Each student's own mistakes so everyone practises the ones they missed.

England, Key Stage 2 geography: locating the world's countries on maps, with a focus on Europe and the Americas
England, Key Stage 3 geography: extending locational knowledge of the world's countries, including Africa and Asia
US National Geography Standards: using maps and other geographic representations to understand places