Papua New Guinea — World Flags

The story behind the answer

Papua New Guinea’s flag is known for the Raggiana bird-of-paradise and the Southern Cross—symbols of the nation’s rich wildlife and position in the southern skies. The red and black reflect traditional Melanesian colors, and the design was created in 1971 by a 15-year-old student, Susan Karike, just before independence in 1975.

Memory tip: “paradise” = bird-of-paradise = Papua New Guinea. The Southern Cross appears on several Pacific flags, but the bird-of-paradise is uniquely PNG. The country is also one of the most linguistically diverse on Earth, with over 800 languages—another way to remember its striking cultural and natural variety.