Seeing the World through Maps: The Effectiveness of Map Knowledge in Flag Recognition

Abstract

This study aims to understand students’ knowledge of the use of political maps in flags. Students from a module at the National University of Singapore were provided a six-item questionnaire. The questions asked students to identify countries looking at a map, identify the Korean Unification Flag, identify the first flag of Bangladesh, identify flags with maps, and identify a theme in four different flags with maps. The results showed that Singapore was the most known country (92%), while Brunei was the least known (12%) based on the country’s political boundary outline. Only 19% of students were able to identify the countries correctly in the Korean Unification Flag and 31% identified the historic flag of Bangladesh correctly. In the final questions only 13% identified the correct flags with maps, while 36% mentioned the theme of location as a common theme amongst the four flags provided. These results showed that more exposure to these maps and flags is needed. The use of maps in flags can provide a new perspective for cartographic approaches and expand knowledge of cartographic vexillology.