Top 10 Least Recognizable State Flags: Kentucky Stumps Americans

America’s red, white and blue flag is burned into the memory banks of residents from sea to shining sea. The same often cannot be said of all 50 state flags in our nation. One example is Kentucky’s Navy blue flag. It has the state seal in the middle with the phrase “United we stand divided we fall” bordering an image of two men shaking hands.

National Flag Week is the week of June 10, leading up to Flag Day on June 14. Using Sporcle.com’s US State Flags Quiz, BetKentucky.com took a break from Kentucky sportsbooks coverage to find the 10 states with the lowest percentage of recognition.

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Least Recognized U.S. Flags

Rank	State	% Correct
1	Idaho	36.5%
2	New Hampshire	37.5%
3	Nebraska	37.7%
4	Minnesota	37.8%
5	West Virginia	38.4%
6	North Dakota	38.6%
7	Kentucky	38.8%
8	Utah	40.7%
9	Maine	41.4%
10	Missouri	41.5%

We should note that the Sporcle quiz deletes any words on a state flag that would be an obvious hint. For instance, the home of Kentucky sports betting apps has a state flag the words “Commonwealth of Kentucky” at the top. Those words are not visible to anyone taking the quiz, where participants see 50 small state flags and have 10 minutes to get them all correct.

Where KY Ranks Nationally

Nationally, only 38.8% of respondents knew KY’s flag (again, with the words “Commonwealth of Kentucky” removed from it), representing the seventh-lowest percentage of all states. That is sandwiched between No. 6 North Dakota (38.6%) and No. 8 Utah (40.7%).

The hardest state flags to decipher were Idaho (which 36.5% of respondents got right), New Hampshire (37.5%) and Nebraska (37.7%). Minnesota (37.8%) and West Virginia (38.4%) rounded out the top five in the United States.

Throw in Maine at 41.4% and Missouri and 41.5% and you have the full rundown on the 10 state flags that Americans have the most trouble picking out of the crowd. That speaks to the unique nature of a given state’s rectangular emblem (or not rectangular, in the case of neighboring Ohio) that flies alongside the Stars and Stripes on flagpoles across from coast to coast.

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Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetKentucky.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.