Can you name all the world’s flags? This 6-year-old can

By Faye Mayern

A six-year-old boy who fell in love with flags after being inspired by his teacher can name and identify all of the world's emblems.

Kian Fosker, from Ipswich, Suffolk, has an impressive 217 flags under his belt and is now working on his capital cities.

The youngster learned the signs after his Year One teacher revealed to the class she had previously taught in South Korea.

There are 195 widely recognized national flags, while some individual dependent territories also have their own flags.

Kian, who is quizzed on his knowledge by mom Laura and dad Clayton, said: "My favorite flag is South Korea because of my teacher.

"The hardest ones [to remember] are the island ones. They all have the UK flag in the corner but I know them all now.

"Chad and Romania are the same.

"I have a flag book, bunting, coloring books, flashcards and a football."

Kian's mom Laura said it took the schoolboy less than a year to memorize the flags.

The auditor said, "When Kian was in Year One, we knew he was going to have a new teacher but he came home and said she was from South Korea.

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"When I asked her, she laughed and said she used to teach her.

"It inspired him to have an interest in South Korea and he loved the flag.

"I had a book about flags so I showed it to him. I never remember him properly remembering the flags but suddenly he knew them."

Kian uses flag quizzes, flashcards and marble elimination races on YouTube - which has a flag on each runner - to hone in on his knowledge.

He is now branching further into his geography by learning where countries are on a map and can remember 100 capital cities.

Kian, now in Year Two, and the family even had a go at creating their own flags - with Kian's called "Korokie Islands, Sunshine and Desert."

It has sunshine, purple stripes, a camel and a shark on it.

Laura added: "He'll write us quizzes and we'll have to test him. He likes to be timed and see how many he can get in a minute.

"He knows around 100 capital cities now, all of Europe and some of Russia and America - we're still working on Africa.

"He would love to visit South Korea one day.

"We've had a look at the world record and I think he could give it a really good go."

The current Guinness World Record holder for the fastest time to identify all national flags is 2:55 minutes, by Adam Saeed on August 5, 2023.