Classical Music    Set by Mel Kinsey

1/ Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’, about the love story between Ciocio-san and Lieutenant Pinkerton, is set in which Japanese city whose name means ‘long cape’?   Nagasaki

2/ Based on ‘One Thousand and One Nights‘, ‘Scheherazade‘ is a symphonic suite composed in 1888 by which Russian composer – a member of the group known as ‘The Five’?   Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

3/ Born 1854, which Czech composer is noted for incorporating folk music into his work, such as the operas `The Cunning Little Vixen’ and `Kata Kabanova’?    Leos Janacek

4/ Premiering in 1845, which opera is based on the legend of a 13th-century minstrel’s song contest that was held at Wartburg Castle, in the German state of Thuringia?   ‘Tannhauser’ by Richard Wagner

6/ Choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon to Leo Delibes’ music, which comic opera is about how Franz, a village youth, fell in love with a life-sized dancing doll created by a mysterious inventor? It is based on two stories by ETA Hoffman — ‘The Sandman‘ and `The Doll’.   ‘Coppelia’

7/  Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci‘ is often staged as a double-bill feature with another one-act opera, the combination being known as ‘Cav and Pag’. Who is the composer of this second opera, whom some critics consider a ‘one-opera’ man (like Leoncavallo) even though he also wrote other operas and orchestral music?   Pietro Mascagni (‘Cavellaria Rusticana’)

8/ Add the total number of strings commonly found in (a) a guitar (b) a balalaika and (c) an ukulele. What is the total number of strings that results?   Thirteen (6 + 3 + 4)

9/ Featured in the 1940 Disney animated film ‘Fantasia’, ‘Dance of the Hours‘ is a short ballet from the opera ‘La Giaconda‘, by which composer born near Cremona in 1834?   Amilcare Ponchielli

10/ First published in 1741, Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’ is a work written primarily for which musical instrument? It is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a virtuoso on this instrument.   Harpsichord

11/  Famous examples being the one from Offenbach’s opera ‘The Tales of Hoffman‘ and Donizetti in his ‘Marino Faliero’, what name (from the Italian for ‘boat’) is given to the song/ music sung by Venetian gondoliers?   Barcarolle

12/  The can-can dance, popular in the mid-19th century music halls, is especially associated with the tune known as ‘The Infernal Galop‘, taken from an 1858 opera by which composer?     Jacques Offenbach, ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’

13/  Born 1880 in St. Petersburg, which renowned dancer was invited by Diaghilev to become the resident choreographer of the 1st season of the Ballet Russes in Paris in 1909? His best known works include les Sylphides’ (music by Chopin); when he died in 1942, seventeen dance companies around the world performed this piece simultaneously.    Michel Fokine

14/  Hit by a series of personal tragedies in 1907 (death of his daughter Maria, being diagnosed with a heart condition and forced to resign his post at the opera house which he had worked), he was inspired to produce this piece of work, which Leonard Bernstein called his ‘greatest symphony’. Inspired by Hans Bethge’s ‘Die chinesische Flote‘, which itself is based on works by the Tang Dynasty poets such as Li Bai, Wang Wei and Meng Haoran, it comprises six songs for two singers who take turns singing them. The second song is entitled ‘Der Einsame im Herbst’ (`The Solitary One in Autumn’, and the fifth ‘Der Trunkene im Fruhling’ (`The Drunkard in Spring’). Which work of classical music  is ths?    Gustav Mahler’s ‘The Song of the Earth’/ ‘Das Lied von der Erde’

15/  Based on Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolic play of the same name, which 1902 opera by Debussy recounts events that took place in and around the castle of King Arkel of Allemonde? Caught in a tragic love triangle, the jealous Prince Golaud resorted to excessive lengths to discover the true relationship between the title characters (his half-brother and a mysterious young woman found in the forest), with predictably sad eventual outcome.  ‘Pelleas et Melisande’

16/  Based ultimately on the epic ‘Haft Peykar’ (The Seven Beauties’) by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami, which opera is set in China and features the love-stricken Count Calaf and his pursuit of the daughter of King Altoum? It was unfinished at the time of the composer’s death from a heart attack in 1924.    ‘Turandot’ by Puccini

17/  Derived from the name given to the Kipchak and Cuman people by the Rus, what two-word name is given to the exotic scene at the end of Act II of Alexander Borodin’s opera ‘Prince Igor’, where the title character was entertained by the slaves of his captor, Khan Kochak? Unfinished at the time of Borodin’s death in 1887, a performing version was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov.  ‘Polotvsian Dances’

18/ Its name deriving partly from the fact that it has two strings, and partly from the name of a group of non-Han people of northern China who overthrew the Western Jin Dynasty in the 4th-5th centuries AD, which versatile musical instrument (also known as the Chinese violin) is used in both traditional and contemporary music for the calm sound which it produces?  Erhu

19/  In classical music, a chord made up of the notes F, B, D# and G# is also known as the ______Chord, so named as it is heard in the opening of this Wagnerian opera.   Tristan chord

20/  Most notably used by Tchaikovsky in the ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ of his ‘Nutcracker Suite’, but also found in Mahler’s ‘Symphony No. 6’ and Gershwin’s An American in Paris’, what is the name of this instrument invented in 1886 by the Parisian harmonium builder Auguste Mustel? It has the appearance of an upright piano, but with a sound similar to that of the glockenspiel. Celesta

21/  Choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes and first performed in May 1912, the ballet The Afternoon of a Faun’ is based on a symphonic poem by which composer, who was himself inspired by a work of the same name by the poet Stephane Mallarme? Claude Debussy

22/  Which composer’s `Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op 6o’, completed in 1940, is entitled ‘Leningrad’ as a tribute to the city and its citizens? It soon became a symbol of resistance to Nazi militarism and totalitarianism.  Dmitri Shostakovich

23/  Written in 1806, Beethoven’s string quartets No.7, 8 and 9, Opus 59, are named after which of his patrons? This individual was a Russian ambassador to the Viennese court and a chief negotiator during the Congress of Vienna that resettled Europe in 1814.  Count Andrey Razumovsky/ Rasoumoffsky

23/  Known for works such as ‘A Mass of Life’, ‘A Village Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring’, what is the nationality of the composer Frederick Delius, born in 1862?  British (Born in Bradford)

24/  Meaning ‘a place where many people gather to sing’, which genre of Korean musical story-telling originated in the 17th century, in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty? The music is usually performed by one sorikkun (a singer) and one gosu (a drummer playing a barrel drum called buk).  Pansori

25/  First widely used in the works of Beethoven and Schubert, which term, meaning ‘I jest’ or ‘I play’ in Italian, denotes a lively piece of music commonly in 3/4 time? It is frequently found as the third movement of a symphony, sonata or string quartet. Scherzo

                                                                                         Sports   Set by Mel Kinsey

1/ In volleyball, what name is given to the position introduced in 1998? Usually the most skilled defensive player in the team, he / she wears a contrasting jersey color from the rest of the team, and cannot block or attack the ball when it is above net height.  Liberio

2/  Amr Shabana, Ramy Ashour. Nick Matthew and Gregory Gaultier have all won the world championships in which sport?  Squash

3/ In the annual cycling competition the Tour de France, what distinction is held by the rider who wears the special polka dot jersey? The leader in the mountains stages of the competition (Known as “The King of the Mountains”)

4/ Inspired by the legendary Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls achieved a historic two ‘three-peats’ of NBA titles between 1991-93 and 1996-98. During the two years in between (1994-1995), i.e. Jordan’s first retirement, which team won back-to-back NBA titles, led by stars such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler?  Houston Rockets

5/ The athlete Mo Farah, who won the 5000m and moom gold medals representing Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, was born in 1983 in which country?  Somalia

6/  Under International Skating Union (ISU) rules, there are six kinds of jumps. Three are toe jumps (the toe loop, flip and Lutz), and three are edge jumps (the Salchow, loop and ______ )? Named after a Norwegian skater who first performed it in 1882, it is considered the most difficult due to an extra half rotation.    The Axel jump

7/ An interesting coincidence in the late 1980s saw the Italian Serie A rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan each signing three football stars from different countries. AC Milan had the Dutchmen Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, while Inter brought in the Germans Lothar Matthaus, Jurgen Klinsmann and this left-back, who scored West Germany’s winning penalty kick in the 1990 World Cup Finals against Argentina. Who is he?   Andreas Brehme

8/  In Rugby Union, what common name is given to the positions 1 and 3  in the scrum ?  The Props (Loose and Tight Head)

9/ Which country, which first participated in the Olympics in 1936, has to date won a total of ten medals, all of them in the Winter Olympics, and all of them in a single event – alpine skiing?    Liechtenstein

10/  The national football team of which African country is known by the nickname `Sparowhawks’? In 2010, their team bus was ambushed and attacked by gunmen in Angola, resulting in the deaths of three non-playing staff.   Togo

10/  Featuring the Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor and including other such as George Martin, Jim Burt and Carl Banks, the defensive line-up of which NFL team of the ‘8os is known as the ‘Big Blue Wrecking Crew’? Considered one of the greatest NFL defenses of all time, they won the Super Bowl twice – in 1986 and 1990.  New York Giants

11/ Named after one of its most successful football managers, the Ernst Happel Stadion is the largest stadium in the country and the home-ground of the national football team. In which city is it located?   Vienna

12/ Its name deriving from the French for ‘old shoe’, which martial art form that combines the use of hands and feet as weapons is one of the few styles in which the fighters usually wear shoes?  Savate

13/ Between 2008 to 2015, Jurgen Klopp was the manager of which German team before becoming Liverpool’s manager in October 2015?    Borussia Dortmund

14/ The most-capped player in the history of the Czech national team (as of Feb 2017), which goalkeeper sustained a serious skull fracture while he was playing for his club Chelsea in 2006? Since then, he wore a protective headgear during matches even after his injuries had healed.   Petr Cech

15/ Which is the only Swedish club to have won a UEFA-governed competition, winning the UEFA Cup in 1982 and 1987.                  IFK Gothenburg

16/  Winning the 2016 year-end tennis WTA Finals in Singapore, what is the nationality of former world No. 4 Dominika Cibulkova? Slovak

17/  Which country didian Portugal defeat in the final of the 2016 football UEFA European Championships to lift the title for the first time?  France

18/ Michael Phelps holds the record for having won the most number of medals at the Summer Olympics (28). Which former gymnast comes second with 18 medals, which she won from 1952-1964 (including nine gold medals)? Larissa Latynina

19/ After which fleet-footed antelope is the South African men’s international rugby union team named?  Springbok

20/ Nicknamed the ‘Beast of Belarus’ for his 1.96m height and ferocious serve-and-volley game, which professional tennis player became a specialized doubles player in 2003, winning ten Grand Slam titles in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles? Max Mirnyi

21/ Deriving from the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’, what name is given to the time-periods (usually around 7 minutes long) that a game of polo is divided into?  Chukka

22/  Of the three weapons used in modern fencing, which one differs from the other two in that points can be scored with the edge of the blade rather than just the tips? This results usually in very fast movements and attacks.  Sabre

23/ In the acronym NASCAR, referring to the American auto-racing sports franchise, what does the letter ‘S’ stand for?              Stock (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

24/ Which team, which plays in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference, holds the record of most Stanley Cup wins (24) of all the NHL teams? Some of their greatest players include the goalkeeper Jacques Plante, the center Jean Beliveau and the right-wing Maurice Richard.  Montreal Canadiens

25/ Managed by Claudio Ranieri and based at the King Power Stadium, which English Premier League football team were the shock winners of the league title in the 2015/16 season?    Leicester City

 

                                                                               Fictional Animals   Set by Maya Davis

                                                                           Literary Lions and other fictional animals

1/  Which fictional lion is named after an old Turkic word for ‘Lion’?  Aslan

2/  In a story by Roald Dahl, the eponymous character’s parents were killed by a rhinoceros which had escaped from a zoo. What is the story called?  James and the Giant Peach

3/ A fictional detective called Thursday Next owns a pet called Pickwick. What species is Pickwick?   Dodo

4/  A novel by the Czech writer Tesnohlídek, serialised in a Brno newspaper with illustrations by Stanislav Lolek became the basis for an opera by a Czech composer about its heroine Bystrouška.  Give one of the usual English titles of the opera.                          The Cunning Little Vixen/The Story of Sharp-Ears the Vixen

5/  What was the name of the villainous Penguin in the Wallace & Gromit cartoon The Wrong Trousers?   Feathers McGraw

6/  In which Shakespeare play does Proteus’ servant Launce own a dog called Crab?   Two Gentlemen of Verona

7/  What sort of army was led by General Woundwort?   An army of rabbits in Watership Down

8/  In the original novel by Felix Salten, what species of deer is Bambi?   Roe

9/  Which Dickens character owned a dog called Bull’s-Eye?   Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist

10/ In Walter de la Mare’s poem Five Eyes, set to music by C. Armstrong Gibbs, to which creatures do the five eyes belong?          Hans the miller’s three black cats – one of which, Jill, has only one eye

11/  In Gerald Durrell’s novel Rosy is my Relative, what sort of creature is Rosy?  Elephant 

12/  Which farmyard creature and his wife are the central characters in Chaucer’s The Nun’s Priest’s Tale?      Chanticleer/Chaunticlere the cockerel and his wife Pertelot

13/ Which fictional aristocrat owned a prize pig called Empress of Blandings?  Clarence, Lord Emsworth

14/ In 1935 Alfred Bestall took over the writing and illustrating the Rupert Bear strip in the Daily Express from Rupert’s original creator. Who originally created Rupert in 1920?   Mary Tourtel

15/ In T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, what is the name of Merlin’s owl?     Archimedes

16/ William Horwood’s ‘Duncton’ books centre on which species of British mammal?  Moles

17/  Lottie the Otter is introduced in David Benedictus’ 2009 sequel to a series of stories first published in the 1920s. Which series?Winnie-the-Pooh. The book is Return to the Hundred-Acre Wood

18/   In The Legend of Tsar Saltan, by Rimsky-Korsakov, the Tsar’s son is changed into an insect and flies away, giving rise to a famous instrumental interlude. What insect?  Bumble-bee

19/  Who created a poetry-writing cockroach called archy and the alley-cat mehitabel, neither of whom could use the upper-case letters on the typewriter?   Don Marquis

20/ In whose trilogy of modern Gothic novels was Lord Groan pecked to death and eaten by owls?                The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake

21/  Which comic strip character owns a dog called Gnasher? Dennis the Menace

22/ Which fictional Spaniard owned a horse called Rosinante?   Don Quixote de la Mancha

23/ The pet of an eponymous Dickens character was called Grip. Whose pet and what was it?  Barnaby Rudge’s raven

24/  Who created a forgetful cat called Mog, and also a much larger cat which accepted an invitation to tea?   Judith Kerr

25/  According to Hilaire Belloc, who ran away from his nurse on a trip to the zoo and was eaten by a lion called Ponto?                  Jim – see Cautionary Tales

 

                                                                               General Knowledge  Set by Mel Kinsey

1/  Found chiefly in Britain and France, what is or was a dolmen?  Megalithic tomb with a large flat stone laid on upright ones

2/  Which American movie director and producer is best known for directing the Godfather trilogy and the Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now?   Francis Ford Coppola

3/   Founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752, which European capital city is home to the oldest continuously operating zoo in the world?  Vienna  (Tiergarten Schönbrunn) 

4/  Since the early 17th-century there have been four Provinces of Ireland. Ulster is one, what are the names of the other three? Connacht, Leinster and Munster

5/   Which science fiction novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in 1912, features the characters Edward Malone, a young reporter for the Daily Gazette and the notorious Professor Challenger?  The Lost World

6/ Who, in 1978, was the first female newscaster of ITV’s News at Ten?  Anna Ford

7/ First minted in the reign of Edward VI, which British coin ceased to be legal tender on June 30, 1980?   Sixpence

8/  In which country was the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky assassinated in August 1940?  Mexico  (Coyoacán, Mexico City) 

9/   Which British Conservative politician was born in Aberdeen on August 26, 1967 and originally named Graeme Logan?        Michael Gove  (at the age of four months he was adopted by Ernest and Christine Gove, by whom he was brought up )

10/ What are the names of both of the only two females to have held the position of Director General of MI5?                              Stella Rimmington  (1992 to 1996) and Eliza Manningham-Buller(2002 to 2007) 

11/  Which American author won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature ‘for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception’?   John Steinbeck

12/  In a standard year of 365 days, January begins on the same day of the week as which other month?  October

13/  Which 1960s Supermarionation television series featured the character Brains?  Thunderbirds

14/  Life Among the Lowly is the subtitle of which anti-slavery novel, first published in 1852?   Uncle Tom’s Cabin 

15/  In which year was the British Labour party founded?  1900

16/   Although initially promoted as a sequel, Go Set a Watchman, published in July 2015, is now accepted as being a first draft of which 1961 Pulitzer Prize– winning novel?  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

17/  In Hinduism, what is the name of the terrifying goddess of creation, destruction and time who is commonly presented as dark and violent? She is the wife of Siva and malevolent form of Devi.   Kali

18/  Which British ‘soap’ actor was convicted of the murder of a taxi driver he was attempting to rob in Osnabrueck in 1966 and sentenced to life imprisonment, although he only actually served 10 years?Leslie  Grantham–he was released from prison in 1977 

19/ Which footballer, the sixth highest goal scorer in English League history (330), played for the following clubs in his professional career: Newport County, Oxford United, Liverpool, Real Sociedad and Tranmere Rovers (in that order)?  John Aldridge

20/  The name of which lively Brazilian dance that is similar to the samba, is derived from the Portuguese for ‘new trend’ or ‘new wave’?  Bossa Nova

21/  On which part of your body would you have been most likely to have worn a peruke?                                                                    The Head  (it was a wig for men that was fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries) 

22/  Which book written by American author and relationship counsellor John Gray has sold more than 15 million copies and, according to a CNN report, was the ‘highest ranked work of non-fiction’ of the 1990s, spending 121 weeks on the best-seller list?    Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

23/  Which multiple award-winning Alan Bennett play, later made into a film, is set in the fictional Cutler’s Grammar School in Sheffield?   The History Boys

24/  Founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton, what was the name of the tabloid newspaper that closed and merged with the Daily Mail in 1971?   Daily Sketch

25/ Which Italian composer wrote the tragic opera in three acts Lucia di Lammermoor, which was loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott’s historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor?    Gaetano Donizetti

                                                                                         Politics    Set by Mel Kinsey

1/ Jeb Bush, a candidate in the 2016 US Republican presidential primary, was governor of which state from 1999-2007?  Florida

2/ In May 2015, Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as the President of which African country, after he defeated the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential elections? Nigeria

3/ The politics of which European country is dominated by its three largest political parties : Fidesz, MSZP and Jobbik? It has been said that the radical ultra-nationalistic Jobbik has forced the current Prime Minister Viktor Orban (of Fidesz) to shift his policies towards the right, e.g. in its response to the current refugee crisis.  Hungary

4/ Before being elected as Vice-President in 2008, Joe Biden was the senator for which of the  states of the USA from 1973 onwards?  Delaware

5/ Coined by Robert Ward of the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2009, the acronym CIVETS refers to six favoured emerging markets countries due to their young populations, controlled inflation and reasonably sophisticated financial systems. Which country does the ‘C’ in this acronym refer to?  Colombia (Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa

6/ Pushing the favorite Hillary Clinton all the way in the 2016 US Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders is the incumbent US senator from which  state of the USA? Assuming office in 2007, he had been the longest-serving independent senator in US congressional history before becoming a Democrat in 2015.  Vermont

7/ In early 2012, under the presidency of Anote Tong, which country purchased the 2200-hectare Natoavatu Estate on Vanua Levu, the second largest island of Fiji as a possible refuge for its population due to fears of adverse events arising from climate change?Kiribati

8/ Born in 1962, Manuel Valls was the Prime Minister of which country from 2014 to 2016?    France

9/ Which Director of the FBI found himself in controversy when his public communications about investigations into Hilary Clinton’s emails were alleged by some to have influenced the outcome of the 2016 US presidential elections?    James Comey

10/ In which country was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski sworn in as president in July 2016, succeeding Ollanta Humala?  Peru

11/ The political parties known as Law and Justice (PiS) and Civic Platform (PO) are the two main parties in which European country? Poland

12/ Ousting his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema in a coup in 1979, Teodoro Obiang has been the president of which country since then? He is currently the longest-serving president in the world.  Equatorial Guinea

13/ With respect to the 2020 US presidential election, California has the largest number of electoral college votes (55), followed by Texas (38) and New York & Florida (29 each). Name the two states that come next, with 20 electoral college votes each?            Illinois and Pennsylvania

14/ The national intelligence agency of which country is known as Mossad?  Israel

The Prime Minister of which European country is known as the Taoiseach ?  Republic of Ireland

16/ What is the nationality of Ban Ki Moon, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations?  South Korean

17/ The founding Prime Minister of which Southeast Asian city-state, Lee Kuan Yew, died at the age of 91 on 23rd March 2015?Singapore

18/ Code-named Operation Neptune Spear, the covert operation launched on May 2nd, 2011 resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad – in which country?  Pakistan

19/ The trigger point, or catalyst, of the Arab Spring of 2010 is considered to be the self-immolation of the vegetable-seller Mohamed Bouazizi – in which country did this take place?   Tunisia

19/ Rejected by the Obama administration in Nov 2015 after more than six years of review, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have carried oil from the tar sands of which Canadian province (through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska) to join existing pipelines that eventually lead to the Gulf of Mexico?  Alberta

20/ Coined by Graham Allison, a Harvard professor and defense policy expert, what two-word alliterative term refers to the situation where a rising power causes fear in an established power that escalates toward war?  The term derives from the observations made by an ancient historian on the causes of the Peloponnesian War.  Thucydides Trap

21/ Selected by Donald Trump to be his running mate in the 2016 US Presidential Election, Mike Pence was the governor of which state of the USA?     Indiana

22/ Leader of the UK Liberal Democrats party from 1999 to 2006, which politician lost his parliamentary seat in the 2015 general election, and died (aged 55) less than a month later due to a massive hemorrhage related to alcoholism?  Charles Kennedy

23/ Created in 2008 as a polling aggregation website with a blog by the US statistician Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight (538) focuses on areas such as opinion-poll analysis, politics and economics. What is the significance of the name of the website?                            The number of electors in the US Electoral College

24/ One of the candidates to succeed Ban Ki Moon as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Irina Bokova is a former Bulgarian foreign minister, and also the formerDirector-General of which UN special agency?  UNESCO

25/ Barack Obama was a senator from which US state before he was elected President?      Illinois

 

                                                                                    Flags   Set by Mel Kinsey

1/ The flag of which country shows a yellow sun, crossed by a stylised representation of the tunduk (crown of the traditional yurt)?  Kyrgyzstan

2/ The flag of which country features an African fish eagle in flight over three vertical strips of red, black and orange?  Zambia

3/ Which US state flag is this? The figure of Tyranny is depicted lying prostrate at the feet of the Roman goddess Virtus, symbolizing the defeat of Britain in the American War of Independence. The motto ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ (`Thus Always to Tyrants’) was shouted aloud by John Wilkes Booth during his assassination of Abraham Lincoln.   Virginia

4/ Similar to that used in the traditional rushnyk cloth, a pattern designed in 1917 by Matrena Markevich appears down the hoist side of which national flag?  Belarus

5/  Based on the so-called `Prince’s Flag’ and nicknamed the ‘Orange, White and Blue’, this flag served as the official flag of which country between 1928 and 1994?  South Africa

6/ Which kingdom in the Himalayas has a flag which features the Druk (thunder dragon) from its mythology?  Bhutan

7/ The national flag of Poland, when flipped upside down, closely resembles that of which large Asian country?  Indonesia

8/ The national flag of which country shows a golden steppe eagle flying under a sun with thirty-two rays of light?  Kazakhstan

9/ Add the number of stars on the official state flags of the USA, China and New Zealand – what is the total number of stars?         59 (50 + 5 + 4)

10/ On the flag of which state of the USA would you find the Big Dipper and the North Star?  Alaska

11/ Two of the official national flags of African countries feature the images of a shield and two spears, although the spears are arranged in different positions. Can you name both  countries?  Kenya and Eswatini (Swaziland)

12/ Which country has the world’s only non-quadrilateral or square national flag?  Nepal

13/ Which is the world’s only official national flag to feature a picture of the Bible?  Dominican Republic

14/ Designed by John Eisenmann in 1901, the flag of which US state is the only non-rectangular one amongst the 50 states? It is burgee-shaped, with three red and two white horizontal stripes, and seventeen stars grouped around a red disc superimposed onto a white circle.  Ohio

15/ The central horizontal band of the Estonian flag, the bottom horizontal band of the Iraqi flag, and the central star in the Ghanaian flag – are all composed of which colour?    Black

16/ The flag of which African country features a grey-crowned crane (the national bird) in the center?  Uganda

17/ The official flag of which mainland African country is one of the few that does not utilize the green, gold and red which is common to many of the continent’s flags? It consists of a light blue field cut across horizontally by a black stripe with a thing white frame, which may represent the zebra – its national animal that also appears on its coat of arms.       Botswana

18/ Which country’s flag is this : a red centered crest on a yellow field cut by black and white diagonal stripes? The crest includes the royal parasol (ceremonial umbrella), the wings, the crescent and a pair of open hands Below the crescent is a banner with the Arabic inscription “Always render service with God’s guidance”.  Brunei

19/ The largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is a cultural icon of countries in the region, and is depicted on the national/ state flags of two South American nations – Bolivia and which other?       Ecuador

20/ Containing a yellow interlaced pentagram radiating rays of light on a blue shield, this emblem is found on the official flag of which African country?      Ethiopia 

21/ Found on the Brazilian state flag, the motto ‘Ordem e Progresso’ (‘Order and Progress’) is inspired by which philosopher’s motto of positivism – ‘Love as the beginning, and order as the base; progress as the end’?   Auguste Comte

22/ Which country’s flag is nicknamed the ‘Khanjar Bo Sayfain’ (‘Dagger and Two Swords’, a reference to its national emblem (located in the canton) which is also a symbol of the Albusaidi Dynasty?      Oman   

23/ From 1952 until the fall of its royal government in 1975, which country had a red flag with a white three-head elephant (representing the Hindu god Erawan) in the middle? On top of the elephant is a nine-folded umbrella that represents the mythical Mount Meru in Buddhism.  Laos

24/ During the 1936 Summer Olympics, Liechtenstein came to realize that its flag was identical to another country’s, prompting it to add a crown to the canton of the flag. Which is this other country, which did not even participate in that year’s Olympics?   Haiti     

25/ Officially recognized as the national flag in 1959, the flag of Wales consists of a red dragon that is most commonly associated with which 7th-century King of Gwynedd? Though little is known about him historically,  he has since become a mythical figure of redemption in Welsh culture and a prominent character in the romantic stories of Geoffrey of Monmouth.   Cadwaladr

26/ The official flag of which European state features its coat of arms that depicts its famous Three Towers? Located on three peaks of Monte Titano, they are the Guaita, the Cesta and the Montale towers, constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries.     San Marino 

27/ In use from 1949 to 1990, the official East Germany state flag featured which two objects/ tools? One represented the workers in the factories, while the other the intelligentsia. Both are surrounded by a ring of rye representing the farmers.                    Hammer and Compass

28/ Adapted in July 2004, the national flag of which country is composed of a red leaf framed by gold trimming, with its coat of arms in the centre showing a golden double-headed eagle holding a golden scepter in the right claw and a blue-green orb with a golden cross in the left claw?    Montenegro

29/ Found on its national flag, the coat of arms of Spain is composed of the arms of its six historical kingdoms (e.g. Castile, Navarre and Aragon). Which kingdom, now part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, is represented by a pomegranate with two leaves?   Granada   

30/ On the official flag of which country would you find the phrase ‘Allahu Akbar’ (‘Allah is the greatest’), written in kufic scrip in two lines and repeated eleven times in each line?     Iran

31/ An emblem in black showing a boar’s tusk (worn as a symbol of prosperity by the local people) and two leaves of the local namele tree features on the flag of which Pacific island country?   Vanuatu