Paraguay is the only country in the world whose flag has a different back. The front shows the national seal, and the back shows the seal of the treasury.
What’s on the back
Both sides have the same red, white and blue stripes. The difference is the badge in the middle. The front has the national seal, and the back has the treasury seal, which shows a lion below a red cap of liberty on a pole, with the words Paz y Justicia, meaning peace and justice.
So if you see a Paraguayan flag with a lion on it, nobody has made a mistake. You’re just looking at the back.
Why Paraguay does it
The flag was first adopted in 1842. The two different sides go back to the time of José Gaspar RodrÃguez de Francia, who ran the country from 1814 to 1840. The design was revised in 2013 to bring it closer to the original, and it still has a different seal on each side.
Who else has tried it
Oregon is the only US state with a different back. The front has the state seal, and the back has a gold beaver. Massachusetts used to have a pine tree on the back of its flag until it dropped it in 1971. The Soviet flag only had the hammer and sickle on the front, and in 1980 the plain red back was made official.
Saudi Arabia is made with two matching sides, so the writing reads the right way round from either side, but both sides are the same, so it doesn’t count.
If you like this sort of thing, see European countries with land or which foreigners each country named the cockroach after.
Sources: Wikipedia on the flag of Paraguay, the flag of Oregon, the flag of Massachusetts and the flag of the Soviet Union.
See every two-sided flag
| Flag | Front | Back | Still two-sided? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paraguay | National seal | Treasury seal: a lion and the words Paz y Justicia | Yes |
| Oregon (US state) | State seal | A gold beaver | Yes |
| Massachusetts (US state) | Coat of arms | A pine tree on a shield | No, dropped in 1971 |
| Soviet Union | Hammer, sickle and star | Plain red | No, made official in 1980 |
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