It started with a classroom connection to South Korea, and now six-year-old Kian Fosker can name 217 flags.
Kian, from Ipswich, Suffolk, fell in love with flags after his Year One teacher told the class she had previously taught in South Korea. Since then, he has learned to name and identify all of the emblems he has studied, and he is now moving on to capital cities.
There are 195 widely recognized national flags, while some individual dependent territories also have their own flags.
Kian 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 is quizzed on his knowledge by his mum, Laura, and dad, Clayton. Laura said it took the schoolboy less than a year to memorize the flags.
She 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. 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 to build his knowledge. Laura said the videos show a flag on each runner.
He has now started learning more geography. He is learning where countries are on a map and can remember 100 capital cities.
Laura said, “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.”
Kian is now in Year Two. He and his family have also tried making their own flags.
Kian’s design is called “Korokie Islands, Sunshine and Desert.” It includes sunshine, purple stripes, a camel and a shark.
His flag knowledge has already taken him well beyond the classroom lesson that first caught his attention. What began with one teacher’s link to South Korea has grown into a list of 217 flags under his belt, along with a growing memory for capital cities.
The current Guinness World Record holder for the fastest time to identify all national flags is 2:55 minutes, set by Adam Saeed on August 5, 2023.
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