10 Interesting Facts about African Flags
African Flags
The 54 countries of Africa have their own flag that has a place of pride in the hearts of African people. Below are the 54 African countries and flags along with 10 interesting facts about African flags.
10 African Flags Facts
Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture
8-14-2016
Established in 2002 The African Union (AU) is an intergovernmental organization to promote unity among African countries, it's flag does not replace each individual African countries flag.
10 Interesting Facts about the National Flags of Africa
1.
The most frequently used colors are green, yellow,
red and black.
2.
The flag of São Tomé and Príncipe green refers to
the plentiful vegetation of the country, while the yellow stands for the
tropical sun and cocoa, a key agricultural crop for the nation. The red evokes
the "struggle for independence", as well as equality. The two stars
on the yellow band represent the two islands that make up the country.
3.
The flag of Rwanda was adopted on October 25,
2001, the blue band represents happiness and peace, the yellow band symbolizes
economic development, and the green band symbolizes the hope of prosperity. The
sun represents enlightenment.
4.
South Africa’s flag is rectangular; it is one and
a half times as long as it is wide having horizontal bands of red (on the top) and blue
(on the bottom), of equal width, separated by a central green band which splits
into a horizontal "Y" shape, the arms of which end at the corners of
the hoist side (and follow the flag's diagonals). The Y embraces a black
isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands;
the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow
white stripes.
5.
The flag of the Central African Republic was
adopted on December 1, 1958. Barthélemy Boganda, the first president of the independent
territory of Oubangui-Chari, who believed that “France and Africa must march
together”, designed it. Therefore, he combined the blue, white and red of the
French tricolor and the Pan-African colors red, green and yellow.
6.
The flag of the Union of the Comoros contains of a
white crescent with four white stars inside of a green triangle. The flag has
four stripes, representing four islands of the nation: yellow is for Mohéli,
white is for Mayotte (claimed by Comoros but administered by France), red is
for Anjouan, and blue is for Grande Comore. The star and crescent symbol stands
for Islam, which is the nation's major religion.
7.
The flag of Egypt is tricolor consisting of the
three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Arab Liberation flag
dating back to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The flag bears Egypt's national
emblem, the Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band.
8.
The flag of Botswana is a flag consisting of a
light blue field cut horizontally in the center by a black stripe with a thin
white frame; it is one of the few African flags that utilize neither the colors
of the Pan-Africanist movement nor the colors of the country's leading
political party.
9.
The flag of Zimbabwe consists of seven even
horizontal stripes of green, gold, red and black with a white triangle
containing a red 5-pointed star with a Zimbabwe Bird. The present design was
adopted on 18 April 1980, when Zimbabwe won its independence from the United
Kingdom.
10.
The flag of Sierra Leone is a tricolor consisting
of three horizontal green, white and blue bands. It was adopted in 1961, Sierra
Leone's independence year.
