Pan-African Tricolor Flags
Trace how the Ethiopian green-yellow-red palette and French vertical tricolor combined in the independence flags of Guinea, Chad, Senegal, and Mali.
Vexillological background
During the late 1950s and 1960s decolonization of West and Central Africa, newly independent republics adopted the green, gold, and red palette associated with Ethiopia—Africa's oldest continuous sovereign state—arranged in the vertical three-band layout of the French Tricolore.
Because Mali, Guinea, and Senegal use the exact same three colors in vertical bands on a 2:3 cloth, their hoist-to-fly order and central star are essential diagnostic markers.
Flags in this collection (5)
Comparison table
| Entity | Category | Ratio | Layout | Primary colors | Adopted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad | countries | 2:3 | vertical tricolor | blue, yellow, red | 1959-11-06 |
| Mali | countries | 2:3 | vertical tricolor | green, yellow, red | 1961-03-01 |
| Guinea | countries | 2:3 | vertical tricolor | red, yellow, green | 1958-11-10 |
| Senegal | countries | 2:3 | vertical tricolor | green, yellow, red | 1960-08-20 |
| South Africa | countries | 2:3 | horizontal hoist triangle | green, black, yellow, white, red, blue | 1994-04-27 |