The Republic of the Congo

The National Flag of the Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo is also known as Congo-Brazzaville, or simply as The Congo. It used to be a French colony, and adopted its flag 1958. Using the common pan-African colours of red, yellow and green. However, setting them in a diagonal pattern helps to differentiate it from many of the others with the same colours. The flag was kept on independence from France in 1960.

However, in 1970, a successful coup by militant leftist groups saw Marien Ngouabi installed as the new leader. He formed a Marxist-Leninist party known as the Congolese Labour Party. Turning the nation into a Communist state, the national assembly was also abolished.

The flag they adopted was a red banner, like many of its Communist cousins, featuring the state emblem in the upper hoist canton.

The Congolese Labour Party maintained its grip on the Congo for 2 decades, and finally, the Sovereign National Conference dropped the word "Peoples" from the country's name, and ended the regime of the Congolese Labour Party. As the nation moved back to being a multi party democracy, the original tricolour flag was re-adopted.