The Central African Republic

The Flag of the Central African Republic

The Flag was adopted in 1958, on December 1, and was designed by Barthelemy Boganda. He was the President of the autonomous territory of Oubangui-Chari. He believed that "France and Africa must march together." And thus, he combined the common pan-African colours of red, yellow and green, with the colours of the French tricolour, red, white and blue. On independence, the name was changed to Central African Republic.

The flag was designed with 4 horizontal stripes, blue, white, green and yellow. A fifth red stripe was set vertically running up the centre of the flag.

 The blue colour represents the sky and freedom, the white stands for peace and dignity, the green represents hope and faith, and the yellow stands for tolerance. The red stands for the blood of those who died, and will die, to defend the values on which the Republic was founded. Which is why the red stripe spreads vertically over all the others.

In the top hoist canton, on the blue, is a gold star. This signifies the independence of the nation, and the hope for a bright future.