Benin Flag

How to identify it

A green vertical band next to the flagpole with yellow above red on the outer half. Ghana and others use the same colours, but only Benin splits them this way.

Design and construction

Proportions

2:3

Adoption and legal status

Adopted 16 November 1959 as the flag of the autonomous Republic of Dahomey, retained at independence in 1960, replaced from 1975 to 1990 by a plain green flag with a red star under Marxist-Leninist rule, then restored on 1 August 1990 after the National Conference that ended one-party rule.

Construction

A green vertical band at the hoist beside horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red (bottom) on the fly side.

Officially documented meaning

Per Benin's national anthem, green stands for hope and revival, red for the courage of the ancestors, and yellow for the country's wealth, traditionally linked to the savannas of the north.

History of the design

The 1959 tricolour used the pan-African colours associated with Ethiopia's flag and with other newly independent African states of the period; it was dropped for 15 years under the Marxist-Leninist People's Republic of Benin before being reinstated unchanged in 1990.

Sources