Burkina Faso Flag

How to identify it

Red over green with a single yellow five-pointed star in the centre where the two bands meet.

Design and construction

Proportions

2:3

Adoption and legal status

Adopted 4 August 1984, the first anniversary of Thomas Sankara's 1983 coup, when Upper Volta was renamed Burkina Faso; confirmed by Article 34 of the 1991 constitution.

Construction

Two equal horizontal bands, red above green, with a yellow five-pointed star centred where they meet.

Officially documented meaning

Per contemporary statements from the Comité de Défense de la Révolution, red symbolises the revolutionary struggle, green stands for agricultural abundance and hope, and the yellow star represents the guiding ideology of the revolution.

History of the design

It replaced Upper Volta's 1959 black-white-red tricolour, whose stripes had represented the country's three Volta rivers.

Sources