Ghana Flag

The current flag of Ghana is divided into three equal horizontal portions. From top to bottom, the parts are painted red, yellow, and green. At the center, on the part painted yellow, is a black five-pointed star. The national flag of Ghana was adopted in the year 1957. The government flew the flag from 1957-1962. Then the flag was reinstated in 1966. The flag has different variations for its use as a national, air force, and civil air ensign.

The red, yellow, and green colors are often known as the Pan-African colors. The red color on the Ghanaian flag symbolizes the blood of those who died for the country’s independence. Yellow represents the mineral resources in Ghana. Green, on the other hand, is symbolic of the country’s forests and natural vegetation. The black star was adopted from the flag of Marcus Garvey’s shipping line called the Black Star Line. The line operated between 1919 and 1922.

The designer of the Ghanaian flag was Theodosia Salome Okoh. She was a popular teacher and artist. Theodosia designed Ghana’s flag in 1957.

Before the flag used today, there were other flags used in Ghana. For instance, between 1961 and 1962, Ghana used the Union of African States flag. The union’s flag was similar to the current flag save for the fact that the middle yellow part had three five-pointed stars instead of one. Afterwards, from 1962-1966, the Ghana national flag was divided into three horizontal sections. It was painted red, white, and green from top to bottom. In the white area was a black star. In the following years, the previous flag was used but with the colors interchanged. Instead of red, white, and yellow the colors were red, yellow, and green respectively.