Madagascar Flag

The national flag of the Republic of Madagascar is a rectangle composed of a white band running vertically on the hoist side and two horizontal bands of equal size on the fly side of the flag. The top horizontal stripe is red and the bottom one is green. The flag was adopted on October 14, 1958, two years before Madagascar gained independence.

The three colors on the flag stand for the nation’s traditional social classes, history, and the pursuit for independence. Red and white were colors used in the flag of the Merina kingdom which collapsed in 1896. The two colors may also represent the Malagasy people originating from South East Asia in Indonesia, which is composed of the two colors. Green represents the Hova people and their contribution to the fight for Madagascar’s independence from France.

No information is known about the designer of Madagascar's flag.

From 1896 to 1958, the island of Madagascar was a French colony, and the French flag was used. There are several versions of the current flag that are used by the military.