The Secret History Behind the Central African Republic's Flag
The flag of the Central African Republic mixes two families of colors on purpose.
It was adopted on December 1, 1958, when the territory became an autonomous republic, and it is credited to Barthélemy Boganda, the first prime minister. It was originally imagined as the flag of a wider union he proposed, the United States of Latin Africa.
Four horizontal bands, blue, white, green and yellow, are crossed by a vertical red band, and a yellow star sits in the upper hoist corner. Boganda combined the blue, white and red of the French tricolor with the red, yellow and green of the pan-African flags, to show the solidarity between the two worlds. The red band is described as the blood shed by all peoples, and the yellow star as independence and unity.
The date printed on every Central African Republic design in our catalog, August 13, 1960, is Independence Day.
Two families of colors on one flag.
Looking for a gift with a story? See our heritage gift guide, or read the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Stories page.