🇨🇫 The colours of the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic’s flag brings together blue, white, green, yellow and red, each with its own meaning. Blue and white stand for France, green and yellow for Africa, and the red stripe links them, symbolising unity and shared respect. The yellow star marks independence and hope for the future.

Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.

• The flag was adopted in 1958 and has not changed since.
• Red connects the French and African colours, symbolising unity.
• The yellow star stands for independence and African unity.
• Each colour on the flag has a specific meaning set by its designer.
• A proposed flag change in 1976 was never adopted.

The colours of the flag of the Central African Republic

The flag of the Central African Republic uses five colours: blue, white, green, yellow and red. Blue and white are linked to France, while green and yellow stand for Africa. The vertical red stripe is meant to connect these pairs, showing unity and mutual respect between Europeans and Africans. Each colour also has its own meaning: blue for the sky and freedom, white for peace and dignity, green for hope and faith, yellow for tolerance, and red for the blood shared by all people. The yellow star in the top left stands for independence, as well as African unity and progress. These meanings are described in official sources and by the flag’s designer.

How the colours were chosen of the Central African Republic

Barthélemy Boganda designed the flag in 1958, originally for a proposed union called the United States of Latin Africa. The colours were chosen to represent both the four territories of French Equatorial Africa and France itself. Boganda explained that the red stripe symbolises the blood shed for both France and Africa. The flag was kept even after a brief period in 1976 when President Bokassa considered changing it to include Islamic symbols. When Bokassa declared himself emperor, a new imperial standard was used for his personal emblem, but the national flag remained unchanged.

Official shades and rules of the Central African Republic

The Constitution describes the flag as having four equal horizontal bands—blue, white, green and yellow—with a red vertical band of equal width crossing them in the centre. A yellow five-pointed star sits in the upper left corner. No official colour shades or proportions beyond these details are specified in the sources.