🇪🇷 The colours of Eritrea

Eritrea’s flag uses green, blue, red, and gold. Green stands for farming and livestock, blue for the sea’s resources, and red for the sacrifices made during the independence struggle. The gold olive wreath marks the thirty years of that struggle.

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

• The flag’s red triangle echoes Eritrea’s shape.
• Thirty gold leaves in the wreath mark thirty years of struggle.
• Green stands for farming and livestock.
• Blue symbolises the sea’s bounty.
• The flag’s design is based on the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front’s flag.

The colours of the flag of Eritrea

The Eritrean flag is made up of three main colours: green, blue, and red, with a gold olive branch and wreath. Green is said to represent the country’s farming and livestock, while blue stands for the sea’s resources. Red is linked to the blood lost during the long fight for independence. The gold olive wreath, with thirty leaves, marks each year of that struggle. These meanings are officially stated in the flag’s description.

How the colours were chosen of Eritrea

Eritrea’s flag has changed with its political history. In 1952, a blue flag with olive branches was chosen as a symbol of unity when Eritrea became autonomous within Ethiopia. This flag was later banned by Ethiopia, but it remained a sign of Eritrean nationalism and was used by liberation groups. The current flag, adopted in 1995, is based on the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front’s flag, with the gold star replaced by a gold olive wreath. The thirty leaves in the wreath recall the thirty years of struggle for independence.

Official shades and rules of Eritrea

The flag’s proportions are set at 1:2. The red triangle mimics the country’s shape, and the gold olive wreath is placed in the red section. There are no official shade specifications or further rules about the colours in the sources.