🇬🇭 The colours of Ghana
7 meanings recorded, 1 colour tied to the country and 2 colour cities.
Ghana’s flag features red, gold, and green stripes with a central black star. Red stands for those who died in the struggle for independence, gold for the country’s mineral wealth, and green for its forests and crops. The black star is a symbol of African unity and freedom from colonial rule.
Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.
- The flag was designed by artist Theodosia Okoh in 1957.
- Red, gold, and green are Pan-African colours, first used by Ethiopia.
- The black star symbol comes from Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line.
- From 1964–1966, the gold stripe was briefly replaced by white.
- Ghana’s football team is nicknamed the "Black Stars" after the flag.
The colours of the flag of Ghana
Ghana’s flag is made up of three horizontal stripes: red at the top, gold in the middle, and green at the bottom. In the centre of the gold stripe sits a black five-pointed star. Each colour has a specific meaning: red honours those who lost their lives in the fight for independence, gold symbolises the country’s mineral resources (especially gold), and green represents Ghana’s forests and agricultural wealth. The black star stands for African unity and the end of colonial rule. These meanings are officially recognised.
National colours of Ghana
The national colours of Ghana—red, gold, and green—are used in various state and military flags, as well as in sports, where the national football team is known as the "Black Stars" after the flag’s central symbol. The colours appear in ensigns for the navy, air force, and civil aviation, often combined with the black star or arranged as roundels or cantons. These colours are a key part of Ghana’s identity at home and abroad.
How the colours were chosen of Ghana
The flag was designed by Theodosia Okoh in 1957, the year Ghana gained independence. It was inspired by the Pan-African colours first used by Ethiopia. Ghana was the second African country to adopt these colours, though in a different order. From 1964 to 1966, the gold stripe was replaced with white to match the ruling party’s colours, but the original design was restored after a coup in 1966 due to public demand. The black star was borrowed from the Black Star Line, a shipping company linked to Marcus Garvey’s movement for African unity.
Official shades and rules of Ghana
No official shade specifications or proportions are given in the sources. The flag’s design is consistent: three equal horizontal stripes of red, gold, and green, with a black five-pointed star centred in the gold stripe. The same colours and symbols are used in related national and military flags, sometimes arranged in different patterns.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Ghana", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
What colours mean in Ghana
Customs vary by region, faith and family; these are the meanings most often recorded.
At Akan funerals the close family wear red or red and black. Red shows the sharpest grief, and it is often worn when the death was sudden or the person young.
Mourning and deathGriefSource: Akan peopleThe flag is red, gold and green with a black star. The red is for the blood of those who died in the struggle for independence, won in 1957.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Flag of GhanaThe green band of the flag stands for the forests and farmland. In kente cloth, green threads mean planting, harvest and growth.
Nature and renewalSource: Kente clothKuntunkuni is a dark brown mourning cloth of the Asante, dyed with tree bark. Adinkra cloth, stamped with symbols, was first made on such dark grounds for funerals.
Mourning and deathSadnessSource: Adinkra symbolsWhite is worn for a baby's naming day, for thanksgiving after an illness and at the funeral of someone who died very old, when the family gives thanks for a long life.
Festival and celebrationPurity and peaceJoySource: Akan peopleThe black star at the centre of the flag is the lodestar of African freedom. It gives the national football team its name, the Black Stars.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Black Star of AfricaGold is the colour of Asante kingship. The Golden Stool holds the soul of the nation, and in kente cloth gold threads stand for royalty and wealth.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: Golden StoolColour and feeling in Ghana
Among the Akan, white is worn for joyful occasions such as a birth, a victory or recovery from illness, in contrast to the dark cloth of funerals.
Among the Akan, mourners wear red and black cloth at most funerals. White is worn when the dead person lived to a great age.
Kente, woven in strips by Asante and Ewe weavers, was royal dress. Its gold-yellow is widely explained as standing for wealth and kingship.
Colours tied to Ghana
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jamestown Gh: Fkoku, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bonwire Gh: Sadads, CC BY-SA 4.0, source