🇬🇼 The colours of Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau’s flag uses red, yellow, green, and black. Red recalls the struggle for independence, yellow and green stand for the country’s savannas and forests as well as agriculture, and the black star is linked to African identity and leadership.

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

• The flag was first used in 1973, at independence from Portugal.
• Its colours are based on the Pan-African palette of red, yellow, and green.
• The black star stands for African unity and leadership.
• Yellow and green represent the country’s savannas and forests.
• No official law defines the exact shades of the flag’s colours.

The colours of the flag of Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau’s flag is divided into three parts: a vertical red band on the left with a black five-pointed star, and two horizontal bands on the right, yellow above green. The red stands for the sacrifices made during the independence movement, while the yellow and green refer to the country’s different landscapes—savannas in the north and forests in the south. The black star is a symbol of African identity and unity, linked to the leadership that guided the country to independence. These meanings are drawn from both official sources and popular interpretations.

How the colours were chosen of Guinea-Bissau

The flag’s design traces back to the early 1960s, when the main independence movement chose colours and symbols inspired by neighbouring countries’ flags and the Pan-African movement. The black star was already a recognised sign of resistance to colonial rule. The flag originally included the initials of the independence party, but these were dropped for the national flag adopted in 1973. The colours and layout were chosen to reflect both the geography of Guinea-Bissau and the broader ideals of African unity.

Official shades and rules of Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau’s laws describe the flag’s layout but do not specify exact colour shades or proportions. The constitution and official documents mention the arrangement of the bands and the black star’s five points, but leave details like the flag’s ratio and colour codes undefined. Some international organisations have adopted their own standards for the flag’s colours.