🇨🇮 The colours of Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast’s flag features three upright bands: orange, white, and green. Official explanations link orange to the land and the people’s efforts, white to peace and order, and green to hope for the future. These meanings reflect both the country’s geography and its aspirations after independence.

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

• The flag was first adopted in December 1959.
• Orange, white, and green are used in equal-sized vertical stripes.
• Orange stands for the land and the people’s efforts.
• Green is linked to hope for the future.
• The flag’s proportions are 2:3.

The colours of the flag of Ivory Coast

The flag of Ivory Coast is made up of three vertical stripes of equal size: orange, white, and green. Orange is said to stand for the country’s land, the hard work of its people, and their sacrifices. White is linked to peace and a sense of order. Green is meant to symbolise hope and the promise of better days ahead. These meanings were set out by a government minister soon after the flag was chosen, and are repeated by the president’s office. Some also connect the colours to the country’s geography, with orange for the savannas in the north and green for the forests in the south, but this is not an official explanation.

How the colours were chosen of Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast adopted its own flag in 1959, a year after gaining self-government from France. The choice of orange, white, and green was a clear move away from both the French tricolour and the pan-African colours used by other new states in the region. A French official had suggested a flag similar to France’s, but Ivorians wanted something distinct. After independence in 1960, there was a proposal to change the orange band to red, to show a willingness to defend the new nation, but this was rejected. The original flag has remained unchanged in every constitution since.

Official shades and rules of Ivory Coast

The flag’s design is set out in the country’s constitution: three vertical bands of orange, white, and green, all the same width. The flag’s proportions are two units high to three units long. For official use, some organisations specify Pantone 151 for orange and Pantone 347 for green, or hex codes #F39200 and #009649. There is no official shade given for white.