🇸🇷 The colours of Suriname

Suriname’s flag features green, white, red, and yellow, each chosen for its meaning. Green stands for the country’s fertile land, red for progress and hope, white for freedom and justice, and the yellow star in the centre symbolises unity and a promising future.

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

• The flag was first raised on Suriname’s Independence Day in 1975.
• Each colour on the flag has an official meaning tied to the nation’s values.
• The yellow star stands for unity and a hopeful future.
• The flag’s proportions are legally defined.
• The previous flag used five stars for ethnic groups, replaced in 1975.

The colours of the flag of Suriname

Suriname’s flag is made up of five horizontal stripes: two green at the top and bottom, two white bands inside those, and a broad red stripe in the centre. A yellow star sits in the middle. Each colour has a specific meaning: green is for the country’s fertile land, white for freedom and justice, and red for progress. The yellow star is meant to show unity among the people and the hope for a bright future. These meanings are officially recognised.

How the colours were chosen of Suriname

The current flag was created through a public competition as Suriname prepared for independence in 1975. Jack Pinas, an art teacher and designer, won the contest, though the final version was slightly changed from his original. Earlier, from 1959 to 1975, the flag showed five stars in different colours, each for a major ethnic group, linked by a black ellipse to represent harmony. This earlier design was replaced because it was seen as highlighting differences rather than unity.

Official shades and rules of Suriname

The flag’s layout is set by law: the green stripes are twice as wide as the white ones, and the red stripe in the middle is four times the width of a white stripe. The yellow star is placed in the centre. There are legal requirements for its use on vessels abroad to avoid confusion.