Flag of Cape Verde
A blue field with three thin horizontal stripes of white, red and white below the middle. A ring of ten yellow five-pointed stars is centred on the red stripe, closer to the hoist.
What the flag means
The government gives blue as the sea and sky, white as peace and red as the effort of building the nation. The stripes are the road to building the country. The ten stars are the ten islands, set in a circle for national unity.
History
Cape Verde's first flag, hoisted at independence from Portugal on 5 July 1975, was based on the flag of the PAIGC, the party that led both Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau to independence. After the Movement for Democracy defeated the PAICV in the 1991 election, a contest was held for a new flag. The architect Pedro Gregório won with a design meant not to be confused with any other country's flag, and an amended constitution made it official in September 1992.
Santa Luzia, one of the ten islands the stars represent, has been uninhabited since 1960.
Earlier flags of Cape Verde
- 1975–1992Red hoist band with a black star, corn and shell; yellow over green bands
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Cape Verde
- Flags of the World: Cape Verde
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
