Flag of Djibouti
Two equal horizontal bands, light blue over green, with a white triangle at the hoist bearing a red five-pointed star.
What the flag means
The usual explanation is that light blue stands for the sea and sky, green for the earth and white for peace, with the red star for unity. An earlier reading linked the green to the Afar people and the blue to the Issa.
History
The design comes from the flag of an independence movement in French Somaliland and was in use by the early 1970s. It became the national flag when Djibouti gained independence from France on 27 June 1977, and the head of police, Yacin Yabeh Galeb, raised it for the first time that day.
A 1997 decree bans the printing of ballot papers that combine the colours of the national flag, and printers who break it can be fined.
Earlier flags of Djibouti
- 1896–1977French tricolour, used in French Somaliland
Flags of Djibouti's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Djibouti
- Flags of the World: Djibouti
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
