Flag of Eritrea
A red triangle based on the hoist reaches the fly and splits the flag into a green triangle above and a blue one below. In the red triangle is a yellow olive branch inside an olive wreath.
What the flag means
Eritrea's Ministry of Information gives green as agriculture and livestock, blue as the wealth of the sea and red as the blood shed in the fight for independence. The wreath has 30 leaves for the 30 years of armed struggle.
History
The olive emblem comes from the blue flag chosen in 1952, when Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia. Haile Selassie later banned that flag. At its 1977 congress the Eritrean People's Liberation Front put forward a flag of red, green and blue triangles with a yellow star. After independence on 24 May 1993 the star was replaced by the olive wreath. In 1995 the wreath was fixed at 30 leaves and the proportions changed from 2:3 to 1:2.
Earlier flags of Eritrea
- 1952–1962Blue flag with olive branches, used under the federation with Ethiopia
- 1993–1995Current layout in 2:3 proportions, before the wreath was fixed at 30 leaves
Flags of Eritrea's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Eritrea
- Flags of the World: Eritrea
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
