Flag of Ivory Coast
Three equal vertical bands of orange, white and green, with orange at the hoist.
What the flag means
Minister of State Jean Delafosse explained the colours to the Legislative Assembly after the vote: orange for the land, white for peace and green for hope. The presidency has given the same explanation. Whitney Smith calls the reading of orange as the northern savanna and green as the southern forests unofficial.
History
Ivory Coast became an autonomous state within the French Community on 4 December 1958, which allowed it a flag of its own. Law No. 59-240 of 3 December 1959 adopted the tricolour. After independence on 7 August 1960, a deputy, Augustin Loubao, proposed changing the orange to red, but the constitution of 3 November 1960 kept the flag. The 2000 and 2016 constitutions define it in the same way.
The flag is Ireland's tricolour in reverse order. Ulster loyalists have burned Ivorian flags by mistake, including on a Belfast bonfire in 2013.
Flags that look like this one
Ireland is green, white, orange from the flagpole side. Ivory Coast is the mirror image: orange, white, green. Italy swaps the orange for red.
Flags of Ivory Coast's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Ivory Coast
- Flags of the World: Côte d'Ivoire
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
