Flag of Liberia
Eleven horizontal stripes alternating red and white, beginning and ending with red, and a blue square canton with a white five-pointed star.
What the flag means
The eleven stripes stand for the signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence. The white star is usually explained as Liberia, the first independent republic in Africa, and the blue canton as the African continent.
History
The colony's flag, used from 1827, copied the United States flag but had a white cross in the canton. On 10 July 1847 Governor Joseph Jenkins Roberts asked Susannah Lewis to lead a committee of seven women who sewed a new flag. Independence was declared on 26 July, and the new design, with eleven stripes and a single star in place of the cross, was first raised in Monrovia on 24 August 1847.
24 August is Flag Day in Liberia, a national holiday since an act signed by President Daniel Edward Howard on 24 October 1915.
Earlier flags of Liberia
- 1827–1847Stripes like the United States flag, with a white cross on the blue canton
Flags that look like this one
Red and white stripes with a blue canton. The United States has 13 stripes and 50 stars. Liberia has 11 stripes and one large star. Malaysia has 14 stripes and a yellow crescent and star.
Flags of Liberia's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Liberia
- Flags of the World: Liberia
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
