Flag of Senegal

What the flag means

No law defines the meanings, but the government's website has given them. Green is linked to Islam, to hope for Christians and to fertility in animist belief. Yellow is for wealth and culture, and red for sacrifice and the fight against underdevelopment. The five points of the star are for openness to the five continents.

History

Senegal and French Sudan formed the Mali Federation on 4 April 1959, with a green, yellow and red tricolour bearing a black kanaga figure in the centre. The federation became independent on 20 June 1960 and broke up two months later. When Senegal left on 20 August 1960, it kept the stripes and put a green star in place of the figure.

Earlier flags of Senegal

1. 1958–1959Green field with a yellow star in the centre
2. 1959–1960Mali Federation tricolour of green, yellow and red with a black kanaga figure

Flags that look like this one

MaliSenegalGuineaCameroon

Mali is a plain green, yellow, red vertical tricolour. Senegal adds a green star in the middle. Guinea reverses the order to red, yellow, green. Cameroon is green, red, yellow with a yellow star in the centre.

Flags of Senegal's neighbours

• Gambia
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Mali
• Mauritania