The Republic of Senegal is a West African country whose name comes from the river of the same name. Its territory is 196.7 thousand square kilometers and its population is 14 million people.
This is how the modern flag of Senegal looks like:
History of the flag
Until the middle of the second millennium A.D. the formation of states in the western region of Africa took place from among the peoples and ethnic groups living there. In the 15th century the first Europeans, the Portuguese, appeared in Senegal. From the 17th to the end of the 19th century the region was gradually colonized by the French and for obvious reasons the French tricolor was used as a symbol.
From the beginning of the twentieth century until its middle, Senegal was in close relationship with another French colony, Mali, and in 1959-1960 was administratively united with it in the federation of Mali. The official symbol of that period was a cloth similar to the modern flag only with the difference that a human silhouette was represented in the center.
Before joining the federation in 1958, Senegal was declared a self-governing territory of the French Community with its own symbol.
As a result of political conflicts, the federation of Mali broke up in 1960 and Senegal gained independence. In August of the same year a new version of the flag was adopted.
Description
The flag of Senegal is a rectangular cloth, the sides of which are in proportion as 2 to 3. It is described in the relevant article of the country’s constitution as consisting of three equal vertical stripes of green, gold, and red. In the central part of the gold stripe there is a five-pointed star of green color.
In practice, yellow is usually used instead of golden color for the middle strip.
Flag colors
Three colors are used on the symbol of the Republic: green yellow (gold), red.
Meaning of colors and flag symbol
The colors used on the symbol are colors typical of Pan-African states.
- Green is the color of the Prophet for Muslims, for Christians it is a symbol of hope and fertility.
- Gold is wealth for the working people, a solution to their economic problems. Gold (yellow) symbolizes intelligence, art, writing.
- Red is blood, the memory of sacrifice, on the part of the entire nation, as well as the color of life, the desire of every inhabitant to fight against underdevelopment.
The five-pointed star symbolizes the sky and high spiritual aspirations. Its green tone represents the independence of the Republic of Senegal and the hope for the future. The five rays of the star signify the knowledge of the country on five continents.
Similar flags
The flag of the Republic of Senegal has similarities with the state symbols of such countries as:
- Cameroon,
- Guinea,
- Mali.
Interesting facts about the flag
The colors of the official symbol of the country have another interpretation. The three colors are the three political parties that united in the Senegalese Union of Progressives (now the Socialist Party of Senegal:
- green – Democratic bloc;
- yellow – People’s Movement;
- red – the party of socialist action.
The five-pointed star recalls the human ideogram depicted in the center of the symbol of the disintegrated federation of Mali.
General information about Senegal
| Official language | French,
Arabic (Hesania) has the status of a national language |
| Capital | Dakar |
| Territory | 196,722 km² |
| Population | 13,300,410 people |
| Currency | Frank CFA |
| Phone Code | +221 |
