---
title: "Flag of Chad: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Chad flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/chad/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Chad

**The flag of Chad: Three equal vertical bands of indigo blue at the hoist, gold and red.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1959

*[Flag drawn on the page: Chad]*

Chad and Romania have flags that differ only in the shade of the hoist band, and by nothing else at all — same three colours, same order, same 2:3 ratio, no emblem on either. Chad chose the design in 1959 from the French tricolour combined with pan-African colours, replacing an original green band with blue precisely to avoid clashing with Mali. Romania has flown its plain tricolour since 1989 and a version with arms long before that, so both countries have a fair claim to priority. In 2004 Chad asked the United Nations to look into the duplication; Romania's president replied that his country would not change, and nothing further happened.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Chad, Romania]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Romania | Only the blue. Chad's is a dark indigo (#002664); Romania's is a brighter cobalt (#002B7F). At a distance, or on a screen, they are indistinguishable. |
| Moldova and Andorra | Same three colours, but both carry a coat of arms on the yellow band. |

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Blue** (#002664) — The sky, hope and water — a dark indigo, not a cobalt
- **Gold** (#FECB00) — The sun and the desert of the north
- **Red** (#C60C30) — Progress, unity and sacrifice

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1959
- **Colours:** blue, gold, red

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Chad look like?

Three equal vertical bands of indigo blue at the hoist, gold and red.

### What do the colours of the Chad flag mean?

Blue: the sky, hope and water — a dark indigo, not a cobalt. Gold: the sun and the desert of the north. Red: progress, unity and sacrifice.

### How do you tell the Chad flag from the Romania one?

Only the blue. Chad's is a dark indigo (#002664); Romania's is a brighter cobalt (#002B7F). At a distance, or on a screen, they are indistinguishable.

### When was the Chad flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1959, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Chad](https://atoneplace.net/country/chad/)
- [The flag of Romania](https://atoneplace.net/flag/romania/)
- [Every flag with blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/blue/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]