---
title: "Flag of Ghana: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Ghana 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/ghana/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Ghana

**The flag of Ghana: Three equal horizontal bands of red, gold and green, with a black five-pointed star centred on the gold.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1957

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence, in 1957, and its flag became the template: red, gold and green with a black star spread across the continent as the emblem of decolonisation. The black star comes from the Black Star Line, the shipping company Marcus Garvey founded in 1919 to link the African diaspora, and it gives the national football team its name. The flag was designed by Theodosia Okoh, a teacher and artist, and briefly had a white central stripe between 1964 and 1966. Ethiopia's green-gold-red is a separate and older tradition that the same colours also draw on.

## Flags it gets confused with

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Bolivia | Bolivia is red-yellow-green in the same order but has no star. |
| Guinea and Mali | Both use vertical bands of the same colours. |

## 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.*

- **Red** (#CE1126) — The blood of those who died for independence
- **Gold** (#FCD116) — The country's mineral wealth — it was the Gold Coast
- **Green** (#006B3F) — Forests and natural wealth

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Black star | African emancipation; taken from Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line shipping company |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1957
- **Colours:** red, gold, green

## Common questions

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

Three equal horizontal bands of red, gold and green, with a black five-pointed star centred on the gold.

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

Red: the blood of those who died for independence. Gold: the country's mineral wealth — it was the Gold Coast. Green: forests and natural wealth.

### How do you tell the Ghana flag from the Bolivia one?

Bolivia is red-yellow-green in the same order but has no star.

### When was the Ghana flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1957, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Ghana](https://atoneplace.net/country/ghana/)
- [The flag of Bolivia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/bolivia/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]