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

# The flag of Kenya

**The flag of Kenya: Three horizontal bands of black, red and green separated by thin white stripes, with a red, black and white Maasai shield and two crossed spears at the centre.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1963

The white fimbriations were not in the original KANU party flag it derives from; they were added in 1963 at independence specifically to represent peace, and they also solve the heraldic problem of black meeting red. The shield is a traditional Maasai design rather than a generic device, drawn from a real pattern. Kenya's reading of black, red and green descends from Marcus Garvey's Pan-African flag of 1920, which is the ancestor of that colour set across the continent and the diaspora. The flag is unusual in placing a weapon-bearing device centrally without any wreath or shield frame.

## 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.*

- **Black** (#000000) — The people of Kenya
- **Red** (#BB0000) — The blood shed in the struggle for independence
- **Green** (#006600) — The land and its natural wealth
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — Peace and unity, in the dividing stripes

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Maasai shield and spears | The defence of everything the other colours stand for |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1963
- **Colours:** black, red, green, white

## Common questions

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

Three horizontal bands of black, red and green separated by thin white stripes, with a red, black and white Maasai shield and two crossed spears at the centre.

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

Black: the people of Kenya. Red: the blood shed in the struggle for independence. Green: the land and its natural wealth. White: peace and unity, in the dividing stripes.

### When was the Kenya flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1963, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Kenya](https://atoneplace.net/country/kenya/)
- [Every flag with black in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/black/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)
- [The flag of South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-africa/)
- [The flag of Jamaica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/jamaica/)
- [The flag of Egypt](https://atoneplace.net/flag/egypt/)
- [The flag of Palestine](https://atoneplace.net/flag/palestine/)
- [The flag of Belgium](https://atoneplace.net/flag/belgium/)
- [The flag of United Arab Emirates](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-arab-emirates/)

## Sources

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