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

# The flag of Mali

**The flag of Mali: Three equal vertical bands of green, yellow and red, with no emblem.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1961

*[Flag drawn on the page: Mali]*

Mali flew this flag with a black stylised human figure — a kanaga — on the yellow band for its first year, and removed it in 1961 after objections from Muslim religious opinion to the depiction of the human form. What is left is the simplest flag in the green-yellow-red family, and the one every other member is distinguished from. The colours are Pan-African in the Ghanaian sense, adopted at independence from France in 1960. Guinea's flag is the exact reverse, which is a deliberate mirror rather than an accident.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Mali, Senegal]*

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

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Senegal | Senegal adds a green star on the yellow band. |
| Guinea | Guinea is the same three colours in reverse order — red at the hoist. |
| Cameroon | Cameroon adds a yellow star on the red 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.*

- **Green** (#14B53A) — The fertility of the land
- **Yellow** (#FCD116) — Purity, and the country's mineral wealth
- **Red** (#CE1126) — The blood shed for independence

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1961
- **Colours:** green, yellow, red

## Common questions

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

Three equal vertical bands of green, yellow and red, with no emblem.

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

Green: the fertility of the land. Yellow: purity, and the country's mineral wealth. Red: the blood shed for independence.

### How do you tell the Mali flag from the Senegal one?

Senegal adds a green star on the yellow band.

### When was the Mali flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1961, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Mali](https://atoneplace.net/country/mali/)
- [The flag of Senegal](https://atoneplace.net/flag/senegal/)
- [The flag of Cameroon](https://atoneplace.net/flag/cameroon/)
- [Every flag with green in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/green/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)
- [The flag of Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mexico/)
- [The flag of Ireland](https://atoneplace.net/flag/ireland/)
- [The flag of South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-africa/)
- [The flag of Jamaica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/jamaica/)
- [The flag of Pakistan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/pakistan/)

## Sources

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