---
title: "Flag of Nigeria: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Nigeria flag stands for, its official 1:2 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/nigeria/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Nigeria

**The flag of Nigeria: Three equal vertical bands of green, white and green.**

Ratio 1:2 · current design adopted 1960

*[Flag drawn on the page: Nigeria]*

The design was chosen in 1959 from nearly 3,000 entries submitted to a national competition, and the winner was Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, a 23-year-old student in London who submitted it by post. His original had a red sun in the white band; the judges removed it, which is the reason the flag is as plain as it is. Akinkunmi received £100 and no further recognition for decades. It is one of the very few national flags with only two colours and no emblem at all.

## 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** (#008751) — The country's forests and agricultural wealth
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — Peace and unity

- **Ratio:** 1:2
- **Current design adopted:** 1960
- **Colours:** green, white

## Common questions

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

Three equal vertical bands of green, white and green.

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

Green: the country's forests and agricultural wealth. White: peace and unity.

### When was the Nigeria flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1960, and its official ratio is 1:2.

## Related pages

- [Nigeria](https://atoneplace.net/country/nigeria/)
- [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)]