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

# The flag of Senegal

**The flag of Senegal: Three equal vertical bands of green, yellow and red, with a green five-pointed star on the yellow.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1960

*[Flag drawn on the page: Senegal]*

Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Cameroon all fly vertical green-yellow-red tricolours, and the differences are small: Senegal adds a green star in the centre, Mali has nothing, Guinea reverses the order to red-yellow-green, and Cameroon puts a yellow star on the red band. Senegal briefly flew Mali's flag with a black human figure on the yellow band, during the two-month Mali Federation of 1960. The figure was removed when the federation dissolved, on the grounds that some Muslim communities objected to depicting the human form. The star sits in the exact centre of the flag.

## Flags it gets confused with

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

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

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Mali | Mali has the same three bands and no star. |
| Cameroon | Cameroon's star is yellow and sits on the red band, not green on yellow. |
| Guinea | Guinea has the same colours in the reverse order, red at the hoist, and no star. |

## 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** (#00853F) — Hope, and Islam; also the prophet's colour
- **Yellow** (#FDEF42) — The country's wealth and the fruits of labour
- **Red** (#E31B23) — The struggle for independence and the sacrifice it cost

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Green star | Openness to the world, and the five continents |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1960
- **Colours:** green, yellow, red

## Common questions

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

Three equal vertical bands of green, yellow and red, with a green five-pointed star on the yellow.

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

Green: hope, and Islam; also the prophet's colour. Yellow: the country's wealth and the fruits of labour. Red: the struggle for independence and the sacrifice it cost.

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

Mali has the same three bands and no star.

### When was the Senegal flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1960, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Senegal](https://atoneplace.net/country/senegal/)
- [The flag of Mali](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mali/)
- [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)]