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The flag of South Sudan

The flag of South Sudan
Black, red and green horizontal bands separated by thin white stripes, with a blue triangle at the hoist bearing a gold five-pointed star.
Ratio 1:2 · current design adopted 2011

This is the newest national flag of any UN member state, raised at independence on 9 July 2011, though the design had served as the SPLM's flag since 2005. Its six colours match South Africa's and Belize's at the top of the count. The star is officially the Star of Bethlehem, a Christian reference unusual on an African flag and reflecting the country's religious makeup. Kenya's flag uses the same black-red-green with white fimbriations, from the same Pan-African source.

Flags it gets confused with

Flag How to tell them apart
Kenya Kenya has no blue triangle and carries a Maasai shield at the centre.
Sudan Sudan's bands are red, white and black with a green triangle.

What the colours mean

  • Black #000000 The people of South Sudan
  • Red #DA121A The blood shed for freedom
  • Green #078930 The land and its agricultural wealth
  • White #FFFFFF Peace, in the dividing stripes
  • Blue #0F47AF The waters of the Nile
  • Gold #FCDD09 The Star of Bethlehem, for unity

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.

Ratio
1:2
Current design adopted
2011
Colours
black, red, green, white, blue, gold

Common questions

What does the flag of South Sudan look like?
Black, red and green horizontal bands separated by thin white stripes, with a blue triangle at the hoist bearing a gold five-pointed star.
What do the colours of the South Sudan flag mean?
Black: the people of South Sudan. Red: the blood shed for freedom. Green: the land and its agricultural wealth. White: peace, in the dividing stripes. Blue: the waters of the Nile. Gold: the Star of Bethlehem, for unity.
How do you tell the South Sudan flag from the Kenya one?
Kenya has no blue triangle and carries a Maasai shield at the centre.
When was the South Sudan flag adopted?
The current design dates from 2011, and its official ratio is 1:2.

Related pages

Sources

  1. The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))

How these figures are compiled and checked