Flag of Eritrea

What the flag of Eritrea looks like

The flag has a width-to-height ratio of 2:1. A large red isosceles triangle starts at the hoist and points toward the fly, reaching the opposite edge. This leaves two smaller right-angled triangles, a green one on the upper side and a blue one on the lower side. The three triangles together fill the whole rectangle.

In the red triangle, near the hoist, is a gold emblem: an olive branch surrounded by a wreath made of two sprigs of olive. The yellow emblem is small compared with the flag, but it is the main feature that distinguishes it from other red, green and blue designs. A reduced version of the design appears in the Eritrea flag emoji.

Eritrea flag meaning and symbolism

Red stands for the bloodshed in the struggle for independence, green for the country's agriculture and livestock, and blue for the bounty of the sea. The shape of the red triangle broadly mimics the shape of the country.

The olive branch within a wreath is a symbol of peace. The emblem is derived from the Eritrean flag of 1952 to 1962, which showed olive branches on a blue field. The wreath has 30 leaves, one for each of the thirty years spent in the struggle for independence.

History of the Eritrean flag

Eritrea was an Italian colony from the late 19th century until 1941 and was then under British administration. In 1952, following a United Nations resolution, it became an autonomous region federated with Ethiopia. That year Eritreans settled on a blue flag with olive branches as their common symbol, and the olive branch idea was taken from it.

In 1962 Ethiopia annexed the territory and dissolved the federation, and this led to a war of independence that lasted about thirty years. The two main liberation movements, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and later the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), used their own flags. The EPLF flag, with red, green and blue triangles, is the ancestor of the present flag. The war ended in 1991, and in a referendum held in April 1993 voters overwhelmingly chose independence, which was formally declared on 24 May 1993.

Independent Eritrea first officially hoisted a flag derived from the EPLF design on 24 May 1993, with a gold wreath of 14 leaves on each side replacing the EPLF's gold star. In 1995 the number of leaves was standardized to 30 and the proportions changed from 2:3 to 1:2, and the present flag was adopted on 5 December 1995. The country marks Independence Day on 24 May.

The flag in use

Eritrea's flag stands apart from many African flags, which are based on the Pan-African palette of green, yellow and red. Its neighbor Ethiopia has a horizontal tricolor with a central emblem, so the two are easy to tell apart. To compare it with other national flags, see the flags of the world.