Flag of Rwanda

What the flag of Rwanda looks like

The flag of Rwanda has three horizontal bands. The top band is sky blue and covers half of the flag's height. Below it are two narrower bands of equal height, each a quarter of the flag: yellow in the middle and green at the bottom. The proportions are 2:3.

A golden-yellow sun with 24 rays sits in the upper fly corner, the corner farthest from the flagpole, inside the blue band. The sun is drawn as a small disc surrounded by a ring of straight rays, with a thin blue ring between the disc and the rays.

You can see how it looks as an icon on the Rwanda flag emoji page and download the image from the download page.

Rwanda flag meaning and symbolism

The meanings officially given for the flag are:

• Blue for happiness and peace.
• Yellow for economic development.
• Green for hope for prosperity. The flag is also described as showing the sun illuminating Rwanda's abundant vegetation.
• The golden sun for national unity, transparency and the enlightenment of the Rwandan people.

The designer intended the flag as a symbol of unity, patriotism and hope. The colors and their meanings are set out in Rwandan law no. 34/2008. The design is defined in Article 9 of the constitution. The red of the previous flag was dropped when the flag was replaced.

History of the Rwanda flag

Rwanda was part of German East Africa from the late 1800s. After the First World War, it passed to Belgium under a League of Nations mandate and later became a UN trust territory. Under Belgian rule it used Belgian symbols.

Rwanda gained its independence on 1 July 1962. The republic had adopted its own flag in 1961, a vertical tricolor of red, yellow and green with a large black letter R in the center of the yellow stripe. It was proclaimed after the coup of Gitarama on 28 January 1961, which abolished the monarchy. Its design was identical to the flag of Guinea, so the letter was added in late September 1961 to tell it apart. The R stood for Rwanda, revolution and referendum.

After the 1994 genocide, the new government announced in 1999 that it would change a flag that had become associated with the genocide and Hutu extremism. A nationwide contest was held, and the design of the artist and engineer Alphonse Kirimobenecyo was chosen. Parliament voted on 25 October 2001 to amend the constitution to change the national symbols, and the new flag was adopted, along with a new anthem, on 31 December 2001.

Rwanda flag compared with other flags

The current Rwandan flag has no close lookalike. The old Rwandan flag was identical to that of Guinea, and a black R was added to it to tell them apart. Mali also uses red, yellow and green in vertical bands.