Flag of Equatorial Guinea

What the flag of Equatorial Guinea looks like

The flag has three horizontal bands of equal height: green on top, white in the middle and red at the bottom. A blue isosceles triangle is placed at the hoist, the side nearest the flagpole, and its point reaches toward the center of the flag. The proportions are 2:3.

The coat of arms is centered on the white band. It is a grey shield with a silk-cotton tree (a ceiba) in the middle and six six-pointed stars. Below the shield, a ribbon carries the national motto in Spanish, Unidad, Paz, Justicia (Unity, Peace, Justice). That Spanish motto is the only text on the flag, which reflects the country's history as a Spanish colony; Spanish is one of the three official languages, together with French and Portuguese.

The flag is easy to recognize among African flags because it combines a horizontal tricolor, a triangle and an emblem. You can see the emoji version at the Equatorial Guinea flag emoji page.

Equatorial Guinea flag meaning and symbolism

The commonly cited meanings of the colors are:

• Green for the country's vegetation.
• White for peace.
• Red for the blood shed in the struggle for independence.
• Blue for the ocean that connects the different parts of the country.

According to local legend, indigenous and Spanish representatives signed their first treaty under a silk-cotton tree, which is why the tree is at the center of the coat of arms.

The six stars stand for the country's continental territory and five islands: the mainland region of Río Muni and the five islands of Bioko, Annobón, Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico. Bioko lies in the Gulf of Guinea, apart from the mainland, and the blue triangle is read as the ocean linking the different parts of the country.

History of the Equatorial Guinea flag

Before independence the territory was ruled by Spain and used Spanish flags. Equatorial Guinea became independent from Spain on 12 October 1968. The flag raised that day had the green, white and red bands and the blue triangle; the coat of arms, adopted at independence, was added to the flag later.

In 1978, President Francisco Macías Nguema changed the coat of arms (and with it the flag) to one with a sword, a dagger, an axe, a club, a hoe and a pickaxe, crowned with a chicken. He was overthrown by his nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on 21 August 1979, and the earlier symbols were restored.

The name Equatorial Guinea refers to the country's position near the equator. The name does not appear on the flag.

Flags that look like the Equatorial Guinea flag

The country is often mixed up with its neighbors in name rather than appearance. Guinea has a red, yellow and green vertical tricolor, and Guinea-Bissau a red, yellow and green flag with a black star. Neither has a triangle or a tree. Among horizontal green, white and red flags, the Equatorial Guinea flag is set apart by its blue triangle and its emblem.