Flags With One Star

What does a single star mean on a flag?

A single star often stands for the nation itself, its unity or its freedom. On Chile's flag, the single white star sits in a blue square and is described as a guide to progress and honor. On Somalia's light blue flag, the five points stand for the five regions inhabited by Somali people.

Red flags with a lone star are strongly associated with revolution. Vietnam has a yellow star on red, and Morocco has a green pentagram. North Korea places its red star in a white disc, and Cuba puts a white star in a red triangle.

Examples of flags with one star

• Ghana: a black star on a red, gold and green flag, a symbol of African freedom.
• Liberia: a white star in a blue canton next to 11 stripes.
• Myanmar: a large white star on green, yellow and red bands.
• Senegal: a green star on the central white stripe of a green, yellow and red tricolor.
• Djibouti: a red star on a white triangle between light blue and green.
• Israel: a blue Star of David on white with two blue stripes.
• Turkey, Pakistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Azerbaijan and Libya: a star next to a crescent.

Several flags also add a coat of arms or other symbols. Mozambique has a yellow star on a red triangle along with a rifle and a hoe, and Angola has a half gear, a machete and a star.

Star shapes and colors

Most single stars have five points, but not all. Israel has a six-pointed star, Nauru a twelve-pointed one and Malaysia a fourteen-pointed star that stands for the states and the federal territory.

Colors also carry meaning. Yellow and gold often stand for wealth and hope, white for peace, and green for the land or for Islam. A black star is especially linked with Ghana and the Pan-African movement.