Flags With Stars

What do stars mean on flags?

Stars on flags usually stand for unity, independence or ideals. In federal countries, each star can count a state or a province. On the flag of the United States there are 50 stars, one for each state. Brazil has 27 stars, which represent its 26 states and the federal district, arranged as the night sky over Rio de Janeiro on the day the republic was proclaimed.

A red star often signals socialism or communism. China has one large and four small yellow stars on red, and Vietnam has a single yellow star on a red field. North Korea has a red star on a white disc.

Stars are also common on African flags. Ghana has a black star at the center of a red, gold and green flag, and Somalia flies a white five-pointed star on light blue.

Notable flags with stars

• Australia and New Zealand both show the Southern Cross on a blue field with the Union Jack in the corner. Australia adds a larger Commonwealth Star.
• Cape Verde has a ring of ten yellow stars on blue, and the Cook Islands have a ring of fifteen.
• Venezuela has an arc of eight stars across the center of its yellow, blue and red tricolor.
• Syria has three red stars on a white stripe, and Honduras has five blue stars in the center.
• Chile has a single white star in a blue square, next to a white and red field.
• Morocco has a green pentagram on a red field, and Turkey and Pakistan pair a star with a crescent.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina has a row of white stars along a yellow triangle on blue.

Facts about star flags

The 50-star American flag has been used since 1960, after Hawaii joined as the 50th state. A single star on a flag is the most common design, but how the points are arranged varies: most are five-pointed, while the Marshall Islands has a star with 24 rays and Nauru a twelve-pointed one.

Many African countries adopted star flags at independence in the 1950s and 1960s, and Ghana's 1957 black star inspired the flags of Guinea-Bissau and several others. In the Pacific, the Southern Cross is a regional symbol seen on the flags of Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Tokelau as well.