Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe

What the flag of São Tomé and Príncipe looks like

The flag has three horizontal stripes. The top and bottom stripes are green, and the central yellow stripe is wider than each green one. A red triangle with its base on the hoist points toward the fly. On the yellow stripe are two black five-pointed stars placed side by side. The proportions are 1:2.

The green, yellow and red are the Pan-African colors, as in the flags of Ghana and Ethiopia, with the addition of black in the stars. The São Tomé and Príncipe flag emoji reproduces the layout. Another flag from a former Portuguese colony is that of Guinea-Bissau.

São Tomé and Príncipe flag meaning and symbolism

The two stars stand for the two main islands, São Tomé and Príncipe. Black is the color of the stars and refers to the African people. Green is often read as the country's vegetation and agriculture, which is based on cocoa. Yellow stands for cocoa as well, or for the sun, and red for the struggle for independence and the blood shed in it. The meanings are traditional, and are not fixed in law.

History of the São Tomé and Príncipe flag

The islands were uninhabited when Portuguese navigators reached them around 1470, and they became a center of sugar and later cocoa plantations worked by enslaved and contract laborers. Portugal ruled until independence on 12 July 1975.

The flag draws on the colors and design of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), the independence party, and was adopted in 1975. It has stayed the same through the move to multiparty politics in 1990–91. The yellow band is wider than the green ones.

About the country

São Tomé and Príncipe lies in the Gulf of Guinea, just north of the equator, off the coast of Gabon. It is one of Africa's smallest countries, and its economy depends mostly on cocoa and, increasingly, tourism. The capital is the city of São Tomé on the larger island.