Flag of Seychelles

What the flag of Seychelles looks like

The flag of Seychelles has a width-to-height ratio of 1:2. Five oblique bands spread out from the bottom corner at the hoist (the side nearest the pole) like rays from a single point, and widen as they cross the flag to the top and right edges.

From the top edge down to the bottom edge, the colors are blue, yellow, red, white and green. Blue is next to the top of the flag and green runs along the bottom. There is no emblem or text.

The shape is unusual. Most flags are built from horizontal or vertical stripes, a cross or a canton. The radiating bands are meant to suggest movement and a country that looks forward. You can see how it looks at small size on the Seychelles flag emoji page.

Seychelles flag meaning and symbolism

The commonly cited meanings are:

• Blue for the sky and the sea that surround the islands.
• Yellow for the sun, which gives light and life.
• Red for the people and their determination to work for the future in unity and love.
• White for social justice and harmony.
• Green for the land and the natural environment.

Taken together with the oblique pattern, the flag is meant to show a young country moving ahead. The colors are also said to bring together those of the two main political parties of the time.

History of the Seychelles flag

The islands were uninhabited until the French settled them in the 1770s. They passed to Britain in 1814, were governed from Mauritius, and became a separate British Crown Colony in 1903. As in other British colonies, its flag was a British ensign with a colonial badge.

Seychelles became independent on 29 June 1976 and has been a republic within the Commonwealth since then. At independence, it adopted a flag that used the colors of the two main political parties. After a coup in June 1977 brought France-Albert René to power, a new flag was introduced in red and green with a wavy white band, a design that reflected his party.

The current flag was adopted on 18 June 1996, following the return of multi-party politics and a new constitution. It combined colors associated with the main parties in a single design that did not belong to either of them.