Flag of Uganda

What the flag of Uganda looks like

The flag of Uganda has six horizontal stripes of equal height. From the top, the colors are black, yellow, red, black, yellow and red. In the center is a white disc that holds a grey crowned crane. The bird stands in profile, facing the hoist (the left side), with one leg raised. The proportions are 2:3.

The bird is the main feature, and people sometimes mistake it for a chicken or a rooster, but it is a grey crowned crane, a tall African bird with a crest of golden feathers on its head. On the flag it is shown in a simplified way. You can also see the design as the Uganda flag emoji.

Uganda flag meaning and symbolism

The colors are said to have the following meanings:

• Black stands for the African people.
• Yellow stands for the sun and for the sunshine of Africa.
• Red stands for the brotherhood that unites all Africans, and is often described as the blood common to all people.

The grey crowned crane is Uganda's national bird. It was chosen because of its gentleness and, according to tradition, its habit of lifting one leg as if to move forward, a sign of progress. It was also the badge used by the colonial army and by the Uganda Protectorate, which is another reason it was kept for the national flag. The white disc is often said to stand for peace.

History of the Uganda flag

Uganda was a British protectorate from the 1890s. The colonial flag was the British Blue Ensign with a badge showing a crested crane. The crane was kept for the flag of the independent state, and black, yellow and red were chosen as its colors.

The new flag was raised on 9 October 1962 and has been used ever since, through the periods of Idi Amin and later governments. The country's name comes from the Buganda kingdom, the largest of its traditional kingdoms.