Ghana Flag and It's Significance

             Ghana Flag
map of ghana with ghana flagThe flag of Ghana has gone through a series of changes since the arrival of the whites, Gold Coast to Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah's regime and the overthrow of Nkrumah till present day.


Significance: The Colours Of The Ghana Flag


The flag which uses Pan-African colours was designed by a Ghanaian lady by name Mrs. Theodosia Salame Okoh when Ghana gained independence from the British on 6th March 1957.

The flag of Ghana consists of Red, Gold and Green horizontal strips with a five pointed black star in the centre of the gold stripe.

The color red represents the blood of those who died in the country’s struggle for independence: gold stands for the minerals wealth, while green symbolizes the rich forest and vegetation. The star represents the lone star of African freedom.

History of the Ghana Flag

Before independence, the Ghana national flag was just the same as the present day Union flag used by the British(see fig.1). This flag was removed in 1875 and replaced with a blue background, but this time the union flag is at the top left corner and a circled elephant with a vegetation background close to the mid section. See fig.2;

 ancient ghana flagfig.1                                         fig.2
                        ancient ghana flag
Up till 1875                         1875-1957,(6th march, Independence)



This was also discontinued when Ghana attained independence and was replaced with the current Ghana national flag in 6th March 1957.


This National Flag, after flying at high mast for approximately seven years was changed slightly by Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. see fig.3
 
fig.3
ancient gh flag
1 Jan 1964 - 28 Feb 1966

The horizontal gold strip in the middle was replaced with a white one. This was also pulled down when Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966. The former was readopted and has been the national flag of Ghana till now. see fig.4
 
fig.4
ghana national flag
6 Mar 1957 - 1 Jan 1964
28 Feb 1966- Present

The green-white-red colours of the ruling Convention Peoples’ Party at that time and the green-yellow-red of Africa’s oldest independent nation, Ethiopia combined to inspire Ghana’s flags.

It is believed that the black star on the flag of Ghana, the lone star of African freedom, is taken from the flag of the Black Star Line.

This shipping line was founded by Marcus Garvey in June 1919 and would take new negro colonists back to Africa. It closed in 1922. The flag was green with a red saltire and a large black star in the centre.



Back to History of Ghana




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