A vertical tricolour of green, red and yellow, with a gold star centred on the red band.
The flag of Cameroon on a flagpole
Thenational flag ofCameroon (drapeau national du Cameroun) was adopted in its present form on 20 May 1975 afterCameroon became a unitary state. It is a vertical tricolour of green, red and yellowpales, with one yellow five-pointed star in its center.[1] There is a wide variation in the size of the central star, although it is always contained within the inside stripe.
The colour scheme uses the traditionalPan-African colours (Cameroon was the second state to adopt them). The centre stripe is thought to stand for unity:red is the colour of unity, and the star is referred to as "the star of unity". Theyellow stands for the sun, and also thesavannas in the northern part of the country, while thegreen is for theforests in the southern part of Cameroon.
The previous flag of Cameroon, used from 1961 to 1975, had a similar colour scheme, but with two gold (darker than the third stripe by comparison) stars in the upper half of the green. It was adopted after BritishSouthern Cameroons joined with Republic of Cameroon to create theFederal Republic of Cameroon.[2] The two stars represented the two components of the federation,East Cameroon andWest Cameroon.
The original flag of the State of Cameroon and the Republic of Cameroon, made law by Law No. 46 of 26 October 1957, was the simple tricolour. It was confirmed on 21 February 1960 in the new constitution.
The flag of Cameroon uses thePan-African colors that is used by many African countries in the region, most notably with similar designs in the flags ofSenegal,Guinea andMali.[3]
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