The flag of Togo (french: drapeau du Togo) is the

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours a ...

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be differ ...

, and

naval jack A jack is a flag flown from a short jackstaff at the bow (front) of a vessel, while the ensign is flown on the stern (rear). Jacks on bowsprits or foremasts appeared in the 17th century. A country may have different jacks for different purpo ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...

. It has five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow. There is a white five-pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner. It uses the

pan-African colors Pan-African colours is a term that may refer to two different sets of colours: * Green, yellow and red, the colours of the flag of Ethiopia, have come to represent the pan-Africanist ideology due to the country's history of having avoided bein ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

, but the design resembles the

flag of Liberia The flag of Liberia or the Liberian flag, sometimes called the Lone Star, bears a close resemblance to the flag of the United States, representing Liberia's founding by former black slaves from the United States and the Caribbean. They are both ...

, which itself echoes the

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

, making it part of both the pan-African and Stars and Stripes

flag families Flag families are sets of national flags with similarities in their design, often based on a shared history, culture, or influence. Families do not include flags with coincidental similarities. Flags may be in multiple flag families. Only twelve c ...

History

The flag was designed by artist Paul Ahyi and approximates a

golden rectangle In geometry, a golden rectangle is a rectangle whose side lengths are in the golden ratio, 1 : \tfrac, which is 1:\varphi (the Greek letter phi), where \varphi is approximately 1.618. Golden rectangles exhibit a special form of self-similarity ...

closely. Ahyi was regarded as among the greatest of African artists of his generation. Born in Togo, Ahyi graduated from the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1959 and returned to Togo. He designed the flag of Togo while working on other contemporary works.Décès de Paul Ahyi, le Picasso africain
(French) ''Le Telegramme'' The flag was adopted on 28 April 1960, and is still in use. During France's rule over Togo from 1957 to 1958, the flag of French Togo was used. After Togo's independence, the first Flag of Togo was used from 1958 to 1960.

Symbolism

The four colors (green, red, white and yellow) are the

. The colors of the flag are meant to symbolize the following: * Red represents blood shed by Martyrs to gain independence * White star represents hope * Green represents the forests,

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, nature, and overall hope for the future * Yellow represents the natural resources of the country The five stripes represent the five

regions of Togo Togo is divided into five regions (''régions'', singular ''région'') (capitals in parentheses): The regions are divided into 30 prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally gov ...

Geometry

The sides of the flag of Togo are in the

golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities a and b with a > b > 0, where the Greek letter phi ( ...

, making the flag of Togo one out of the few national flags with irrational proportions.

Governmental flags

Presidential Standard of Togo.svg, Presidential Standard

Historical flags

File:Reichskolonialflagge.svg, Flag of German Togo File:Flag of Deutsch-Togo.svg, Flag of German Togo (proposed) File:Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg, Flag of French Togo (1916–1957) File:Flag of Togo (1957-1958).svg, Flag of French Togo (1957–1958)
File:Flag of Togo (1958-1960).svg, Flag of Togo (1958–1960)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Togo, Flag of Flags introduced in 1960

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emp ...

Flags of Africa National flags