The

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

flag of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

(french: drapeau du Burkina Faso) is formed by two equal horizontal bands of

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

(top) and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, with a

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...

five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and s ...

resting in the center. The flag was adopted on 4 August 1984. The flag uses the Pan-African colours, reflecting both a break with the country's colonial past and its unity with other African ex-colonies. The red is also said to symbolize the revolution and the green the abundance of agricultural and natural riches. The yellow star placed over the red and green stripes represents the guiding light of the revolution. The flag was adopted following the coup of 1983 which brought

Thomas Sankara Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist–Leninist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist, who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition a ...

to power.

History

The original flag of Upper Volta, adopted at independence, contained three horizontal stripes of black, white, and red. These colours represented the three major tributaries of the

Volta River The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. ...

, which flows south through the country: the Black Volta, the

White Volta The White Volta or Nakambé is the headstream of the Volta River, Ghana's main waterway. The White Volta emerges in northern Burkina Faso, flows through North Ghana and empties into Lake Volta in Ghana. The White Volta's main tributaries are the ...

and the

Red Volta The Red Volta or Nazinon is a waterway flowing located in West Africa. It emerges near Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and has a length of about 320 km which it joins the White Volta in Ghana. The river is primarily located in Burkina Faso and ...

. It is identical to the tricolor flag used by the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The flag was changed when Upper Volta became

on 4 August 1984.

Construction Sheet

Colour scheme

The exact color shades are not defined by law, but are listed as "green", "red" and "yellow-gold" in the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. Approximations are listed below:

Historical flags

Other flags

File:Presidential Standard of Burkina Faso.svg, Presidential standard of Burkina Faso File:Presidential Standard of Upper Volta (1959-1984).svg, Historical presidential standard of Upper Volta (1959-1984) File:Roundel of Burkina Faso.svg, Roundel of the Air Force of Burkina Faso File:Roundel of Burkina Faso - Type 2.svg, Roundel of the Air Force of Burkina Faso (variant) File:Roundel of Burkina Faso (1964–1984).svg, Historical roundel of the Air Force of Upper Volta (1964-1984) File:Roundel of Burkina Faso - Type 2 (1964–1984).svg, Historical roundel of the Air Force of Upper Volta (1964-1984; variant)

Gallery

File:Drapeau burkinabè.jpg, Burkinabé flag hanging on the side of a road in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's ...

(2022) File:Qualificazioni Coppa d'Africa 2012- Burkina Faso-Namibia (6002612781).jpg, Large Burkinabè flag flown at an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Burkina Faso and Namibia (2011) File:BurkinaFaso flag LaGacilly.jpg, Burkinabè flag flown in

La Gacilly La Gacilly (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the right bank of the Aff River, about north of Redon, on the train line between Vannes and Rennes and about from both. It extended ...

, France (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkina Faso, Flag of

Flag Flags of Africa