Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

colours is a term that may refer to two different sets of colours: *

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 combin ...

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 th ...

and red, the colours of the

flag of Ethiopia The flag of Ethiopia ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ ዐላማ, Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā sändäq ʿälama) is the national flag of Ethiopia. It consists of a green, yellow, and red tricolour with the National Emblem, a golden pentagram on a b ...

, have come to represent the pan-Africanist ideology due to the country's history of having avoided being taken over by a colonial power. Numerous African countries have adopted the colours into their national flags, and they are similarly used as a symbol by many Pan-African organisations and the

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...

movement. * Red,

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, and green, first introduced by

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

in 1920, have also come to represent Pan-Africanism, and are shown on the

pan-African flag The Pan-African flag (also known as the Afro-American flag, Black Liberation flag, UNIA flag, and various other names) is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top down) red, black, and green. The Universal Negr ...

. These colours have also been incorporated on national flags, and they have sometimes been used to represent

black nationalism Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...

rather than Pan-Africanism.

Green-yellow-red

, and red are now found on 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 ...

s of many African nations. The colour combination was borrowed from the

. The Ethiopian flag has influenced the flags of many Pan-African organizations and polities. Except for relative brief periods of influence and occupation by the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

, Ethiopia remained outside European control during the colonial era by defeating the Italian army at the battle of

Adwa Adwa ( ti, ዓድዋ; amh, ዐድዋ; also spelled Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Itali ...

, Ethiopia, in 1896, ending the Italian protectorate. As a result, the country drew the admiration of many newly independent states in Africa. The adoption of the Ethiopian

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become we ...

by many Pan-African entities is a consequence of this. The first African state to adopt a gold, red and green flag upon independence was

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

in 1957, designed by

Theodosia Okoh Theodosia Salome Okoh (born 13 June 1922 – 19 April 2015) was a Ghanaian teacher and artist known for designing Ghana's national flag in 1957. She exhibited her artwork internationally. She also played a leading role in the development of h ...

.Mrs. Theodosia Salome Okoh Profile
at GhanaWeb.

Red-black-green

The

Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant to the United States, and Amy Ashwood Garvey. The Pan-African o ...

(UNIA) founded by

has a constitution that defines red, black, and green as the Pan-African colours: "red representing the noble blood that unites all people of African ancestry, the colour black for the people, green for the rich land of Africa." The UNIA flag was designated the official colours of Black Africans by the UNIA at its convention in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

on August 13, 1920, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Current country flags with the Pan-African symbolism

The following are countries and territories that use one or both sets of Pan-African colours in their official flags: File:Flag of Benin.svg, File:Flag of Burkina Faso.svg, File:Flag of Cameroon.svg, File:Flag of the Central African Republic.svg, File:Flag of Chad.svg, File:Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg, File:Flag of Ghana.svg, File:Flag of Guinea.svg, File:Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg, File:Flag of Mali.svg, File:Flag of Senegal.svg, File:Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe.svg, File:Flag of Togo.svg,

Non-national flags

File:Flag of the African National Congress.svg, File:African America Flag.svg, File:MNLA flag.svg, File:Flag of Darfur.svg, File:Flag of the East African Community.svg, File:Flag of the Union of African States (1958-1961).svg, File:Flag of the Union of African States (1961-1962).svg, File:Flag of the Rwandan Democratic Movement.svg,

Former flags with pan-African colours

File:Flag of Cape Verde (1975-1992).svg, File:Flag of Malawi (2010-2012).svg, File:Flag of Rwanda (1962-2001).svg, File:Flag of South Kasai.svg, File:Flag of Zaire (1971–1997).svg, File:Flag of Tanganyika (1961–1964).svg, Flag of Tanganyika (1961–1964) File:Flag of Senegal (1958–1959).svg, Flag of Senegal (1958–1959)

Non pan-African flags with pan-African colours

Although the following flags contain a pan-African colour scheme, they were not officially designed to symbolise

pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

. The designs may or may not be influenced by pan-African colours.

colours also originate from the Ethiopian flag, but though Rastafari thought harbours pan-African sympathies, its use of the Ethiopian flag is historically rooted in the veneration of former Ethiopian emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

. File:Australian Aboriginal Flag.svg, File:Flag of Afghanistan (2013–2021).svg, File:Flag of Angola.svg, File:Flag of Biafra.svg, File:Flag of Bolivia (state).svg, File:Flag of Burma 1943.svg, File:Flag of the Comoros.svg, File:Flag of Eritrea.svg, File:Flag of Ethiopia.svg, File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1936; 1941-1974).svg, File:Flag of French Guiana.svg, File:Flag of Grenada.svg, File:Flag of Guyana.svg, File:Flag of Kenya.svg, File:Flag of Kurdistan.svg, File:Flag of Lithuania.svg, File:Flag of Libya.svg, File:Flag of Malawi.svg, File:Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg, File:Flag of Mauritania.svg, File:Flag of Mauritius.svg, File:Flag of Mozambique.svg, File:Flag of Myanmar.svg, File:Flag of Namibia.svg, File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg, File:Flag of Portugal.svg, File:Flag of Rojava.svg, File:Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.svg, File:Flag of South Africa.svg, File:Flag of South Sudan.svg, File:Flag of Tajikistan.svg, File:Flag of Uganda.svg, File:Flag of Vanuatu.svg, File:Flag of Zambia.svg, File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg,

References

* Znamierowski, Alfred (2001). ''The World Encyclopedia of Flags: The Definitive Guide to International Flags, Banners, Standards and Ensigns''. London: Anness Publishing. {{Vexillology African culture African-American cultural history Color schemes Flags by colour

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

Rastafari Symbols of Africa Colours, Pan-African