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 is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

() 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 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

(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 com ...

, 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 t ...

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 si ...

resting in the center. The flag was adopted on 4 August 1984. The flag uses the Pan-African colours of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, 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 Burkinabè military officer, Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 1983, following his takeover in a coup, until ...

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 Drainage system (geomorphology), river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso Department, Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The three main part ...

, which flows south through the country: the

Black Volta The Black Volta or Mouhoun ( French: ''Volta noire'') is a river that flows through Burkina Faso for approximately 1,352 km (840 mi) to the White Volta in Dagbon, Ghana, the upper end of Lake Volta. It is one of the three main parts ...

, the

White Volta The White Volta or Nakambé ( French: ''Volta blanche'') is the headstream of the Volta River, Ghana's main waterway. The White Volta emerges in northern Burkina Faso, flows through Northern Ghana and empties into Lake Volta in Ghana. The White V ...

and the

Red Volta The Red Volta or Nazinon ( French: ''Volta rouge'') is a waterway located in West Africa. It emerges near Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and has a length of about 320 km at the end of which it joins the White Volta in Ghana. The river is prima ...

. It is identical to the tricolor flag used by the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

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, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. 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 or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

(2022) File:Qualificazioni Coppa d'Africa 2012- Burkina Faso-Namibia (6002612781).jpg, Large Burkinabè flag flown at an

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

qualifying match between Burkina Faso and Namibia (2011) File:BurkinaFaso flag LaGacilly.jpg, Burkinabè flag flown in

La Gacilly La Gacilly (; Gallo: ''La Gaczilhae'', ) 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 a ...

, France (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkina Faso, Flag of

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

Flags of Africa

Flags with green, red and yellow Flags with stars