The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in Central Africa, one of the world's least developed and most sparsely populated nations despite having significant timber, diamond, gold, and uranium resources. Bangui, the capital, sits on the Ubangi River which forms the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country has experienced persistent political instability and armed conflict since independence from France in 1960.
Population and area are rounded.
The flag was designed by Barthélemy Boganda, who hoped to unite former French colonies in a larger central African state. It combines the blue, white and red of France with the Pan-African green, yellow and red, to show friendship between Europe and Africa. The vertical red band joining them stands for the blood all people share, and the yellow star for independence. It was adopted in 1958.
Barthélemy Boganda, who designed the flag, died in a plane crash in 1959, a year before the Central African Republic became independent on 13 August 1960. The flag stayed the same when Jean-Bédel Bokassa declared himself emperor of the Central African Empire from 1976 to 1979. It is one of very few flags that cross horizontal stripes with a vertical one.
Four horizontal stripes (blue, white, green, yellow) crossed by a vertical red stripe with a yellow star top left.
The Central African Republic contains some of the oldest human settlements in central Africa.
Every flag that has flown over the Central African Republic, from today back through time.
Designed by founding father Barthélemy Boganda in 1958, it uniquely fuses the French blue-white-red with the pan-African red-green-yellow, crossed by a vertical red "blood of unity" stripe. It was even kept unchanged during Bokassa's 1976–1979 "Central African Empire."
The territory was the French colony of Ubangi-Shari, part of French Equatorial Africa, flying the French tricolor. It was one of the most neglected and harshly exploited colonies in the French empire — run largely through brutal concession companies — until Barthélemy Boganda led it to autonomy and gave it both its name and its flag in 1958.
The Central African Republic shares a land border with 6 countries: Cameroon, Chad, the DR Congo, the Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.
3 other national flags use the same main colours as the Central African Republic's.
Play Globalio and learn the Central African Republic's flag
Cameroon
Chad
DR Congo
Republic of the Congo
South Sudan
Sudan
Comoros
Namibia
Seychelles