Cameroon
Côte d'Ivoire
1960–present
Flag of Gabon
Modified days before independence in 1960 by removing the French canton and widening the central yellow band. Green stands for forests, yellow for the equator and sun, and blue for the sea.
Home › Country flags › Gabon
Africa
Flag of Gabon
Gabon is a Central African country on the Atlantic coast known for its exceptional tropical rainforest, which covers more than 85% of its territory and is home to forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, and the world's largest population of mandrills. The country has significant offshore oil reserves and manganese deposits, making it one of the more prosperous nations in sub-Saharan Africa. Gabon has committed to protecting large portions of its territory in national parks.
- CapitalLibreville
- RegionAfrica
- Current flag since1960
- Main coloursGreen, Yellow, Blue
- Populationabout 2.4 million
- Areaabout 268,000 km²
- Flags in history2
Population and area are rounded.
What the flag of Gabon means
Green stands for the forests that cover most of Gabon, yellow for the equator, which crosses the country, and the sun, and blue for the sea along its Atlantic coast. The flag was adopted in 1960 at independence from France. An earlier version from 1959 carried a small French tricolour in its corner.
More about the flag
Gabon became independent from France on 17 August 1960. Its flag has unusual 3:4 proportions, making it noticeably taller than most. Forests cover around 85 per cent of the country, which is why green takes the top band. The capital, Libreville, was founded in 1849 as a settlement for people freed from a slave ship, and its name means free town.
How to recognise it
Horizontal green-yellow-blue stripes, no symbol — one of the simplest African flags.
Did you know?
Gabon is over 85% forested and has set aside about 11% of its land as national parks.
Easily confused with
Gabon's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:
Flag history of Gabon
Every flag that has flown over Gabon, from today back through time.
1959–1960
Autonomous republic flag
Used during autonomy within the French Community, with a narrow central yellow stripe and the French Tricolour in the canton — Gabon was the only French autonomous republic to display this link with France.
Neighbouring countries
Gabon shares a land border with 3 countries: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of the Congo.
Equatorial Guinea
Republic of the CongoOther flags in green, yellow and blue
2 other national flags use the same main colours as Gabon's.
Play Globalio and learn Gabon's flag
Rwanda
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines