Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from colonial rule, achieving it in 1957 under Kwame Nkrumah, inspiring independence movements across the continent. Known during the colonial era as the Gold Coast, the country chose the name Ghana after the ancient Ghana Empire. Ghana has developed into one of West Africa's most stable democracies and is a significant producer of gold, cocoa, and increasingly, oil.
Population and area are rounded.
Red recalls the blood of those who fought for independence, gold the country's mineral wealth, and green its forests and farmland. The black star, a symbol of African freedom, was taken from Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line. Designed by Theodosia Okoh, the flag was adopted in 1957 when Ghana won independence from Britain.
Horizontal red-gold-green with a single black star in the centre gold stripe.
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence, in 1957.
Ghana's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:
Every flag that has flown over Ghana, from today back through time.
After the 1966 coup that ousted Nkrumah, the original 1957 red-gold-green flag was immediately reinstated. Designed by Theodosia Okoh, it was the first flag to use the black star, inspiring many later African flags.
After Ghana became a one-party state in 1964, the gold middle stripe was replaced with white to reflect the colors of Nkrumah's Convention People's Party. It lasted only until his 1966 overthrow.
Adopted at independence in 1957 — the first national flag to use the black star and the pan-African red-gold-green, borrowed from Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line as a symbol of African emancipation.
Britain ruled the territory as the Gold Coast — named for the gold its forts had traded alongside enslaved people for centuries — flying a Blue Ensign with an elephant-and-palm badge. To win it, Britain had to fight a series of wars against the powerful Ashanti Empire of the interior, whose Golden Stool symbolised the Asante nation. The Gold Coast became, in 1957, the first sub-Saharan African colony to win independence, as Ghana.
Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Ghana.
The gold-black-green flag bears the Golden Stool, the sacred soul of the Asante nation. The empire favored umbrellas and the Stool over flags; this design dates to 1935.
Under Kwame Nkrumah's one-party state the gold stripe of the national flag was changed to white, before the 1966 coup that ousted him restored the original red-gold-green with the black star.
Ghana shares a land border with 3 countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo.
4 other national flags use the same main colours as Ghana's.
Play Globalio and learn Ghana's flag
Senegal
Ethiopia
Cameroon
Burkina Faso
Côte d'Ivoire
Togo
Guinea-Bissau
Malawi
São Tomé and Príncipe
Vanuatu