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Flag of Mauritius

Mauritius is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, lying about 2,000 kilometres off the southeastern coast of Africa, with no indigenous human population before Portuguese sailors arrived in 1507. Mauritius was the only known habitat of the dodo, the large flightless bird that became extinct in the late 17th century after human arrival. Today it is known for its diverse culture, pristine beaches, and has developed into one of Africa's higher-income economies through tourism and financial services.

Flag of Mauritius

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Mauritius means

The four equal stripes, known as the Four Bands, stand for the struggle for independence (red), the Indian Ocean (blue), the light of independence (yellow) and the island's farmland and evergreen vegetation (green). The flag was adopted at independence from Britain in 1968.

More about the flag

Mauritius became independent from Britain on 12 March 1968, and the flag is flown across the island on National Day each 12 March. The island was uninhabited until Dutch sailors arrived in 1598; it is famous as the only home of the dodo, extinct by the end of the 17th century, which appears on the national coat of arms beside a sambar deer.

How to recognise it

Horizontal red-blue-yellow-green stripes — four equal bands.

Did you know?

Mauritius is famous as the home of the now-extinct dodo bird.

Flag history of Mauritius

Every flag that has flown over Mauritius, from today back through time.

The Four Bands
1968–present

The Four Bands

Adopted at independence in 1968 and known as "Les Quatre Bandes," it has four equal horizontal bands of red, blue, yellow, and green — one of very few national flags with four horizontal stripes.

British Mauritius
1810–1968

British Mauritius

Uninhabited until settlers arrived, Mauritius was held in turn by the Dutch (who hunted the dodo to extinction) and the French before Britain captured it in 1810. It flew the Union Jack as a British colony for over 150 years, its sugar plantations worked first by enslaved Africans and then by indentured labourers from India — the origin of the island's Indo-Mauritian majority — until independence in 1968.

Regional flags of Mauritius

The 1 states, provinces and regions of Mauritius with their own flags.

Flag of Rodrigues Rodrigues

Other flags in red, blue, yellow and green

2 other national flags use the same main colours as Mauritius'.

Flag of Eritrea Eritrea Flag of Ethiopia Ethiopia
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