Flag of Burkina Faso

Meaning and history of the flag of Burkina Faso

The flag of Burkina Faso has two equal horizontal stripes, red on top and green below, with a five-pointed yellow star at the center. These are the Pan-African colors shared by numerous nations across the continent, symbolizing African unity and the struggle for independence. Red represents the revolution, green the country's agricultural abundance, and the yellow star serves as its guiding light.

This flag was adopted on August 4, 1984, when the country changed its name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso under the revolutionary leadership of Thomas Sankara. The previous Upper Volta flag consisted of three horizontal stripes of black, white, and red, representing the three tributaries of the Volta River, the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. The change of flag was part of a broader transformation of national identity driven by Sankara.

Burkina Faso's flag closely resembles several other African flags that use Pan-African colors with a central star, such as those of Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau. The specific pairing of red and green with a yellow star also recalls the flag of the Organisation of African Unity. Burkina Faso means 'land of upright people' in the Moore and Dioula languages, and the flag reflects the revolutionary and Pan-Africanist ideals behind its creation.

You can view the flag of Burkina Faso in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Burkina Faso profile, its map, or the current local time in Ouagadougou.