Flag of Eritrea

Meaning and history of the flag of Eritrea

Eritrea's flag was officially adopted on December 5, 1995, and is based on the flag of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, the movement that led the fight for independence from Ethiopia. The design features an isosceles red triangle with its base at the hoist, set against a field split into two triangles, green above and blue below.

Inside the red triangle sits a golden olive wreath, a symbol taken from the original flag of the Federation of Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1952. Green symbolizes the country's agriculture and livestock, blue represents the Red Sea along Eritrea's coast, and red commemorates the blood shed during the thirty-year war of independence. The golden olive branch symbolizes peace and prosperity.

The geometric red triangle makes for a striking and distinctive feature among African flags. The olive wreath contains exactly thirty leaves, one for each year of the armed struggle for independence. This combination of elements and colors makes Eritrea's flag instantly recognizable and unlike that of any other country in the Horn of Africa.

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