Flag of Liberia

Meaning and history of the flag of Liberia

Liberia's flag consists of eleven horizontal stripes alternating red and white, six red and five white. In the upper hoist corner sits a dark blue canton bearing a single white five-pointed star. The design is clearly reminiscent of the flag of the United States, and that is no coincidence: Liberia was founded in 1822 by freed African-American slaves under the auspices of the American Colonization Society.

The eleven stripes represent the eleven signers of Liberia's Declaration of Independence of July 26, 1847, making it Africa's oldest independent republic. The single white star, which gives Liberia its nickname "the Lone Star State," symbolizes freedom and Liberia's status as the first, and at the time only, independent republic in Africa. The blue of the canton represents the African continent, red stands for valor, and white for moral purity.

The resemblance between the flags of Liberia and the United States is the most striking of any pair of national flags, a direct reflection of the historical ties between the two countries. Liberia, however, uses a single star instead of the United States' fifty and has eleven stripes rather than thirteen. Liberia's flag is also sometimes confused with Malaysia's, which likewise drew inspiration from the American flag. It is common to see Liberia's flag mistakenly used on social media by people who confuse it with the American one.

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