Flag of Guinea-Bissau

Last updated
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg
Use National flag and ensign FIAV 111111.svg FIAV normal.svg IFIS Mirror.svg
Proportion1:2
Adopted24 September 1973;51 years ago (1973-09-24)
(de facto)
10 September 1974;50 years ago (1974-09-10)
(de jure)
DesignOne vertical red line on the hoist side charged with a black five-pointed star; two horizontal lines on the fly side (yellow and green)
East German stamp with portrait of Amilcar Cabral and the Guinea-Bissau flag Stamp Amilcar Cabral.jpg
East German stamp with portrait of Amílcar Cabral and the Guinea-Bissau flag

The national flag of Guinea-Bissau was adopted in 1973 when independence from Portugal was proclaimed.

Contents

Design

Canjadude, 1974: Running up the Guinea-Bissau flag after striking the Portuguese flag Hastear da bandeira da Guine Bissau apos o arrear da de Portugal.jpg
Canjadude, 1974: Running up the Guinea-Bissau flag after striking the Portuguese flag

Like the former flag of Cape Verde, the flag is based on that of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). The party was established in 1956 to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal during its Estado Novo regime, but turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was one of the belligerents in the 1963–74 Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. It is still the dominant party in Guinea-Bissau. The PAIGC party flag was derived from that of Ghana, which was the first design to use the Pan-African combination of red, yellow, green, and black in 1957.[ citation needed ]

In the Ghanaian view, the black star stands for the unity of Africa. Red stands for the blood shed during the struggle for independence, yellow stands for the sun, and green represents hope.[ citation needed ]

The flag features the traditional Pan-African colors of gold, green, red, and also the Black Star of Africa. The flag's design is heavily influenced by the flag of Ghana. The colors have the same meanings: specifically, the red is for the blood of martyrs, green for forests, and gold for mineral wealth.[ citation needed ]

Colors

Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg
(1973–present)
BlackRedYellowGreen
Pantone Black c032c109c355c
CMYK 0-0-0-10-0.92-0.82-0.190-0.17-0.91-0.011-0-0.54-0.38
RGB 0-0-0206-17-38252-209-220-158-73
Hexadecimal #000000#CE1126#FCD116#009E49

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Cape Verde</span>

The recorded history of Cape Verde begins with the Portuguese invasion and colonization of the island in 1458. Possible early references to Cape Verde date back at least 2,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-African colours</span> Red, gold, green and black

Pan-African colours is a term that may refer to two different sets of colours:

"Esta É a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada" is the national anthem of Guinea-Bissau. Written in 1963 by Amílcar Cabral (1924–1973) and composed by Xiao He (1918–2010), it was adopted upon independence from Portugal in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luís Cabral</span> President of Guinea-Bissau from 1974 to 1980

Luís Severino de Almeida Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the first President of Guinea-Bissau. He served from 1974 to 1980, when a military coup d'état led by João Bernardo Vieira deposed him. Luís Cabral was a half-brother of Amílcar Cabral, with whom he co-founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Cape Verde</span>

The national flag of Cape Verde was adopted on 22 September 1992, replacing the flag adopted during independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amílcar Cabral</span> Guinea-Bissauan politician (1924–1973)

Amílcar Lopes Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, political organizer, and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. He was also a pan-Africanist and intellectual nationalist revolutionary poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde</span> Political party in Guinea-Bissau

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was one of the belligerents in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. Towards the end of the war, the party established a socialist one-party state, which remained intact until multi-party democracy was introduced in the early 1990s. Although the party won the first multi-party elections in 1994, it was removed from power in the 1999–2000 elections. However, it returned to office after winning parliamentary elections in 2004 and presidential elections in 2005, since which it has remained the largest party in the National People's Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">João Bernardo Vieira</span> 2nd President of Guinea-Bissau (1980–99, 2005–09)

João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira was a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1999, except for a three-day period in May 1984, and from 2005 until his assassination in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde</span> Political party in Cape Verde

The African Party of Independence of Cape Verde is a democratic socialist political party in Cape Verde. It was formerly a Marxist–Leninist communist party and the sole legal party in the country from 1981 to 1990. Its members are nicknamed "os tambarinas" in Portuguese, and they identify themselves with the color yellow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinea-Bissau War of Independence</span> 1963–1974 conflict for independence of Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde

The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, also known as the Bissau-Guinean War of Independence, was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea from 1963 to 1974. It was fought between Portugal and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, an armed independence movement backed by Cuba, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Brazil. The war is commonly referred to as "Portugal's Vietnam" because it was a protracted guerrilla war which had extremely high costs in men and materiel and which created significant internal political turmoil in Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People</span> Military unit

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People were originally the armed wing of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde during the struggle against Portuguese rule in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Since 1973, they constitute the national armed forces of Guinea-Bissau. A separate Cape Verdean branch of the FARP constituted the national armed forces of this country from 1975 until the early 1990s, when these were renamed "Cape Verdean Armed Forces".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Mendes</span> Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 1973 to 1978

Francisco Mendes, popularly known by his nom de guerre as Chico Té, was a Bissau-Guinean politician and revolutionary. He was the country's first Prime Minister and held that position from September 24, 1973, until his fatal car accident under suspicious circumstances on July 7, 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pidjiguiti massacre</span> 1959 mass killing of striking workers by state police (PIDE) in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea

The Pidjiguiti massacre was an incident that took place on 3 August 1959 at the Port of Bissau's Pijiguiti docks in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea. Dock workers went on strike, seeking higher pay, but a manager called the PIDE, the Portuguese state police, who fired into the crowd, killing at least 25 people. The government blamed the revolutionary group African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), arresting several of its members. The incident caused PAIGC to abandon their campaign of nonviolent resistance, leading to the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence in 1963.

Operation Green Sea was an amphibious attack on Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by between 350 and 420 Portuguese soldiers and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters in November 1970. The goals of the operation included the overthrow of Ahmed Sékou Touré's government, capture of the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Amílcar Cabral, destruction of the naval and air assets of the PAIGC and its Guinean supporters, and the rescue of Portuguese POWs held in Conakry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cipriano Cassamá</span> Bissau-Guinean politician

Cipriano Cassamá is a politician in Guinea-Bissau and a member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). He was Minister of the Interior from August 2008 to January 2009. He has been President of the National People’s Assembly since June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Star of Africa</span>

The Black Star of Africa is a black five-pointed star symbolizing Africa in general and Ghana in particular. The Black Star Line, founded in 1919 by Marcus Garvey as part of the Back-to-Africa movement, modelled its name on that of the White Star Line, changing the colour from white to black to symbolise ownership by black people rather than white people. The black star became a symbol of Pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism. Described as the "Lodestar of African Freedom", the black star was used in 1957 by Theodosia Okoh in the design of the Flag of Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinea-Bissau–Sweden relations</span> Bilateral relations

Guinea-Bissau–Sweden relations is the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries Guinea-Bissau and Sweden. The ambassador of Sweden to Portugal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau. Guinea-Bissau is accredited to Sweden from its embassy in Brussels and maintains an honorary consulate in Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Verde–Guinea-Bissau relations</span> Bilateral relations

Cape Verde–Guinea Bissau relations refers to the bilateral relationship between the Republic of Cape Verde and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verde is an island country about 900 km north-west of Guinea-Bissau, a coastal West African country. Both were colonies of the Portuguese Empire and they campaigned together for independence with a plan for unification, but the countries separated after 1980. The two countries were both founder members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) in 1996, and are each members of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Rafael Paula Barbosa was a political activist in Portuguese Guinea, now known as Guinea-Bissau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état</span> Coup that brought João Bernardo Vieira to power

The 1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état was the bloodless military coup that took place in Guinea-Bissau on 14 November 1980, led by Prime Minister General João Bernardo Vieira. It led to the deposition of President Luís Cabral, who held the office since 1973, while the country's War of Independence was still ongoing.

References

See also