Benin

3×5' nylon national flag of Benin.

Benin's flag was put away for fifteen years and then brought back. First raised in 1959, it was replaced during the Marxist People's Republic and restored in 1990 when the country returned to multiparty democracy.

Design

A vertical green band at the hoist, with two equal horizontal bands of yellow over red filling the fly.

History & Symbolism

The flag was adopted on 16 November 1959 by Dahomey, as the country was then called, ahead of independence from France in 1960. From 1975 the People's Republic of Benin flew a plain green flag with a red star. The original was restored on 1 August 1990. Its colors are the Pan-African green, yellow and red: green for hope and renewal, yellow for the country's wealth, and red for the courage of the ancestors.

Flag Specifications

• Adopted: 16 November 1959; restored 1 August 1990
• Official proportions: 2:3
• Colors: green, yellow, red

Vexillographer's Note

The green hoist band is one third of the flag's length; the yellow and red bands split the remaining two thirds evenly in height.

Humphrys Flag Company · Old City Philadelphia · Est. 1864