Mali

3×5' nylon national flag of Mali.

Mali's flag once carried a human figure. The Mali Federation's flag of 1959 showed a black kanaga, a stylized figure from Dogon masks, in its center. It was removed in 1961, leaving one of Africa's cleanest tricolors.

Design

Three equal vertical bands of green, gold and red.

History & Symbolism

After the Mali Federation with Senegal broke up in 1960, Mali dropped the kanaga, which some Muslims objected to as a depiction of the human form. The plain tricolor was adopted on 1 March 1961. Green stands for hope and the land, gold for purity and the country's mineral wealth, and red for the blood shed for independence.

Flag Specifications

• Adopted: 1 March 1961
• Official proportions: 2:3
• Colors: green, gold, red

Vexillographer's Note

Mali's flag is the mirror image of Guinea's. Senegal, its former federation partner, flies the same colors with a green star.

Humphrys Flag Company · Old City Philadelphia · Est. 1864