Floating on the coasts of West Africa, the Ghanaian flag reminds the memories of a colonized continent, but above all the weight of the wealth and the sacrifice of a nation. – Ophélie Aebischer
An unifying flag
By what it symbolises, the Ghanaian flag is a key object in the analysis of the country. Putting in perspective its history, its geography and its economy all at the same time, it is the symbol of a homeland and its development.
It is in 1957, on the occasion of the Ghanaian Independence, that this flag was introduced.(1) By choosing to colour these three vertical lines in red, yellow and green, and gracing the middle with a five-pointed black star, the designer Mrs. Theodosia Salome Okoh let the country’s geo-policy sway her.(2) Red represents the fighters who bled for the Independence ; yellow symbolises the mineral wealth of the country (gold) ; green reminds the natural spaces and forests. Finally, the star stands as « the guiding symbol of African freedom ».(3)
A wind of change
Previously colonised by Portugal, and then by The Great Britain, Ghana had been first named El Mina, then the Gold Coast, until the emancipation of March 6th, 1957 when the new design appeared.(4) Although its current flag dates back to this famous Independence’s year, it has been changed three times : in 1959, the country joins the Union of African States with Guinea, and sees its star doubled, then tripled when Mali joins them. In 1962, the country takes back its original flag by changing the central strip that has become white in support to the Convention Peoples Party of Kwame Nkrumah. It is only in 1966 that it takes back its original colours. After Ethiopia, Ghana was the first African flag to wear the Pan-African shades.(5) It also was the initiator of the national Football team’s name, the Black Stars.(6)
Ophélie Aebischer
(1) Government of Ghana : About Ghana. The National Flag. http://ghana.gov.gh/index.php/88-the-national- flag (consulte? le 30.05.2019)
(2) Idem.
(3) Petit fute? (2015) : « Ghana » in Petit fute?. Editions : Les Nouvelles Editions de l’Université. p.9.
(4) Ibid., p.22.
(5) Government of Ghana : About Ghana. The National Flag. http://ghana.gov.gh/index.php/88-the-national- flag (consulte? le 04.06.2019)
(6) Idem.