Flag of Mali

The national flag of Mali (French: drapeau du Mali) is a tricolour with three equal vertical stripes. From the hoist (the place where the flagpole meets the flag) the colours are green, gold, and red, the pan-African colours. The flag of Mali is almost identical to the flag of Guinea, with the exception that the colours are in reverse order.

Not to be confused with the similarly named and similarly looking Malay tricolour.
Republic of Mali
Proportion2:3
AdoptedMarch 1, 1961
DesignA vertical tricolour of green, gold and red.
Flag of Mali

History

The current flag was adopted on March 1, 1961. The original flag was adopted on April 4, 1959, when Mali joined the Mali Federation. This flag was the same, except the golden stripe had a black kanaga, a shape of a squatter man with arms raised to the sky. The figure was removed due to the opposition, in a country whose population is 90% Muslim (95% Sunni 5% Shia) of Islamic fundamentalists[1] (see Aniconism in Islam, the belief against making pictures of the human figure).[2]

Symbolism

The green stands for fertility of the land, gold stands for purity and mineral wealth, and the red symbolizes the blood shed for independence from the French.[3]

Colour scheme
Green Yellow Red
Pantone 2271c 115c 3546c
CMYK 91-0-100-0 0-9-100-0 0-86-63-0
RGB 20-181-58 252-209-22 206-17-38
Hexadecimal #14B53A #FCD116 #CE1126

Historical flags
Flag Years of use Ratio Government Description
c. 1324 Mali Empire (possible) A reconstruction of the banner used by Musa I on the hajj, a possible historical flag of the Mali Empire. It consisted of a yellow rectangle centered on a red field.
1880–1958 2:3 French Sudan[lower-alpha 1] The French tricolor was used as the official flag of French Sudan for most of its history.
1958–1959 2:3 A new flag was adopted in 1958, when French Sudan gained autonomy within the French Community. It consisted of the French tricolor with a black Kanaga centered on the white band.
1959–1960 2:3 Mali Federation The flag initially adopted on Malian independence consisted of a vertical tricolor of green, gold, and red with a black Kanaga centered on the gold band.
1960-1961 Republic of Mali
1961–present 2:3 The current flag of Mali was adopted on March 1, 1961, removing the Kanaga featured on the previous flag.

Other flags

See also

Notes
  1. The colonial region of French Sudan went through a number of administrative reorganizations between 1880 and 1959, changing names several times throughout the process. See: French Sudan § Administration and jurisdiction

References
  1. "Flag of Mali". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  2. Guide to the Flags of the World by Mauro Talocci, revised and updated by Whitney Smith (ISBN 0-688-01141-1), p. 124.
  3. "What Do The Colors And Symbols Of The Flag Of Mali Mean?". WorldAtlas. 24 February 2021.
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