Flag of Ivory Coast

The national flag of Ivory Coast (French: drapeau de la Côte d'Ivoire) is a tricolor flag consisting of equal bands of orange (hoist side), white, and green. The proportions of the flag are 2:3. It is the national emblem of the Republic of Ivory Coast as affirmed in Article 29 of the Constitution of Ivory Coast in 1960.

Not to be confused with the Flag of Ireland.

Republic of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
UseNational flag and ensign Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Reverse side is mirror image of obverse side
Proportion2:3
Adopted3 December 1959 (1959-12-03)
DesignA vertical tricolor of orange, white, and green.
Flag of Ivory Coast on flagpole

Design and symbolism

In 1959, when the Ivorian Legislative Assembly adopted the flag, Minister of State Jean Delafosse stated:[1]

The National Emblem must be the living symbol of the fatherland:

  • Orange: the savannas in the north of the country and the fertility of the land
  • White: Symbolises peace
  • Green: hope, of course, for others; but for us, the certainty of a better future

When presenting the colors of the flag to the 1960 constitutional assembly, commissioner Mamadou Coulibaly said:[2]

the Orange stripe expresses the splendour of national blossoming, while also serving as a reminder of the Northern Savannas. The White stripe glorifies peace in purity and union of hearts, and is the pledge of our success; and the Green stripe, expression of our hope for the future, recalls the luxuriant virgin forest of Ivory Coast, the first great source of national prosperity. The vertical alignment of the stripes symbolises the dynamic youth which heads for the future under the national motto "Union, Discipline and Work."

Gabriel Rougerie wrote in 1964, "The flag unites the colors of the three great landscapes of the Ivory Coast: green forest, white lagoon and orange savanna."[3]

Adoption

The 1958 referendum replaced the French Fourth Republic with the Fifth Republic and at the same time replaced the French Union with the French Community, under which most colonies became "autonomous states", including Ivory Coast on 4 December 1958. The new status allowed the adoption of a distinctive flag for the first time, in place of the French flag. The French commissioner suggested a red-white-and-blue flag with stars, but Ivorians wanted a greater departure from the flag of the former colonial power.[2] The orange-white-and-green flag was adopted by law number 59-240, passed by the Ivorian Legislative Assembly on 3 December 1959, just before the first anniversary of the country's autonomy.[1][4]

Head of government Félix Houphouët-Boigny declared full independence from France on 7 August 1960, and the Legislative Assembly sat as a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. Augustin Loubao proposed changing the orange stripe to red, to symbolize a willingness to shed blood to defend the new republic. Other legislators expressed strong opposition to any change, and the existing flag was retained in Article 1 of the constitution adopted on 3 December 1960.[2][5] It was retained as Article 29 of the 2000 constitution[6] and Article 48 of the 2016 constitution.[7]

Colors

The three bands of the Ivorian tricolor must have the same width, and the mast is always placed on the orange band side. Although all laws define the colors of the flag, they do not specify the shade, so the bright orange and green colors can be replaced with slightly darker tones depending on the location and circumstances. The L'Album des pavillons nationaux et des marques distinctives (The Album of National Pavilions and Distinguishing Trademarks), the 2000 edition of the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy, indicates that the official colors of the Ivorian flag are orange 151 C and green 347 C.[8] CMYK values for the flag are based on Ivorian government usage. These are a little darker than the Pantone colors which are used by the similar flag of Ireland.[9]

Colors Pantone RGB Hexadecimal CMYK
Orange 151 C 255, 130, 0[10] #FF8200[10] 0, 70, 100, 0[9]
White N/A 255, 255, 255 #FFFFFF 0, 0, 0, 0
Green 347 C 0, 154, 68[11] #009A44[11] 77, 20, 95, 4[9]

Similar flags
Contrasting flags: Irish flag on left & Ivory Coast on right

The Irish flag has a similar color layout to the Ivorian one, but with the green on the hoist side and wider proportions (1:2 rather than 2:3). When Murielle Ahouré celebrated winning the 2018 world indoor 60-meter dash, for lack of an Ivorian flag to wave, she borrowed an Irish flag from a spectator and reversed it.[12] Due to this similarity, in Northern Ireland, Ulster loyalists have sometimes desecrated the Ivorian flag, mistaking it for the Irish one.[13][14] In some cases, Ivorian flags displayed in Northern Ireland have signs explicitly labelling them as such nearby to avoid having them desecrated by Ulster loyalists mistaking them for Irish ones.[15]

The flag of Niger, also adopted in 1959 when Niger and Ivory Coast were both members of the Conseil de l'Entente, is a horizontal tricolor of orange, white and green; as with the Ivorian flag, the orange and green are sometimes said to represent the arid north and the more fertile south respectively.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Symboles". Official website (in French). Ivory Coast: Office of the President. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018. L'Emblème National doit être le vivant symbole de la patrie :
    • l'orange rappelant la couleur de notre terre riche et généreuse, c'est le sens de notre lutte, le sang d'un peuple jeune dans sa lutte pour notre émancipation ;
    • le blanc, la paix, mais la paix du droit ;
    • le vert, l'espérance, certes pour d'autres, mais pour nous, la certitude d'un devenir meilleur
  2. HS/ls/APA (6 August 2014). "An 54 de la Côte d'Ivoire : chronique du drapeau tricolore ivoirien". Abidjan.net (in French). Retrieved 7 March 2018. la bande Orange exprime l'éclat de l'épanouissement national, en même temps qu'elle fait penser aux Savanes du Nord. La bande Blanche magnifie la paix dans la pureté et l'union des cœurs et est le gage de notre succès et la bande Verte, expression de notre espérance dans l'avenir rappelle la luxuriante forêt vierge de Côte d'Ivoire, première grande source de la prospérité nationale.
    L'alignement vertical des trois bandes qui forment, ainsi, l'emblème, symbolise la jeunesse dynamique de l'Etat qui part de l'avant sous le triple signe de l'Union, la Discipline et le Travail, la devise de la Côte d'ivoire.
  3. Rougerie, Gabriel (1964). La Côte d'Ivoire (in French). Presses Universitaires de France. p. 6. ISBN 9782130371489. Le drapeau unit les couleurs des trois grands paysages de la Côte d'Ivoire, forêt verte, lagune blanche et savane orangée.
  4. David, Philippe (2009). La Côte d'Ivoire (in French). Karthala. p. 36. ISBN 9782811101961. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  5. "Constitution de Côte d'Ivoire du 3 novembre 1960". Wikisource (in French). 3 November 1960. p. Article 1. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  6. "Constitution de Côte d'Ivoire du 23 juillet 2000". Wikisource (in French). 23 July 2000. p. Article 29. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  7. "Constitution de Côte d'Ivoire du 8 novembre 2016". Wikisource (in French). 8 November 2016. p. Article 48. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  8. Côte d'Ivoire at Flags of the World. Retrieved on July 9, 2020.
  9. "5 Symboles de la République" (PDF). Ministère de la Fonction Publique (in French). Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  10. "PANTONE 151 C". Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. "PANTONE 347 C". Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  12. "Quick-thinking Irish fans come to the rescue of victorious Ivory Coast star at World Indoor Athletics Championships". Irish Independent. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  13. "What have the Ivory Coast ever done to deserve this?". JOE.ie.
  14. "Loyalists ask us to respect their flag as they burn everyone else's?". IrishCentral.com. 12 July 2013.
  15. McLysaght, Emer. "Belfast shop insists it's displaying Ivory Coast flag, NOT Ireland flag". The Daily Edge.
  16. Smith, Whitney. "Flag of Niger". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
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