okoh fimbriated theodosia ghanaweb nkrumah triband readopted ghanaian ensign rasta vexillology roundel crampton symbolises salome garvey canton forerunner tricolour kwame melilla colours ashanti coats ceuta ghana sahrawi mayotte reinstated heraldry
what does the star on the ghana flag mean
Flag of Ghana - wikipedia Flag of Ghana Jump to : navigation , search Ghana <Td_colspan="2"> <Td_colspan="2"> Use National flag and state ensign Proportion 2 : 3 Adopted 1957 ( readopted 1966 ) Design A horizontal triband of red , gold , and green , charged with a black star in the centre Designed by Theodosia Okoh <Td_colspan="2"> <Td_colspan="2"> <Td_colspan="2"> Variant flag of Ghana Use Civil ensign Proportion 2 : 3 Design A red field with the national flag , fimbriated in black , in the canton <Td_colspan="2"> <Td_colspan="2"> <Td_colspan="2"> Variant flag of Ghana Use Naval ensign Proportion 2 : 3 Design Red St. George cross on white centrrensign , with the national flag in canton . <Td_colspan="2"> The national flag of Ghana was designed and adopted in 1957 and was flown until 1962 , and then reinstated in 1966 . It consists of the Pan-African colours of red , yellow , and green , in horizontal stripes , with a black five - pointed star in the centre of the gold stripe . The Ghanaian flag was the second African flag after the flag of the Ethiopian Empire to feature these colours . The flag 's design influenced that of the flag of Guinea - Bissau ( 1973 ) . It was designed by Theodosia Okoh . The red represents the blood of those who died in the country 's struggle for independence from the Great Britain , the gold represents the mineral wealth of the country , the green symbolises the country 's rich forests and natural wealth , and the black star is the symbol of African emancipation . The black star was adopted from the flag of the Black Star Line , a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey that operated from 1919 to 1922 . It is where the Ghana national football team draw their nickname , the Black Stars , from . Contents ( hide ) 1 National ensign 2 Air force ensign and civil air ensign 3 History 4 References 5 External links National ensign ( edit ) Under terms of section 183 of Ghana 's Merchant Shipping Act of 1963 , the civil ensign is a red flag with the national flag in a black - fimbriated canton . In 2003 , a new merchant shipping act was enacted , however , and this simply provides that `` the National Flag of Ghana '' is the proper national colours for Ghanaian ships . No mention is made of other flags or other possible flags . The naval ensign is a red St. George cross on white flag , with the national flag in canton . Air Force ensign and civil Air ensign ( edit ) The ensign of the Ghana Air Force The Ghanaian civil air ensign The Ghana Air Force has its own ensign which incorporates the flag of Ghana . Civil aviation in Ghana is represented by the national civil air ensign . It is a standard light blue field with the Ghanaian flag in the canton . It is charged in the fly with either a red , yellow and green roundel ( in the case of the military ensign ) or black five - pointed star ( in the case of the civil ensign ) . they have both been used since independence , and the subsequent founding of the Ghana Air Force in 1959 . History ( edit ) Flag of the Kingdom of Ashanti , the forerunner to the Gold Coast . Flag of the Gold Coast , the forerunner to Ghana . Used until 1957 . Flag of the Union of African States , used between 1958 and 1961 . Flag of the Union of African States , used between 1961 and 1964 . Ghana national flag ( 1964 -- 1966 ) . Flag of the Presidency of Ghana since 1966 . Presidential Standard of Ghana ; replicate of the national flag of Ghana with a gold rim . The Ghanaian government flag , adopted in 1957 , was flown until 1962 . Similarly , when the country formed the Union of African States , the flag of the Union was modelled on Bolivia 's flag , but with two black stars , representing the nations . In May 1959 , a third star was added . In 1962 , prior to the dissolution of the Union the following year , Ghana adopted a variant of the 1957 tricolour with white in the place of yellow , after the colours of Kwame Nkrumah 's ruling Convention People 's Party , and similar to the flag of Hungary . The original 1957 flag was reinstated in 1966 following Nkrumah 's overthrow in a coup d'état . Flag of Ghana raised high and flowing . References ( edit ) Jump up ^ Mrs. Theodosia Salome Okoh at GhanaWeb Jump up ^ Crampton , William George ( 1993 ) . `` Marcus Garvey and the Rasta colours '' . Report of the 13th International Congress of Vexillology , Melbourne , 1989 . Flag Society of Australia . pp. 169 -- 180 . ISBN 0 - 646 - 14343 - 3 . External links ( edit ) Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of Ghana . Ghana at Flags of the World Armed Forces of Ghana Colours <Th_colspan="2"> Flags of Africa Sovereign states Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde ( Cabo Verde ) Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea - Bissau Ivory Coast ( Côte d'Ivoire ) Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe States with limited recognition Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland Dependencies and other territories Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla ( Spain ) Madeira ( Portugal ) Mayotte / Réunion ( France ) Saint Helena , Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ( United Kingdom ) <Th_colspan="2"> National flags and coats of arms National flags Sovereign states Dependent territories Timeline National coats of arms Sovereign states Dependent territories <Td_colspan="2"> Heraldry portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flag_of_Ghana&oldid=832253132 '' Categories : Flags introduced in 1957 National symbols of Ghana Flags of Africa National flags Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans አማርኛ Asturianu Azərbaycanca Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego ગુજરાતી 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Kiswahili Lietuvių Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Yorùbá 中文 48 more Edit links This page was last edited on 24 March 2018 , at 20 : 13 . 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