Flag of Cape Verde interpretations of the Pantone standards. Before independence from Portugal, Cape Verde did not have an official flag, and the Portuguese national flag was used. In the late 1960s, a flag for the Portuguese overseas province of Cape Verde was proposed, consisting of the flag of Portugal with the shield from the provincial arms added to the lower fly. However, this flag was never adopted. The original national flag of Cape Verde was introduced on independence in 1975, and was based on the flag of the Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC). It used the common
Cape Verde–European Union relations African, whereas about 1% is of unmixed European descent. Because of this, Cape Verdeans find it hard to define themselves as either mixed or Africans. They regard themselves as either "both" or as "unique Cape Verdeans". Politically, Cape Verdeans also worked as part of the Portuguese administration, with independence leader Amílcar Cabral being part of the colonial administration in Guinea-Bissau and Angola. Cape Verde is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), an African regional bloc with aims for internal integration similar to those of the EU, and even though it has not yet participated in