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
National Assembly (Cape Verde) by the Assembly on 12 February 1981. That same year the Cape Verdean branch of the PAIGC, which was also the ruling party in Guinea-Bissau, was renamed African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). Elections for an enlarged 83-seat National People's Assembly took place on 7 December 1985. For the first time a few independent, PAICV-endorsed candidates won seats in the legislature. In 1990, Cape Verde became one of the first African countries to abandon one-party rule and embrace multiparty democracy. The first multiparty National Assembly elections took place on 13 January 1991. The ruling PAICV was soundly