Flag ratio: 1:2

Old flag of Rwanda (1962-2001)

Flag of the Kingdom of Rwanda (1959-1962)

The flag of Rwanda was adopted on October 25, 2001.

The flag has four colours: blue, green, and two forms of yellow (standard yellow for the middle band and what the Pantone system calls "sun yellow" for the sun); the difference between the two yellows is barely noticeable.

The blue band represents happiness and peace, the yellow band symbolizes economic development, and the green band symbolizes the hope of prosperity. The sun represents enlightenment.^[1]

The flag was designed by Alphonse Kirimobenecyo.

[edit] Previous flag

Rwanda's previous flag was a red-yellow-green tricolour with a large black letter 'R' (to distinguish it from the otherwise identical Flag of Guinea). Derived from the flag of Ethiopia, the colours green, yellow and red represented peace; the nation's hope for future development; and the people. The flag was changed because it had become associated with the brutality of the Rwandan Genocide.^[1]

[edit] References