The Flag of Congo, the Republic of the Congo – Brazzaville. A Diagonally Divided Flag

The flag of Congo is a diagonally divided three color flag adopted on 18 August 1958.

It is divided from the lower point on the hoist to the upper corner on the fly side. But before we go on, let us make sure we are not confusing ourselves with the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, which is the larger neighbour of the Republic of Congo.

The first color on the hoist side is green.

The lower diagonal area on the fly side is red.

A narrow yellow stripe runs through the middle.

These colors represent the pan African colors of Ethiopia. The flag is exactly a size ratio of 2:3.

When this nation became the Republic of the Congo in August 1960 and had gained its full independence, they elected to keep the same diagonally colored green, yellow, and red flag.

Their aircraft markings uses a classic roundel, which is a green center circle, surrounded by equally sized bands of yellow and red. Red is the outside color.

The Soviet style flag of Congo

In December 1969, the politics of the Congo took a socialist course.

The nation became the People’s Republic of Congo. A new flag of Congo was presented. It was Soviet inspired flag with a background of red. In the upper left corner, a yellow hammer and hoe were shown as a variation of the Soviet hammer and sickle. Above the hammer and hoe was a yellow star. The yellow star was meant to be the leading role of one legal party.

These symbols were grouped on either side by green palm leaves. The overall red color of the flag was the bloodshed by the anti-colonialist fighters for this nation.

This one party aria ended in June 1991 when a new constitution went into effect. At this time, the original diagonally tri-colored flag of Congo was restored.

History of the Congo Flag

Three African kingdoms originally ruled the part of Africa, that we call the Republic of the Congo.

The Portuguese located this area along the Congo River in 1482. The Portuguese conducted trade negotiations with these tribes.

Most of this trade was for African slaves captured from tribes further into the interior of the area. Portuguese were the main European traders throughout this area through the 1800’s.

The first French influence came with the establishment of French trade centers and English and Dutch merchants soon sought commercial trade for the ivory, rubber, and slave trade. The Frenchman Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza was a French empire builder.

Coming to this area in 1880, de Brazza competed with Belgian agents for the control of this Congo River basin. Between 1882 and 1891, treaties were secured with all the main local rulers on the river's right bank, placing their lands under French protection.

The French tri-color flag of red, white, and blue flew over the area.

The area was called the French Congo and the Middle Congo and was administered primarily by French companies. These companies held concessions for the area's rubber and ivory resources.

In 1908, the French Equatorial Africa (AEF) was formed. It included the colonies of the Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and the Central African Republic.

This solidified the French ties and influence in the region, increasing the presence of the French language.

It is for this reason that this is a Francophone nation where one can learn to speak French and practice speaking French.

Brazzavile was the federal capital of the area. It is still the capital of the Republic of the Congo.

During World War II, the AEF sided with France and Charles De Gaulle.

Brazzaville was the symbolic capital of Free French from 1940 to 1943.

A conference was held in 1944 and gave the colony major reforms to their policy. They abandoned forced labor, gave French citizenship to colonial subjects, and election of local advisory assemblies.

In September 1958, a referendum was approved for a new French constitution and the AEF was dissolved.

The Middle Congo was renamed the Congo Republic. The present day diagonally tri-color flag became the national flag of Congo.

Independence in 1960 and the Congolese flag

The country’s formal independence from France was granted in August 1960 and they then became the Republic of the Congo.

From 1969 until 1990, the country turned to Marxism.

A new red flag of Congo was created.

In its upper left corner was a yellow hammer and hoe, which was a variation of the Soviet hammer and sickle.

Above the hammer and hoe was a yellow star. The yellow star was meant to be the leading role of one legal party.

These symbols were grouped on either side by green palm leaves.

The overall red color of the Marxist flag of Congo was the bloodshed by the anti-colonialist fighters for this nation. In 1992, the country moderated its economic and political views.

The Congo became a multi-party democracy. The re-instated their diagonally tri-color green, yellow and red flag. Now you know the flag of Congo, check out the country stats & facts.

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More information on the Republic of Congo, a French-speaking nation
All about Republic of Congo | Practise or Learn French Language in Republic of Congo | History of Republic of Congo | Map of Republic of Congo |

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More about Flags of Francophone Countries
Flag of Belgium | Flag of Benin | Flag of Burkina Faso | Flag of Burundi | Flag of Cameroon | Flag of Canada | Flag of Central African Republic | Flag of Chad | Flag of Congo | Flag of Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) | Flag of Djibouti | Flag of France | Flag of French Guiana | Flag of French Polynesia | Flag of Gabon | Flag of Guadeloupe | Flag of Guinea | Flag of Haiti | Flag of Laos | Flag of Lebanon | Flag of New Caledonia | Flag of Niger | Flag of Zaire

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Flag of Congo
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