Green, yellow & blue. The flag of Gabon.

Flag of Gabon – The Horizontal Banded Flag

The flag of Gabon has three equally sized horizontal bands of green on the top band, yellow in the middle band and blue as the lower band. It has a ratio size of 3:4.

The green color represents the green of the forest. With the equator crossing the country, their forest is very lush and green.

The blue color represents the sea.

Yellow is said to represent the country’s other natural resources and the Equator line which passes through the country.

This flag of Gabon was officially adopted by Gabon in August 1960.

Their military aircraft have a roundel. Green is the center circle and is surrounded by the yellow and the blue in equally sized bands. Blue is the outermost color.

Presidential flag of Gabon

The Presidential flag of Gabon shows their national flag and the coat of arms of Gabon.

The flag is the national tricolor with a white disk in the center. The coat of arms is in this white disk.

The coat of arms of Gabon has a shield with two black panthers standing on their hind legs on either side. It looks like the panthers are supporting the shield. The panthers represent the president’s vigilance and courage to protect the nation.

The shield has three yellow discs that sit at the top of the shield. These represent the mineral wealth of the country. An okoume tree stands behind the shield. The tree represents their timber trade of the country.

In the middle of the shield is a colonial sailing ship, which represents Gabon moving to a brighter future.

The coat of arms of Gabon also has two ribbons. One is at the bottom of the shield and the other is below the branches of okoume tree. They have mottos in two different languages.

The motto below the shield is in French. It says “Union, Work, Justice”.

The second ribbon below the tree has a motto in Latin, which says “Let us go forward united”.

Louis Muhlemann, a Swiss heraldist, designed the coat of arms of Gabon. He also designed the coat of arms of the Congo.

History of the Flag of Gabon

The history of Gabon shows Pygmies as inhabitants. In the 16th and 18th centuries, a tribe called Fang migrated south into the area. The Portuguese arrived in 1472 but did not make any settlements in this area. They kept to the close islands of the area called Biolo and Sao Tome. British, Dutch, and French regularly traded for slaves, ivory, and other previous tropical woods.

In 1815, the ,b>Congress of Vienna established the abolition of the slave trade.

Even with the French naval patrols, slaves continued to be exported from the Gabon coast until the 1880’s.

The capital, ,b>Libreville, was originally established for freed slaves in 1849, and a missionary site in the western world.

In 1904, the capital of the French colony was Brazzaville in the Congo.

In 1910, Gabon became a French colony in French Equatorial Africa.

In 1912, Albert Schweizer traveled to Gabon and set up a hospital in Lambarene. Schweizer won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Gabon.

Colonization for the European powers was an economic issue.

Private companies of France used forced labor of the Africans, which seemed to many like another form of slavery to them.

Each company used up the natural resources.

The country was in an economic depression until after World War I.

From 1910 until 1957, Gabon was part of the French Equatorial Africa.

The French tricolor flag was the national flag and the French took their language to the country which is why it is another French speaking country and one where you can learn French.

During World War II, as early as 1940, the Free French gained control of Gabon.

In 1946, Gabon became an overseas territory of France.

In 1958, the country became a French community and self-governing.

At this time the flag of Gabon was a horizontal tricolor of four green, one yellow, and 4 blue stripes. The flag also had a French tricolor in the canton.

In 1960, the country became a new independent Republic of Gabon and elected a president.

Gabon soon became a one party nation and converted their religion to Islam.

Gabon was able to process manganese, oil, and uranium deposits which gave new wealth to the country. In January 2002, there was an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the border area of Gabon. There are also accusations of child trafficking from Nigeria to Gabon.

by Linda Chambers

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In addition the flag of Gabon you can learn about the country's facts, statistics & other general information

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