Flag of Nigeria
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Use | National flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 1:2 |
Adopted | 1 October 1960 |
Design | A vertical bicolour triband of green, white and green |
Designed by | Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi |
Use | State flag |
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | A vertical bicolour triband of a green, white and green; charged with the coat of arms in the centre |
Use | Civil ensign |
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | A red field with the national flag, in the canton |
Use | State ensign |
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | A blue field with the national flag, in the canton |
Use | Naval ensign |
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | A red field with the national flag in the canton, with the Naval seal in the fly. |
Use | Air force ensign |
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | A sky-blue field with the national flag in the canton, with the air force roundel in the fly. |
The flag of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was designed in 1959 and first officially hoisted on 1 October 1960. The flag has three vertical bands of green, white, green. The two green stripes represent natural wealth, and the white represents peace and unity.
Design[]
The flag is an adaptation of the winning entry from Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi in a competition held in 1959. Akinkunmi was a 23-year-old student at the time he designed the flag. He was studying at Norwood Technical College in London, England, when he saw an advertisement in a newspaper that submissions were being accepted for the design of a new national flag of Nigeria. He submitted a triband design consisting of a white vertical band in the center, with a green vertical band on each side. The design also contained a radiating red sun in the white vertical center of the flag. He won the contest, however the judges removed the red sun, leaving only a green and white triband design for the national flag. It is typical for culturally diverse countries such as Nigeria to choose simpler and less complex flag designs in order to avoid inadvertently offending particular ethnic or religious groups.[1] The flag has remained unchanged ever since then. It was first officially used on 1 October 1960, the day Nigeria was granted independence from the United Kingdom.[2]
Nigeria has special ensigns for civil and naval vessels. Some of its states also have flags.[3]
Colour specifications[]
Colour scheme | Green | White | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
RAL | None |
9003 Signal white | ||
CMYK | 100.0.39.47 | 0.0.0.0 | ||
Hexadecimals | #008753 | #FFFFFF | ||
Decimals | 0,135,83 | 255,255,255 |
Other flags[]
Flag of the President of Nigeria
Flag of the President as Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces
Former flag of the President, adopted in 1963
Flag of the Nigerian Army
Flag of the Nigerian Defence Forces
Naval ensign of Nigeria (1960–1998)
Akinkunmi's original proposal
Historical flags[]
A flag which was captured by British forces from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897
Flag of the Royal Niger Company (1887–88)
Flag of the Royal Niger Company (1888–1899)
Flag of the British West African Settlements
Flag of the Lagos Colony (1886–1906)
Flag of the Oil Rivers Protectorate
Flag of the Niger Coast Protectorate
Flag of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate (1900–1914)
Flag of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate (1900–1914)
Flag of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (1914–1952)
Flag of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (1952–1960)
Subnational flags[]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Flag of Nigeria | Britannica".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Nigeria: One Nation, Many Flags
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of Nigeria. |
- Flags adopted through competition
- Flags of Africa
- National symbols of Nigeria
- Flags introduced in 1960
- National flags