The national flag of Djibouti (Somali: Calanka Jabuuti), (French: Drapeau de Djibouti) features two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and green with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a red, five-pointed star (representing the areas Somalis live in the region) in the centre. These five areas are British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland (Somalia), French Somaliland (Djibouti), the Ogaden, and the Northern Frontier District. The colours used can be seen to symbolise the earth (green), the sea and sky (blue) and peace (white), with the red star representing unity. It was hoisted on the day of the independence of Djibouti on 27 June 1977. There is a red five-pointed star on Djibouti's white triangle.
The flag of Djibouti was created in 1972. The national flag, adopted in 1977, was an adaptation of the flag of the Ligue Populaire Africaine pour l'Independence (LPAI) that led Djibouti to independence. The LPAI flag had a red triangle with a white star. For the national flag, the star was placed in an upright rather than a slanted position, and the proportions of the flag were lengthened. The light blue represents the Issa Somalis, and the green represents the Afar. White, green, and light blue are the colors of the LPAI. The red star signifies the unity of the diverse state.
Famous quotes containing the words flag of and/or flag:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow—red, yellow, brown, black and white—and we’re all precious in God’s sight.”
—Jesse Jackson (b. 1941)