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Flag of Ivory Coast

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Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
UseNational flag and ensign Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flagSmall vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flagReverse side is mirror image of obverse side
Proportion2:3
Adopted3 December 1959; 65 years ago (1959-12-03)
DesignA vertical tricolour of orange, white, and green

The national flag of Ivory Coast (or Côte d'Ivoire) is a vertical tricolour of orange, white, and green, with a 2:3 width-to-length ratio. It was adopted on 3 December 1959 with the passing of law no. 59-240 by the Ivorian Legislative Assembly, and is defined in Article 48 of the country's 2016 constitution. It is similar to the flag of Ireland, which is the same tricolour but reversed and with wider proportions.

The symbolism of the flag's colours and layout has been variously interpreted as representing aspects of the country's growth and geography. The president's office uses the meaning assigned by then state minister Jean Delafosse [fr] in a speech he gave after the flag was adopted. Delafosse stated that orange represents Ivorians' land, struggle, and blood; white represents peace and order; and green represents hope and a better future.

Adoption

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The results of the 1958 French constitutional referendum led to the French Fourth Republic being replaced with the Fifth Republic and the French Union with the French Community, under which most colonies became "autonomous states", including Ivory Coast on 4 December 1958.[1] The new status allowed the adoption of a distinct flag for the first time, in place of the French flag.[2] The orange, white, and green tricolour was adopted by law no. 59-240, passed by the Ivorian Legislative Assembly on 3 December 1959, just before the first anniversary of the country's autonomy.[3] The French commissioner had suggested a red, white, and blue tricolour with stars, but Ivorians wanted a greater departure from the flag of their former colonial ruler.[4] Conversely, the vexillologist Whitney Smith claimed that, in contrast to neighbouring post-colonial states, Ivory Coast rejected the pan-African colours of green, yellow, and red for its national flag because of its close ties to France.[5]

Augustin Loubao's proposal (1960)

Prime Minister Félix Houphouët-Boigny declared full independence from France on 7 August 1960, and the Legislative Assembly sat as a constituent assembly to draft a constitution.[4] Legislator Augustin Loubao proposed changing the orange band to red, to symbolise Ivorians' willingness to shed their blood to defend the new republic.[4] Other legislators opposed the proposed change,[4] and the existing flag was retained in Article 1 of the constitution adopted on 3 November 1960.[6][7] It was retained as Article 29 of the 2000 constitution[8][9] and Article 48 of the 2016 constitution.[10]

Design

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The Ivorian flag flying alongside those of other countries in San-Pédro

The design of the flag is defined in Article 48 of the Constitution of Ivory Coast (2016) as a "tricolour flag of orange, white, and green in vertical bands and of equal dimensions".[a][13] The width-to-length ratio of the flag is 2:3.[5] The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) used Pantone codes PMS 151 for orange and PMS 347 for green in their manual for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[14]

Colours of the Ivorian flag according to LOCOG[14][15]
Orange White Green
CMYK 0/70/100/0 0/0/0/0 77/20/95/4
Hexadecimal #FF8200 #FFFFFF #009A44
Pantone 151 N/A 347
RGB 255/130/0 255/255/255 0/154/68

Symbolism

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After the flag was officially adopted on 3 December 1959, Minister of State Jean Delafosse [fr] presented the flag to the Legislative Assembly and gave the following explanation of its significance:

L'Emblème National doit être le vivant Symbole de la Patrie. L'Orange rappelant la couleur de notre terre riche et généreuse, c'est le sens de notre lutte, le sang d'un peuple jeune dans sa lutte pour notre émancipation; le Blanc, la paix, mais la paix du droit; le Vert, l'espérance, certes pour d'autres, mais pour nous, la certitude d'un devenir meilleur.[3][16]
The national [flag] must be the living symbol of the fatherland: orange recalling the colour of our rich and generous land, it is the meaning of our struggle, the blood of a young people in its struggle for our emancipation; white, peace, but the peace of law; green, hope, certainly for others, but for us, the certainty of a better future.

The office of the president of Ivory Coast repeats this anecdote and describes it as having "thus defined the meaning of [the flag]".[3] Smith similarly wrote in the Encyclopædia Britannica that the "symbolism of the colours was said to be dynamic national growth (orange), peace developing out of the purity and unity of all citizens (white), and hope for the future (green)".[5] However, when presenting the colours of the flag to the 1960 constitutional assembly, commissioner Mamadou Coulibaly gave a different explanation:

La bande Orange exprime l'éclat de l'épanouissement national, en même temps qu'elle fait penser aux Savanes du Nord. La bande Blanche magnifie la paix dans la pureté et l'union des cœurs et est le gage de notre succès et la bande Verte, expression de notre espérance dans l'avenir rappelle la luxuriante forêt vierge de Côte d'Ivoire, première grande source de la prospérité nationale.[4]
The orange band expresses the brilliance of national blossoming, while also serving as a reminder of the northern savannas. The white band glorifies peace in the purity and union of hearts, and is the pledge of our success; and the green band, expression of our hope for the future, recalls the luxuriant virgin forest of Ivory Coast, the first great source of national prosperity.

Smith describes the added meaning of the savannas and forests as unofficial.[5] The vertical alignment of the bands also symbolises Ivorian youth working towards a better future for their country, under the national motto "Unity, Discipline and Work" (L'Union, la Discipline et le Travail).[4][5]

Similarity to the flag of Ireland

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Contrasting flags: the flag of Ireland on the left and the flag of Ivory Coast on the right.

The flag of Ivory Coast is similar to the flag of Ireland, which is the exact same tricolour but reversed (the green being on the hoist side)[17] and with a width-to-length ratio of 1:2[18][19] rather than 2:3.[5] Due to the similarity of the two flags, Ulster loyalists in Northern Ireland have sometimes desecrated the Ivorian flag, mistaking it for the Irish flag. For example, during Ulster celebrations of the Twelfth in 2013, large Ivorian flags were burned in a bonfire in Belfast instead of Irish ones.[20][21] In 2014, a Belfast shop hanging the Ivorian flag as part of a FIFA World Cup display labelled it accordingly to avoid confusion with the Irish flag.[22] Conversely, when Ivorian sprinter Murielle Ahouré-Demps celebrated winning gold at the 2018 World Indoor 60-meter dash, for lack of an Ivorian flag to wave, she borrowed an Irish flag from a spectator and reversed it.[23]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Translated from French: "... le drapeau tricolore orange, blanc, vert, en bandes verticales et d'égales dimensions."[11][12]

References

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  1. ^ David, Philippe (2009). La Côte d'Ivoire (in French). Karthala. p. 35. ISBN 9782811101961. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  2. ^ David 2009, p. 36.
  3. ^ a b c "Symboles" [Symbols]. www.presidence.ci (in French). Office of the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "An 54 de la Côte d'Ivoire : chronique du drapeau tricolore ivoirien" [Year 54 of Ivory Coast: Chronicle of the Ivorian tricolor flag]. Abidjan.net (in French). 6 August 2014. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Smith, Whitney (2 February 2001). "Flag of Côte d'Ivoire". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 15 July 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Côte d'Ivoire – Constitution du 3 novembre 1960" [Ivory Coast – Constitution of 3 November 1960]. Digithèque MJP (in French). University of Perpignan. 3 November 1960. Article 1. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Constitution de Côte d'Ivoire du 3 novembre 1960" [3 November 1960 Constitution of Ivory Coast]. Wikisource (in French). 3 November 1960. Article 1. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Constitution ivoirienne du 23 juillet 2000" [Ivorian Constitution of 23 July 2000] (PDF) (in French). 23 July 2000. Article 29. Retrieved 5 September 2025 – via UNESCO.
  9. ^ "Constitution de Côte d'Ivoire du 23 juillet 2000" [23 July 2000 Constitution of Ivory Coast]. Wikisource (in French). 23 July 2000. Article 29. Archived from the original on 26 February 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  10. ^ Koffi, Sandra Manuella (5 August 2025). "Indépendance, 65 ans : Comprendre les symboles de la Côte d'Ivoire" [Independence, 65 years: Understanding the symbols of Ivory Coast]. Pulse Côte d'Ivoire (in French). Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Loi n° 2016-886 du 8 novembre 2016 portant Constitution de la République de Côte d'Ivoire" [Law no. 2016-886 of 8 November 2016 establishing the Constitution of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire] (PDF) (in French). Government of Ivory Coast. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via Constitutionnet.org.
  12. ^ "Constitution de Côte d'Ivoire du 8 novembre 2016" [8 November 2016 Constitution of Ivory Coast]. Wikisource (in French). 8 November 2016. Article 48. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Côte d'Ivoire 2016 Constitution". www.constituteproject.org. 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  14. ^ a b Flags and Anthems Manual: London 2012 (PDF). London, United Kingdom: London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 2012. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Ivory Coast Flag Color Codes". www.flagcolorcodes.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2025. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  16. ^ "5 Symboles de la République" [5 Symbols of the Republic] (PDF) (in French). Ministry of Public Service (Ivory Coast). 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  17. ^ Devlin, Emma (7 October 2024) [2017]. "Irish flag vs Ivory Coast flag: The difference". IrishCentral.com. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  18. ^ "Department of the Taoiseach – The National Flag – Guidelines" (PDF). assets.gov.ie. 2019. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  19. ^ Smith, Whitney (9 February 2001). "Flag of Ireland". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 25 July 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  20. ^ "What have the Ivory Coast ever done to deserve this?". JOE.ie. 12 July 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  21. ^ Roberts, Patrick (12 July 2013). "Loyalists ask us to respect their flag as they burn everyone else's?". IrishCentral.com. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  22. ^ McLysaght, Emer (13 June 2014). "Belfast shop insists it's displaying Ivory Coast flag, NOT Ireland flag". The Daily Edge. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  23. ^ "Quick-thinking Irish fans come to the rescue of victorious Ivory Coast star at World Indoor Athletics Championships". Irish Independent. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
[edit]
  • Media related to Flags of Ivory Coast at Wikimedia Commons
  • Côte d'Ivoire at Flags of the World
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