Flag of DR Congo

Flag origins

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a sky-blue flag with a red diagonal band edged in yellow and a yellow five-pointed star in the upper left. Blue symbolizes the people’s hopes for peace; red the blood of those who died for the country; yellow the country’s wealth, including gold, copper and cobalt; and the star national unity and a bright future. The presidency officially explains these meanings. The present flag was adopted with the new Constitution on February 18, 2006.

Flag story

The country has repeatedly changed both its name and flag as political systems changed. Under Mobutu Sese Seko, it became the Republic of Zaire in 1971 and used a completely different green flag with a yellow disc containing an arm holding a torch. After Mobutu fell in 1997, the name Democratic Republic of the Congo returned and the flag changed again. In 2006, the present design largely revived the sky-blue field, red diagonal band and yellow star used in the 1960s.

Editorial notes and references

Edited by ABELHA WORKS. The English text translates the administrator-edited Japanese description. Legends should be distinguished from documented history. General reference links do not substantiate every statement in the text.

• DR Congo — general information on Wikipedia
• Japan MOFA: countries and regions (Japanese)

Report an error