Flag of Gambia

Flag origins

The Gambia’s flag has red-white-blue-white-green horizontal bands, with narrow white strips bordering the central blue. Its Constitution specifies the colors and proportions. Red is commonly explained as sun and savanna, blue the Gambia River, green forests and agriculture, and white peace and unity. The river is especially important: the country follows it eastward from the Atlantic for about 320 kilometers and is almost surrounded by Senegal, as government information explains. The flag was adopted at independence from Britain on February 18, 1965.

Flag story

A map makes the central blue band especially meaningful. The country resembles a narrow strip cut along both banks of the Gambia River, bordered by Senegal to the north, east and south, with only its western end opening onto the Atlantic. Its maximum width is about fifty kilometers. The blue stripe thus recalls the shape of the country itself. The border developed because Britain controlled the river corridor while French Senegal surrounded it. Independence in 1965 retained that narrow colonial territory.

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.

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

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