Eritrea Flag Colors, Meaning & History

Eritrea flag
Color Palette
ColorsHEX CodeRGBCMYK
Green#12AD2B18, 173, 4390, 0, 75, 32
Red#EA0437234, 4, 550, 98, 76, 8
Blue#4189DD65, 137, 22171, 38, 0, 13
Yellow#FFC726255, 199, 380, 22, 85, 0

The Eritrean flag has a red triangle pointing to the fly-side of the flag, cutting the flag into 2 triangles. A green triangle is on the upper part and a blue triangle is on the lower part. On the red triangle and close to the hoist, there is a yellow emblem of an olive wreath and an olive branch.

Meaning of the Eritrean Flag

The Eritrean flag has a green color that represents the beautiful nature of the country. The red color represents the blood shed for independence. The blue color symbolizes respect for the UN. The national emblem of the country featured on the flag is an olive wreath that represents the United Nations and the olive branch that represents peace.

History of the Eritrean Flag

Eritrea’s first flag was adopted in 1952. It had a blue field to honor the United Nations, which administered the country at that time, and a green wreath made of two olive branches, with an olive branch in the middle. Eretria established a confederation with Ethiopia in 1952 following Eritrea’s federal arrangement with Ethiopia. The Ethiopian flag was raised when Ethiopia annexed the nation. A resistance movement started at that time. In 1975, it was led by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF). The current flag was inspired by the EPLF flag, which was hoisted in 1977, with the same triangles as today’s flag, and a yellow star. The flag was hoisted as the national flag of Eritrea in 1993 after the country proclaimed its independence, but the star was replaced with the olive wreath and olive branch.