South Sudan

For its neighbor to the north, see Sudan.

South Sudan
Adopted	July 9, 2005 (colors standardized on August 25, 2023)
Designed by	Samuel Ajak
Proportions	1:2

The flag of South Sudan is an equal horizontal tricolour of black, red, and green, with thin white stripes, and a light blue pile superimposed with a yellow 5-pointed star.

Symbolism

According to the official sources, the colours symbolize the following:

• Red: Blood that was shed by the liberation struggle martyrs.
• White: Peace attained after many years of the liberation struggle.
• Blue: Waters of the Nile River, a source of life for the country.
• Green: The countries natural resources.
• Black: Black African skin.
• Yellow: Star guiding the country and its citizens.

The flag seems to be a combination of the design of the flag of Sudan (of which South Sudan was a part until 2011), and the colour scheme of the flag of Kenya (which is ethnically close to South Sudan).

Flag of Sudan

Flag of Kenya

History

South Sudan was first under the country of Sudan, which was itself colonized by the British in the colony of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. So South Sudan's flags were those of its' colonizers (Britain and Egypt) and occupiers (Sudan).

1914-1922

1922-1956

1956-1970

1970-2011

2011-2023

2011-2023 (variant)

In 2005, South Sudan was granted autonomy, and they adopted a flag, that was also used as a symbol of the Sudanese People's Liberation Front. They kept it as their national flag when they proclaimed their independence from Sudan in 2011.

On August 25, 2023, the country's Media Authority released an advisory discouraging the use of the flag with a dark blue triangle and tilted star. It is illegal in South Sudan to distribute an incorrect reproduction of the flag.