Flag of Biafra

What the flag looks like

Three equal horizontal stripes of red, black and green, with a yellow rising half sun of eleven rays in the center of the black stripe.

What it means

Red stood for the blood of Igbo people killed in massacres in northern Nigeria, black for mourning and green for prosperity; the eleven rays represented Biafra's eleven provinces.

How to remember it

Biafra, the breakaway state of the 1967–1970 Nigerian Civil War, put a yellow half sun on the black middle stripe of red-black-green; Malawi runs black-red-green with a red sun at the top.

Fun facts

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel "Half of a Yellow Sun", set during the war, takes its title from the flag.
• Estimates of the civilian dead range from about 500,000 to two million, most of them from famine under the Nigerian blockade.

Biafra at a glance

Existed

1967–1970

Flag used

1967–1970

Today

Southeastern Nigeria

Capital

Enugu

Region

1967–1970

Languages

English, Igbo

Currency

Biafran pound

Flag adopted

1967

Flags often confused with Biafra

• Malawi: Biafra and Malawi both use red, black and green stripes with a rising sun. Biafra runs red, black, green with a yellow half sun on the black middle stripe; Malawi runs black, red, green with a red sun on the black top stripe.