Flag of Cameroon
Officially Republic of Cameroon
Locally Cameroun
What the flag looks like
Three vertical stripes of green (hoist), red and yellow, with a yellow five-pointed star in the center of the red stripe.
What it means
Green represents the forests of the south, yellow the savanna and sun of the north, and red unity; the star is the 'star of unity'.
How to remember it
Cameroon
puts red in the middle with a yellow star; Senegal
puts yellow in the middle with a green star, and Mali
has no star at all.
Fun facts
- From 1961 to 1975 the flag had two stars, for the former French and British Cameroons; they became one when the federation ended.
- Cameroon is nicknamed 'Africa in miniature' for its range of landscapes, from rainforest to desert to volcanic Mount Cameroon (about 4,040 m).
Cameroon at a glance
- Capital
- Yaoundé
- Region
- Middle Africa
- Population
- 29 million
- Area
- 475,442 km²
- Languages
- English, French
- Currency
- Central African CFA franc (FCFA)
- Flag adopted
- 1975
Flags often confused with Cameroon
- Senegal: Cameroon and Senegal both have vertical stripes starting with green and a star in the middle. Cameroon's middle stripe is red with a yellow star; Senegal's is yellow with a green star.
- Mali: Cameroon and Mali both have vertical stripes starting with green. Cameroon's middle stripe is red with a yellow star; Mali's middle stripe is yellow with no star.
- Guinea: Cameroon and Guinea are both vertical green, red and yellow. Cameroon goes green, red, yellow with a yellow star; Guinea goes red, yellow, green with no star.