Flag of Mauritania
Officially Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Locally Mūrītānyā · موريتانيا
What the flag looks like
A green field with a yellow crescent opening upward beneath a yellow five-pointed star in the center, and horizontal red stripes along the top and bottom edges.
What it means
Green and the crescent and star represent Islam, yellow the Sahara, and the red stripes the blood of those who fought for independence.
How to remember it
Mauritania
is green with an upward-cupped yellow crescent and star, and since 2017 red stripes along the top and bottom.
Fun facts
- The red stripes were added in 2017 after a constitutional referendum.
- Mauritania's iron-ore trains, up to about 2.5 km long, are among the longest and heaviest trains in the world.
- The Richat Structure, a 40 km-wide set of concentric rings known as the 'Eye of the Sahara', lies in Mauritania.
Mauritania at a glance
- Capital
- Nouakchott
- Region
- Western Africa
- Population
- 5.2 million
- Area
- 1,030,700 km²
- Languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- Mauritanian ouguiya (UM)
- Flag adopted
- 2017
Flags often confused with Mauritania
- Algeria: Algeria and Mauritania both use green with a crescent and star. Algeria is half green, half white with a red crescent; Mauritania is all green with a yellow crescent and red stripes at top and bottom.
- Pakistan: Mauritania and Pakistan are both green with a crescent and star. Pakistan has a white band at the hoist and a white crescent; Mauritania has a yellow crescent and star with red stripes at the top and bottom.