Flag of Namibia

What the flag looks like

A red diagonal band edged in white runs from the lower hoist to the upper fly, with a blue triangle bearing a golden twelve-rayed sun in the upper hoist and a green triangle in the lower fly.

What it means

Blue represents the sky, the Atlantic and water, red the people and their heroism, green the vegetation and white peace and unity; the sun stands for life and energy.

How to remember it

Namibia's red diagonal splits blue from green, and the golden sun in the blue corner is what sets it apart from Tanzania and DR Congo.

Fun facts

• The flag was adopted at independence from South Africa in 1990.
• The Namib is often called the oldest desert in the world, at tens of millions of years old.
• Namibia was one of the first countries to write environmental protection into its constitution.

Namibia at a glance

Capital

Windhoek

Region

Southern Africa

Population

3.0 million

Area

825,615 km²

Languages

Afrikaans, German, English, Herero, Khoekhoe, Kwangali, Lozi, Ndonga, Tswana

Currency

Namibian dollar (N$), South African rand (R)

Flag adopted

1990

Flags often confused with Namibia

• Tanzania: Namibia and Tanzania both have a diagonal band from lower hoist to upper fly. Namibia's band is red with white edges, with blue above holding a sun; Tanzania's is black with yellow edges, with green above.
• DR Congo: DR Congo and Namibia both have a red diagonal band from bottom-left to top-right. DR Congo is all sky blue with a yellow star; Namibia has blue and green triangles and a gold sun.
• Solomon Islands: Namibia and Solomon Islands both split diagonally into blue above and green below. Namibia has a wide red band and a gold sun; Solomon Islands has a thin yellow stripe and five white stars.