Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe
Officially Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
Locally São Tomé e Príncipe
What the flag looks like
Three horizontal stripes of green, yellow and green, the yellow one wider, with a red triangle at the hoist and two black five-pointed stars on the yellow stripe.
What it means
Green represents the vegetation, yellow the sun and cocoa, red the struggle for independence, and the two stars the two main islands.
How to remember it
São Tomé and Príncipe
puts two black stars, one per island, on a wide yellow band between green stripes, with a red hoist triangle.
Fun facts
- The equator passes through Ilhéu das Rolas, an islet just off São Tomé.
- In 1919 Arthur Eddington photographed a solar eclipse on Príncipe, helping confirm Einstein's general theory of relativity.
São Tomé and Príncipe at a glance
- Capital
- São Tomé
- Region
- Middle Africa
- Population
- 235,536
- Area
- 964 km²
- Languages
- Portuguese
- Currency
- São Tomé and Príncipe dobra (Db)
- Flag adopted
- 1975
Flags often confused with São Tomé and Príncipe
- Ghana: Ghana and São Tomé and Príncipe both have black stars on a yellow stripe. Ghana has one star with red on top; São Tomé has two stars, green top and bottom, and a red triangle.
- Guinea-Bissau: Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe both use red at the hoist with black stars, yellow and green. Guinea-Bissau has a red band with one star; São Tomé has a red triangle and two stars on a yellow stripe.