Flag of Sierra Leone
Officially Republic of Sierra Leone
What the flag looks like
Three horizontal stripes of green, white and blue.
What it means
Green represents agriculture and the mountains, white unity and justice, and blue the natural harbour of Freetown.
How to remember it
Sierra Leone
reads top to bottom like the view from Freetown: green hills, white beaches, blue harbour; Gabon
has yellow in the middle.
Fun facts
- Freetown was founded in 1792 as a settlement for freed slaves.
- The name comes from the Portuguese 'Serra Leoa', 'lion mountains'.
Sierra Leone at a glance
- Capital
- Freetown
- Region
- Western Africa
- Population
- 8.6 million
- Area
- 71,740 km²
- Languages
- English
- Currency
- Sierra Leonean leone (Le)
- Flag adopted
- 1961
Flags often confused with Sierra Leone
- Gabon: Gabon and Sierra Leone both have green on top and blue at the bottom. The middle stripe tells them apart: yellow for Gabon, white for Sierra Leone.
- Lesotho: Lesotho and Sierra Leone both use blue, white and green horizontal stripes. Lesotho has blue on top and a black hat in a wider white stripe; Sierra Leone has green on top and no emblem.
- Uzbekistan: Sierra Leone and Uzbekistan both use green, white and blue horizontal stripes. Sierra Leone has green on top and no emblem; Uzbekistan has blue on top, thin red lines and a crescent with stars.