Flag Designs from Around the Globe

Germany

Germany’s national flag features three equal horizontal bands of black, red and yellow.

During the 19th-century movements to free Germany from French occupation, freedom fighters wore black uniforms with a red adornment and golden buttons. The colors became a symbol of unity and freedom.

Over the years, Germany’s official flag has evolved numerous times. The black-white-red flag was created under the North German Confederation, from 1867 to 1871, and that was later adopted as the national flag of the German Empire.

West Germany restored the original black-red-yellow flag design in 1949.

The flag of East Germany, adopted by the German Democratic Republic, featured the same three equal horizontal bands of black red, and gold, but added the National Emblem of East Germany in the center. The coat of arms featured a compass and a hammer within a ring of rye, symbolizing the connection between the workers, farmers and intellectuals.

After Germany’s reunification, West Germany’s flag became the official German flag.

Angola

Angola’s national flag combines a black top half with a red bottom half, featuring a central yellow emblem of a gear, star and machete. The black represents Africa. In the ’70s, when the official flag was first adopted, the red symbolized socialism — but in modern times, the red has evolved to honor the country’s bloodshed as it struggled for independence. The yellow signifies Angola’s wealth.

In the yellow emblem, the gear represents the industrial workers, the machete symbolizes agricultural laborers, and the star represents internationalism and progress.

East Timor

The flag of East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in Southeast Asia, has a red background. On the left side near the staff, there is a star on top of a black isosceles triangle, overlapping on top of a bigger yellow isosceles triangle.

The meanings of the flag’s colors have evolved over time. When the flag was first adopted in 1975, the black represented 400 years of colonial oppression. The yellow triangle represented the struggle for independence. The red referred to the spilled blood of the people. And the white star represented hope for a better future.

After the new Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was instated in 2002, it declared that black symbolized obscurantism, yellow represented wealth, red symbolized the struggle for national liberation and the white star represents peace, or “the light that guides.”

Uganda

The background of Uganda’s national flag is made of six equal horizontal stripes. Starting from the top, the stripes are black, yellow, red, black, yellow and red.

The colors have specific meanings: black represents the people of Uganda, yellow stands for the country’s abundant sunshine, and red symbolizes brotherhood among all Ugandans.

In the middle, there’s a grey crane on top of a white circle. The crane is the official symbol of Uganda and also the name of the country’s soccer team, the Uganda Cranes. The flag’s crane has red and yellow feathers on its head and a red tail.

East Timor (Black, Red, Yellow and White)

The flag of East Timor features a red background with a star on top of a black isosceles triangle overlapping a bigger yellow isosceles triangle. The meanings of the flag’s colors have evolved over time.

When first adopted in 1975, the black represented 400 years of colonial oppression, the yellow triangle represented the struggle for independence, the red referred to the spilled blood of the people, and the white star represented hope for a better future.

After the new Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was instated in 2002, it declared that black symbolized obscurantism, yellow represented wealth, red symbolized the struggle for national liberation, and the white star represents peace or “the light that guides.”

Uganda (Black, Red, Yellow, White and Gray)

The background of Uganda’s national flag is made of six equal horizontal stripes starting from the top as black, yellow, red, black, yellow, and red. In the middle, there’s a grey crane on top of a white circle, with the crane representing the official symbol of Uganda and also the name of the country’s soccer team.