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2:3
image by Zoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
The flag was officially hoisted
1957.03.06,
replaced shortly with version with white middle
stripe 1964.01.01 to
1966.02.28,
when this flag was reintroduced. The
flag is national flag on land and state ensign. Proportions 2:3.
Željko Heimer, 04 July 1996
The Album 2000 [pay00] says:
National Flag shows a 2:3 red over yellow over green tricolour with black star in
the yellow stripe touching the edges of the other two stripes.
A note to the figure explains that the presidential flag
is the same, only with golden fringe.
Željko Heimer, 08 October 2001
According to the official
site, the flag designer was a Ghanaian, Mrs. Theodosia Salome Okoh.
Dov Gutterman, 13 March 2002
It uses Pan-African colours, with black star for being the
first independent African nation of the 20th century.
David Kendall, 01 October 1996
It is believed that the black star on the flag of Ghana,
the lone star of African freedom, is taken from the flag of the
Black Star Line. This shipping line
was founded by Marcus Garvey in June 1919 and would take new
negro colonists back to Africa. It closed in 1922. The flag was
green with a red saltire and a large black star in the centre.
Mark Sensen, 20 June 2000, quoting from
[cra93b]
According to Smith [smi75b],
«the green-white-red horizontal of the ruling
Convention Peoples’ Party
and the green-yellow-red of Africa’s
oldest independent nation (Ethiopia)
combined to inspire Ghana’s flags.»
Ivan Sache, 26 June 1999
The flag of Ghana consists of red, gold and green horizontal strips
with a five pointed black star in the centre of the gold stripe. The color
red represents the blood of those who died in the country’s struggle for
independence: gold stands for the minerals wealth, while green symbolizes
the rich forest. The star represents the lone star of African freedom.
Dov Gutterman, 19 December 1998, quoting from
Johnston’s page
On 23 November 1958 a Ghana-Guinea Union was
formed with a flag like that of Ghana but with two black stars.
Mark Sensen, 20 June 2000, quoting from
[cra93b]
I haven’t found any legal document about the flag. If anybody has, please
share it with us. The Constitution doesn’t mention anything about flag or
national symbols.
There is a page of Permanent Mission of Ghana
to UN about Ghana Flag Coat of Arms & National Anthem, it also provides
illustrations:
https://www.ghanamissionun.org/ghana-flag/
Ghana High
Commission UK also has a page about flag with its image:
https://ghanahighcommissionuk.com/ghanaflag.aspx
Britannica
also has a page about Ghana flag (written by Whitney Smith) with an illustration
of flag:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Ghana
Zoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual
London 2012 [bib-lna.html] provides
recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the
flag, including the PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was
obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval.
So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag,
they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be.
For Ghana, PMS PMS
032 red, 109 yellow, 355 green and black. The vertical flag is simply the
horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 11
October 2012
Other sources for colors:
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone
colors: PMS 032 (red), PMS 109 (yellow), PMS 355 (green), and PMS Black.
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives
colors in Pantone, and CMYK systems:
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-75-5
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-15-90-0
Green: Pantone 349c, CMYK 100-0-85-40
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in
three color systems.
Blue: Pantone 072c, CMYK 100-91-11-2, RGB 16-6-159
Red: Pantone 485c, CMYK 6-94-96-0, RGB 218-41-28
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK
0-1-93-0, RGB 255-204-0
Green: Pantone 3425c, CMYK 91-34-95-29, RGB 0-98-51
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone
system, PMS 186C (red), PMS 116C (yellow), PMS 349C (green), and PMS Black.
Wikipedia illustrates
a construction sheet and gives color values as follows:
Red: CMYK
0-96-84-19, Hex #CF0921, RGB 207-9-33
Yellow: CMYK 0-17-94-1, Hex
#FCD20F, RGB 252-210-15
Green: CMYK 100-0-43-58, Hex #006B3D, RGB
0-107-61
Black: CMYK 100-100-100-99, Hex #000000, RGB 0-0-0
Flag Color Codes gives color values
as follows:
Red: Hex: # EF3340, RGB 239-51-64, CMYK 0-90-76-0, Pantone 032,
RAL 3024
Yellow: Hex. # FFD100, RGB 255-209-0, CMYK 0-5-100-0, Pantone 109,
RAL 2007
Green: Hex. # 009739, RGB 0-151-57, CMYK 93-0-100-0, Pantone 355,
RAL 6037
Black: Hex. # 000000, RGB 0-0-0, CMYK 0-0-0-100, Pantone Black, RAL
9005
Zoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
There was also a blue ensign (state ensign) used in 1960s and
abandoned sometimes letter, maybe around 1985.
Obscura Secundus, 13 October 2001,
quoted by Željko Heimer
I don’t find it in [smi75c] nor
[smi82], though, so maybe it was abandoned
even earlier. Anyone has some info on it? How would it look like (ratio, size
of the flag in canton, eventual fimbriation)? I’d guess that there may
well have been in both in yellow and white variant,
if used in 1960’s.
Željko Heimer, 13 October 2001
image by Željko Heimer, 08 October 2001
The Album 2000 [pay00] says:
3. Civil Ensign.≅5:8
Red ensign with the national flag in canton fimbriated with black line.
The book [smi82] gives ratio as 2:3 (also
for naval ensign), but ≅5:8 would cover
that too. I am somehow ready to bet that there are more 2:3 flags in use then
those that are 5:8.
Željko Heimer, 08 October 2001
Smith [smi75b] and
Album des Pavillons
(correction #26, September 1996)
show a thick black fimbriation.
Pederson [ped70] describes (without
image) a civil ensign of the same pattern, but with proportion 5:8.
Ivan Sache, 26 June 1999
Politikens Flagbook [rya00a]
depicts this flag with merged red, just like in the
white ensign for Warships.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 08 October 2001
The Merchant Flag is like the British Red Ensign,
but has the National Flag of Ghana in the canton, with a
narrow black fimbriation.
Santiago Dotor, 23 February 2000, quoting
[c2b81], page 151
1:2 image by
Zoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
It appears that the Ghanaian Red Ensign may have become obsolete in
2003, with the passage of a new shipping act.
The old Shipping Act of 1963 provided at section 183 that the Ghanaian
Red Ensign was proper national colours for Ghanaian-registered ships.
The new (2003) merchant shipping act says that the Ghanaian National
Flag is the proper national colours for Ghanaian registered ships.
James Liston, 24 February 2014
The Ghana Shipping Act, 2003 (no. 645 of 2003), is now ten years old, and
it provides:
93. National colours
The national flag of Ghana is declared
to be the national colours for all Ghanaian ships
94. Right to fly the flag
of Ghana
(1) A ship registered or licensed in accordance with this Act as a
Ghanaian ship shall fly the national flag of Ghana.
(2) Subsection (1) shall
not be construed as prohibiting ships which are exempt from registration or
licensing under this Act from flying in Ghanaian waters the national colours of
Ghana.
Prior to that, the Merchant Shipping Act of 1963 provided for a
Ghanaian Red Ensign as the civil ensign. The 2003 legislation,
however,
appears to have made this flag obsolete.
James T. Liston, 1 April
2014
Based on my observations on pictures I found, Ghana uses a National Ensign,
which is a 1:2 version of the National Flag. (usage grid should be:
-/-/-/C/S/W):
https://maritimafrica.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/350136098_149388241385420_6749876793890080966_n.jpg
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/20407004535505422/
.gif)
image located by Zoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
The coat of arms of Ghana consists of a shield divided into four quarters
by a green St. George’s cross rimmed with gold. In the top left-hand quarter
is a crossed linguist staff and ceremonial sword on a blue background,
representing local administration. In the top right-hand quarter is an
heraldic castle on an heraldic sea with a light blue background,
representing national government. In the bottom two quarters are a cocoa
tree and a mine shaft representing the wealth of the country. In the centre
of the green St. George cross will be found a gold lion, representing the
continued link between Ghana and the Commonwealth. Surmounting the shield is
a black five pointed star rimmed with gold, representing the lone star of
African freedom, and this star stands on the wreath to the colors red, gold
and green which again stand on the top of the shield. Under the shield will
be found the motto FREEDOM AND JUSTICE. The supporters of the coat of arms
are two eagles, colored gold. Around each eagle’s neck hangs a black star
suspended from a ribbon of Ghana’s colors.
Dov Gutterman, 19 December 1998,
quoting from
Johnston’s page
The national anthem of Ghana mentions the flag and the black star in its third stanza:
Raise high the flag of Ghana,Source: Johnston’s page (the source says "Where the naner of Ghana freely flies", but I assumed "banner" was intended and corrected the text accordingly).
And one with Africa advance;
Black Star of hope and honour,
To all who thirst for liberty;
Where the banner of Ghana freely flies,
May the way to freedom truly lie
Lyrics relating to the flag in the first verse of a 1956-1960 song:
Lift high the flag of Ghana,David Kendall, 21 July 2006
The gay star shining in the sky,
Bright with the souls of our fathers,
Beneath whose shade we'll live and die!
Red for the blood of the heroes in the fight,
Green for the precious farms of our birth-right,
And linked with these the shining golden band
That marks the richness of our Fatherland.
