The flag of the African Union is the official banner of the continental body of African states, founded in 2002 as the successor to the Organisation of African Unity. The current flag, adopted in early 2010 after a continent-wide design competition, replaced a previous version that had been in use since the AU's creation.
The design
The Flag of the African Union is a national emblem rendered in the colours and proportions defined by the country’s flag law. Its official aspect ratio is 2:3, the height-to-length ratio that fixes how the flag should be cut and flown. The colour scheme uses green, gold, white, with each shade specified to particular Pantone or RGB values for official reproduction.
Colour palette
| Colour | Name | Common symbolism |
|---|---|---|
| Green | green | Tends to evoke land, agriculture, hope, Islam or the natural environment. |
| Gold | gold | Stands in for sunlight, mineral wealth or sovereign authority. |
| White | white | Commonly represents peace, purity, honesty or snow-capped landscapes. |
| Source | Official flag law | The country’s own statute or constitutional appendix specifies exact shades and proportions. |
Symbolism & heraldry
A gold silhouette of the African continent on a green field, surrounded by a wreath of green palm leaves and crowned by a circle of gold stars. Green stands for African hope and the renewal of the land; gold stands for African mineral wealth and the bright future of the continent. The stars represent the member states. The continental silhouette is uncoloured at its interior to symbolise unity above any single country.
Heraldic elements on the Flag of the African Union — bands, charges, emblems or stars — each carry meaning agreed at the moment of the flag’s adoption. Re-readings happen across generations: a colour or a symbol that began with one meaning often picks up further layers as the country’s history unfolds.
Adoption & history
The current flag was adopted in 2010-01. It is credited to Yadesa Bojia (Ethiopian-American artist). Earlier banners flown by reflected the politics of their day; each redesign typically marked a moment of independence, regime change or constitutional reform. The current flag was chosen, debated and codified through the country’s official channels and is now protected by flag law.
Etiquette & protocol
The Flag of the African Union should be flown with respect: never allowed to touch the ground, never used as drapery for ceremonies it was not made for, and lowered or removed at sundown unless illuminated. When flown alongside other national flags, it takes precedence on home soil and is hoisted first and lowered last. On days of national mourning, the flag is flown at half-mast in line with directives from the head of state. These conventions are common to most nations and are usually written into the flag’s founding statute.
Specifications
| Field | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Country | — | |
| Continent | Africa | — |
| ISO alpha-2 | 2-letter code | |
| ISO alpha-3 | 3-letter code | |
| Adopted | 2010-01 | year of current design |
| Proportion | 2:3 | height : length |
| Colours | green, gold, white | — |
| Designer | Yadesa Bojia (Ethiopian-American artist) | — |
| Emoji | Unicode codepoint sequence |
Did you know?
The 2010 redesign was selected from 106 international entries; the winning artist, Yadesa Bojia, intentionally placed the continent without internal borders so no single state would appear visually privileged.
About the organisation
AU was founded in 2002. Its headquarters are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Member states
AU has 55 member states. Membership current as of 2024-01.
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Tanzania
- The Gambia
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Western Sahara
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
