Last modified: 2001-10-19 by zeljko heimer
Keywords: cameroon | cameroun | africa | panafrican colours | star (yellow) | crab | stars: 2 |
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![[National Flag and Ensign]](../misc/oooooo.gif)
2:3~
by Zeljko Heimer, 13 October 2001
Flag adopted 20 May 1975, coat of arms adopted in 1984.
Vertical tricolor green red yellow, with a yellow
fivepointed star in the middle. Cameroon is second modern African state
(after Ghana) to adopt panafrican colours. When British South Cameroon
joined federation, two stars where added. In 1972, the country became a unitary state and three years later two stars where replaced with just one. The flag was officially hoisted on 20 May 1975. Proportions are aprox. 2:3. (based on [smi82])
Zeljko Heimer 8 December 1995
Red, yellow and green are the pan-African colours
and the pattern of the flag recalls the French Tricolore. Green stands
for hope and the Southern forests, red for unity (and the star as well
is the star of unity) and yellow for the sun ('the source of people
happiness') or prosperity as well as the Northern savannas. ([udk97],
[smi75c], [ped71])
Ivan Sache, 13 February 2000
In 'DTV-Lexikon politischer Symbole', 1970, Arnold Rabbow [rab70] writes:
'Green represents the rich vegetation of the southern region; yellow the
soil of the extreme North; the red stands for national sovereighnty.'
Mucha - Webster's concise Encyclopedia of Flags, 1985 [mch85a]:
'Green denotes the rich forest vegetation of the southern part of the
country, and the hope for a happy future; red is the symbol of
independence and unity; and yellow stands for the savannas in the
savannas in the northern part of the country and for the sun as the
source of the nation's happiness. The star symbolizes the unity of the
country.'
Jarig Bakker, 13 February 2000
The colours of the flag of Cameroon are the pan-African colours,
green/red/yellow. They are based on the colours of the flag of
Ethiopia, a horizontal tri-colour of green/yellow/red which dates
back to 1897. The colours of the Cameroon flag form a vertical
tri-colour based on the flag of France which was the colonial
power controlling most of its territory before independence.
The basic pattern of the flag of Cameroon dates back to 1957. In
1961 Southern Cameroon, a former British colony or dependency,
voted to join Cameroon in a federal type of government. At that
time two yellow stars were added to the upper part of the green
portion of the flag. In 1972 the federal system was replaced by
a unitary government, and in 1975 the two stars were removed from
the green and a single yellow star was placed on the red portion
of the flag.
Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., 27 February 2001
by Zeljko Heimer, 13 October 2001
The 1961-75 flag of Cameroon was a vertical tricolour of green-red-yellow with two yellow stars on the red. It was adopted when the former British territory of Southern Cameroon voted to join French Cameroun which became independent in 1957. The 2 stars signified the two territories. In 1972 Cameroon became a unitary state and the second star was subsequently dropped from the flag.
Stuart Notholt 30 November 1995
Pedersen's The International Flag Book in Color of 1971 shows the flag of Cameroon as a vertical tricolor of green-red-yellow with two gold (darker yellow then the third vertical) stars in the upper half of the green.
Michael Smuda, 20 July 1998
Look at a copy of Whitney Smith's 1975 book Flags Through the Ages and Across the World and you'll see the current Cameroon flag (one star) in the section on flags of the world, and you'll find the obsolete two-starred version in the "flying flags" painting at the front of the book. The design of the flag changed in 1975 during the production of that book.
Nick Artimovich, 20 July 1998
by Vincent Morley, 25 May 1997
The September 1961 issue of the 'National Geographic' magazine contains an article about the flags of the 99 states which were then members.
Vincent Morley, 25 May 1997
I think it probable that this badge, described by Jaume, was not a
badge of Southern Cameroons until after it had become a region of the
Republic of Cameroon which has two official languages, English as well as
French.
David Prothero, 4 May 2000
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