Flag of Angola

The national flag of Angola is a horizontal bicolour of red and black, charged in the center with a yellow emblem consisting of a machete crossed by a half-cogwheel and crowned with a five-pointed star. It was adopted on 11 November 1975, when Angola became independent from Portugal following the thirteen-year Angolan War of Independence. The original meanings of the flag's colours and symbols accordingly referenced the war and colonial period, but they have since been reinterpreted to represent the Angolan people and society more broadly. The flag's design is outlined in the Constitution of Angola, and regulations regarding its use are outlined in section 2.1 of the Angolan government's manual of graphic and protocol standards for national symbols. Henrique de Carvalho Santos is credited with designing the national flag, which is based on the flag of the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the country's ruling party since independence.

Infobox

Use

National flag and ensign

Proportion

2:3

Adopted

11 November 1975; 50 years ago (1975-11-11)

Design

Horizontal bicolour of red and black, charged in the center with a yellow emblem consisting of a machete crossed by a half-cogwheel and crowned with a five-pointed star

Henrique de Carvalho Santos

Tables

Standard dimensions of the flag of Angola[5] · Design and symbolism › Construction

Small

Col 1

Small

Dimensions

0.51 m × 0.80 m (1 ft 8 in × 2 ft 7 in)

Medium

Col 1

Medium

Dimensions

0.83 m × 1.3 m (2 ft 9 in × 4 ft 3 in)

Large

Col 1

Large

Dimensions

1.4 m × 2.2 m (4 ft 7 in × 7 ft 3 in)

	Dimensions
Small	0.51 m × 0.80 m (1 ft 8 in × 2 ft 7 in)
Medium	0.83 m × 1.3 m (2 ft 9 in × 4 ft 3 in)
Large	1.4 m × 2.2 m (4 ft 7 in × 7 ft 3 in)

Standard colours of the flag of Angola[6][8] · Design and symbolism › Construction

CMYK

Col 1

CMYK

Angola red

20/100/90/0

Angola yellow

0/15/100/0

Process black

10/10/10/100

Pantone

Col 1

Pantone

Angola red

186 C

Angola yellow

116 C

Process black

Black 6 C

RGB

Col 1

RGB

Angola red

204/9/47

Angola yellow

255/203/0

Process black

0/0/0

Hexadecimal

Col 1

Hexadecimal

Angola red

#CC092F

Angola yellow

#FFCB00

Process black

#000000

	Angola red	Angola yellow	Process black
CMYK	20/100/90/0	0/15/100/0	10/10/10/100
Pantone	186 C	116 C	Black 6 C
RGB	204/9/47	255/203/0	0/0/0
Hexadecimal

Flags of the MPLA and UNITA · History › Adoption

Flag	Group	Description
	MPLA	A horizontal bicolour consisting of a red upper band and a black lower band, charged in the center with a yellow five-pointed star. The symbolism of the colours is the same as that of the Angolan flag. American vexillologist Whitney Smith suggests that the design may have been derived from the flag of the Viet Cong, from which the MPLA adopted strategies and principles.
	UNITA	A horizontal triband consisting of a white central band sandwiched between two red bands. It is charged in the center with a black silhouette of a crowing rooster and on the right with a red silhouette of a rising sun with 16 rays. Red represents the blood shed by Angolans in anti-colonial actions before the war of independence, while green represents hope and faith in victory. The rooster symbolises "a call upon the peoples of Africa to become aware of the foreign nomination of Africa". The rising sun represents the start of the war of independence and the unity of Angola's 16 provinces in the war.

References

The full list of dates is:.mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- 4 January – Day of the Martyrs of the Colonial Repression of Baixa do
Constitution of Angola 2010, Annex I.
Constitution of Angola 1975, Article 54.
Smith 2001.
Government of Angola 2011, pp. 4–6, 17, Section 2.1.
Government of Angola 2011, pp. 7–9, Section 2.1.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 12.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 6, Section 2.1.
SchemeColor.com.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 18, Section 2.1.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 19, Section 2.1.
Government of Angola 2011, pp. 13–14, Section 2.1.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 16, Section 2.1.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 47, Section 2.4.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 45, Section 2.4.
Government of Angola 2011, p. 48, Section 2.4.
Klinghoffer 2019, p. 38.
Klinghoffer 2019, p. 39
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Angolan_War/NgiiDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP39
Guimaraes 2016, p. 96.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Origins_of_the_Angolan_Civil_War/z0KLCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA96
Escórcio 2020.
Pearce 2015, pp. 47–48.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Political_Identity_and_Conflict_in_Centr/NYlsCQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA47
Pearce 2015, p. 51.
MPLA 2025.
UNITA 1985, p. 116.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/UNITA_Identity_of_a_Free_Angola/D88MAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA116
Center for Systematic Peace 2005, p. 3.
ANGOP 2003a.
ANGOP 2003b.
Embassy of Angola in Portugal 2015.