CHAD FLAG: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The flag of Chad is the official flag that represents the African country internationally and internationally. It is a simple design with three vertical stripes of the same size. Its colors, from left to right, are blue, yellow and red.

Their meanings are similar to what they represent in other flags. Blue emulates the nation's sky, water, and hope. Yellow symbolizes the sun and the desert in the north of the country. Finally, red represents the blood shed during the wars waged, as well as union, progress and sacrifice.

Chad flag. (By SKopp & others (see upload log), via Wikimedia Commons).

During the time that France colonized Chad, the territory was identified under the French flag. It was not until 1959 when the current tricolor was made official, which was maintained after it achieved its independence.

In principle, they wanted to use green instead of blue, but this would have made the flag look the same as that of Mali, so they opted for blue. In 2004, Chad made international news after a rumor about a claim made to Romania, because their flags are identical.

History of the flag

There are no records of flags representing Chad before the French colonial process. The French military stormed the territory of Chad in 1891.

In the process of conquest, the Battle of Kousseri was fought on April 22, 1900. After this military struggle against the warlords, France took control of what is now Chad.

In 1905, Chad joined the group of French colonies that included Gabon, Oubangui-Chari, and Middle Congo. In the year 1910, these nations formed the territory called French Equatorial Africa.

Chad was always a despised colony relegated to producing cotton and labor for other productive colonies in southern Africa.

Throughout this period, Chad was identified under the national flag of France. This was presented in the same conditions as in the French metropolitan territory.

Flag of French Equatorial Africa. (1910-1958). (Par Deutsch: Diese Grafik wurde von SKopp erstellt.English: This graphic was drawn by SKopp.Español: This file was made by user SKopp.Suomi: Tämän grafiikan on piirtänyt SKopp.Filipino: Ginuhit ni SKopp ang grapikong ito.Portugu: Porto This graphic was unpacked using SKopp.Slovenčina: Tento obrázok bol vytvorený redaktorom SKopp.Tagalog: Ginuhit ni SKopp ang grapikong ito., Via Wikimedia Commons).

However, the French West African colony did have a shield. This was mainly used by the governor appointed from Paris.

Seal of the general government of French West Africa. (Par Samhanin, from Wikimedia Commons).

Independence process

When World War II took place, Chad joined the Allies in 1940, with the support of General Charles de Gaulle. The colony was under the command of Féliz Éboué, the first black French governor.

At that time, the Brazzaville Conference was held in 1944, which laid the foundations for the autonomy of the colonies and their future independence.

Chad, after the war, began to elect representatives to the French parliament. In 1958, the colony received the status of an autonomous republic within the French Community, provided for by the new constitution. At this time, the French flag continued to be used.

Divergence of colors and approval of the flag

The autonomous Republic of Chad commissioned a legislative commission to design the flag and shield. The first result was to recommend a flag with three vertical stripes, colored green, yellow and red.

This was done to highlight the Pan African colors. However, since it was the same as that of Mali, it was discarded. For this reason, a new project was proposed in November.

Finally a new flag was adopted under law no. 59/13, on November 6, 1959. The original green color was changed to blue, which would now represent the sky.

Chad independence

The still colony tried to form part of a united republic with other African countries, but the project was scrapped. Finally, on August 11, 1960, the independence of Chad was declared, after having agreed with France.

The already designed flag was confirmed as that of the new Republic of Chad. Later, it was added to the 1962 constitution. Article 8 of this text established its colors and division into vertical stripes.

Despite the fact that Chad suffered different internal political problems since independence, the flag did not undergo changes. It is intuited that this was because the colors of the flag do not represent a political movement.

Instead, its colors are considered the combination of the Pan-African colors and the colors of the French flag.

Meaning of the flag

The national flag of Chad consists of a tricolor of vertical stripes. The colors are blue, yellow, and red, arranged from left to right. The distribution of the colors was an attempt to imitate the French flag, but with pan-African colors.

Each of them has a special meaning to say: the blue symbolizes the sky, the water and the hope of the people. On the other hand, yellow represents the sun and the sand of the desert in the north of the country.

Finally, red symbolizes the blood shed to obtain independence, progress, strength and union.

Controversy between the flags of Chad and Romania

In 2004, news emerged that Chad had demanded that the UN review the Romanian flag. Romanian President Ion Iliescu declared that he would not change his country's flag despite the similarity.

When the Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu, was overthrown in 1989, the new government removed the communist insignia from the center of the flag. From this point on, both flags were almost identical.

Romania flag. (By AdiJapan, from Wikimedia Commons).

At a press conference, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they had carried out a registration procedure. This was done as a consequence of the Paris convention to protect intellectual property in 1997.

A specialized agency of the United Nations, the World Intellectual Property Organization, undertook this procedure. The agency registers state symbols, official signs and seals.

Each time a registration is made, there is a 12-month extension in which a claim can be made. At that time, Romania did not receive any from Chad.

On the other hand, during that press conference they reported that Romania had not received any official claim from Chad to initiate any legal procedure.

References

1. BBC UK. (2004). "Identical flag" causes flap in Romania. BBC UK. Recovered from news.bbc.co.uk
2. Constitution du République du Tchad. (nineteen ninety six). Présidence du Tchad. Recovered from presidence.td
3. DK Publishing (2008). Complete Flags of the World. New York. Recovered from books.google.co.ve
4. James, C. (2012). A History of Pan-African Revolt. USES. MP Press. Recovered from books.google.es
5. Iliffe, J. (2013). Africa: History of a continent. Spain. University Press. Recovered from books.google.es
6. Smith, W. (2013). Flag of Chad. Encyclopædia Britannica. Recovered from britannica.com.