FLAG OF IVORY COAST: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The Ivory Coast flag is the national flag that represents this African republic. This national symbol is made up of three vertical stripes, each of which has a color that covers its entirety. From left to right, the colors are orange, white, and green.

This symbol is established through article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ivory Coast. There are different laws that regulate the use of the Ivorian flag. In addition, it is established that the proportions of the flag are 2: 3.

Flag of Ivory Coast. (By Jon Harald Søby, from Wikimedia Commons).

The history of the flag arose from the Ivorian independence. Its design was approved in the Constituent Assembly held by the African country in 1959. Since independence, on August 7, 1960, it represents the Ivory Coast.

The meaning of its colors is also established. The orange is identified with the generous land of the country and the struggle it undertook to achieve independence, reflected in the young blood. White, as usual, represents peace, while green refers to hope and a better future.

History of the flag

The history of the Ivory Coast and its flags is marked by the foreign dominations that have occupied its territory for decades.

For centuries, Côte d'Ivoire was dominated by different tribal groups, who clashed in the domain of a territory that had no defined borders. Many of these groups came from other areas of Africa, so this region became a space for foreign conquerors.

The first Europeans who made contact with the current Ivorian territory were the Portuguese between 1470 and 1471. They were the ones who gave it the name of the Ivory Coast. Later, the French began to reach this coast in 1632, through missionaries.

Since then, the territory became a space of French influence. This was especially after the enforcement of Code Noir, which regulated the slave trade.

The Ivory Coast was a place of slave trade, and even the French exercised their evangelizing power with local kings. However, the actual colonization of the territory came many years later, in 1893.

French colonization

The French colonial power mutated into a political power in the Ivory Coast. After obtaining important conquests in territories such as Algeria, the colonial forces of France advanced towards the end of the 19th century. The objective was to occupy the entire territory of West Africa.

The fact that France already had dominions in the coastal areas facilitated the process, until finally the colonial territory was defined. In addition to France, the United Kingdom also launched a colonization campaign in the region.

After the signing of different protectorates, the French colony of Ivory Coast was established on March 10, 1893. On that day the French pavilion began to be used for the first time. However, at that time the French did not have control of the entire territory.

Wassoulou Empire

In 1878, part of the territory of what would become the French colony of Ivory Coast, the Wassoulou Empire was formed. Its head was the Islamic conqueror Samory Touré. The French forces finally defeated it in 1898, after several wars, and took control of the entire territory.

The flag of this empire consisted of a rectangle with three horizontal stripes. These were dark blue, light blue, and white, in descending order. In addition, on the far left it had a red triangle with a seven-pointed star and a rhombus inside.

Flag of the Wassoulou Empire. (1879-1898). (Par An Encore Performance From The Boys In The Band, from Wikimedia Commons).

French flag

France effectively controlled the entire colony of the Ivory Coast in the early years of the 20th century. In this territory the French tricolor flag was always used as a symbol, regardless of the political status that the territory had.

In 1895, the Ivory Coast became part of the French colony called French West Africa (AOF). This political entity remained until 1958, when it was dissolved. Before and after the blue, white and red French flag was used.

Flag of France, used in Ivory Coast (1893-1960)

Independent Ivory Coast

Africa began to experience a strong independence movement after the end of World War II. Previously, the colonial government of the Ivory Coast participated in the Brazzaville Conference in 1944, which defined the future of the French colonies in Africa.

In this event, the abolition of the Code de l'indigénat was approved, a set of norms that left as second-class citizens those who were considered indigenous. Furthermore, after the war in 1946 and as a consequence of the autonomy promised by the forces of Free France, the French Union was formed.

This new link with France gave the status of citizens to all its inhabitants, who began to vote to elect deputies to the National Assembly. A Territorial Assembly of the Ivory Coast was also constituted.

Need for a flag

With regard to the coming independence process, the French African colonies decided to begin to distinguish themselves with flags, anthem and national emblems. To that end, the president of the Territorial Assembly, Félix Houphouet-Boigny entrusted the vice president, Phillipe Yace, with the search for a creator of the Ivorian flag.

Yace commissioned the design to Pierre Achille, then chief of staff of the Assembly. Achille was known among his peers for his skills in painting. The entrusted task was to imagine which symbol should identify the future country taking into account its two constituent elements: the savanna and the jungle.

For his task, Achille was provided with different designs of flags of newly independent countries. However, Achille ruled out the use of elements such as the elephant, focusing only on colors.

Creation of the Ivorian flag

Ivory Coast belonged to the French Union and Félix Houphouet-Boigny became prime minister of the still colony. Since his inauguration, he proposed that the flag contain a small French flag in the upper left corner.

However, it would have been the French president, Charles de Gaulle, who convinced Houphouet-Boigny not to include the French symbol, as a commitment to Ivorian independence.

More than 90 sketches made by Achille, who frequently sent him to Houphouet-Boigny. The design that Achille imposed was to have the orange and green colors on the sides, divided by a white stripe. This symbol inspired the creation of the Niger flag, after Achille discussed it with the president of that country, Hamani Diori.

Proposal to change from orange to red

After the final design of the flag, the Constituent Assembly proceeded to debate it. One of its members, Lambert Amon Tano, proposed that the flag should resemble the American or the French.

However, another member, Agustin Loubao, preferred red to orange, to be clear on the meaning of Ivorian blood.

Despite the debate, the government maintained its support for the orange flag. Finally, the symbol was approved and unveiled at the parliamentary headquarters. Subsequently, it was hoisted on August 7, 1960 at midnight by Prime Minister Félix Houphouet-Boigny.

Meaning of the flag

Since its inception, the meaning of each element of the Ivorian flag has been quite clear. There are two versions of meanings that are quite consistent and that emerged during the debate on the adoption of the flag.

The first of them corresponds to Minister Jean Delafosse, who relates the orange with the rich and generous land, the Ivorian struggle and the blood lost in the independence process. White would also be related to peace and law. Meanwhile, green would be the symbol of hope and a better future.

The member of the Constituent Assembly, Mamadou Coulibaly then gave other meanings. For him, orange represents national expansion and the northern savannas.

White magnifies peace, purity, the union of hearts, and the promise of success. Instead, green represents hope for the future, and recalls the country's virgin forests, which are the first source of national prosperity.

Furthermore, Coulibaly gives meaning to the vertical design of the flag's stripes. This because it would represent the dynamic youth of the Ivorian state. It is also related to the motto of the country, which has three elements: Union, Discipline and Work.

References

1. Achille, J. (July 3, 2018). Création du Drapeau national de la République de Côte d'Ivoire. Louis Thomas Achille: une culture de dépaysement. Recovered from louisthomasachille.com.
2. APA. (2014, August 6). An 54 of the Côte d'Ivoire: chronique du drapeau tricolore ivoirien. Abidjan.net. Recovered from news.abidjan.net.
3. Constitution of Côte d'Ivoire of 8 November 2016. (2016). Wikisource. Recovered from fr.wikisource.org.
4. Présidence de la République de Côte d'Ivoire. (sf). Symboles. Présidence de la République de Côte d'Ivoire. Recovered from presidence.ci.
5. Smith, W. (2013). Flag of Côte d'Ivoire. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Recovered from britannica.com.