Proportion 1:2 Adopted on 9 July 2005 | ||
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Design A horizontal tricolour of black, red, and green, fimbriated with white stripes; with a blue equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bearing a gold star | ||
The flag of South Sudan was adopted following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. A similar version of the flag was previously used as the flag of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The flag of South Sudan is actually older than the country itself, as the flag was adopted in 2005, while the country became independent in 2011.
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History
When Sudan became independent on Jan. 1, 1956, the predominantly Christian people living in the south of the new country had no regional symbols, while the already dominant Muslim north displayed Islamic symbols on the national flag. Before independence, the British government had arranged for appropriate local symbols for the regions in Sudan, but the new government in independent Sudan had opposed the use of these symbols as being counterproductive to fostering national unity.
From the outset the southern Sudanese felt discriminated against by the Islamic north. The southerners fought a brought out and bloody civil war to gain their independence, resulting in a peace agreement in 2005 that included a referendum on independence in the south. The referendum was passed with overwhelming support in January 2011, and South Sudan became officially independent on July 9. In the 1990s, during their struggle with the north, the southern Sudanese had created a banner of independence, which would become the new national flag.
The flag bears striking similarities with both the flags of Sudan, from which Southern Sudan seceded from in 2011, and Kenya. It shares the black, white, red, and green of the Sudanese flag (although different symbolism is given to each of the colours), in addition to having a chevron along the hoist. The horizontal black, white, red, and green bands of the flag share the same design as the Kenyan flag, and the Pan-African symbolism thereof. Another main difference between the flags of Southern Sudan and Sudan is that there is a yellow star inside the blue triangle that represents the unity of South Sudan.
Symbolism and representation
The Southern Sudanese government specifies that the colours of the flag are there to represent these descriptions of South Sudan: