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Republic of Mali
Use	National flag
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	4 April 1959
Design	A vertical tricolour of green, gold and red.

The national flag of Mali (drapeau national du Mali) is a tricolour with three equal vertical stripes. From the hoist (the place where the flagpole meets the flag) the colours are green, gold, and red, the pan-African colours. The flag of Mali is almost identical to the flag of Guinea, with the exception that the colours are in reverse order.

History

The current flag was adopted on 1 March 1961. The original flag was adopted on 4 April 1959, when Mali joined the Mali Federation. This flag was the same, except the golden stripe had a black kanaga, a shape of a squatter man with arms raised to the sky. The figure was removed due to the opposition, in a country whose population is 90% Muslim (95% Sunni 5% Shia), of Islamic fundamentalists^[1] (see Aniconism in Islam, the belief against making pictures of the human figure).^[2]

Symbolism

The green stands for fertility of the land, gold stands for purity and mineral wealth, and the red symbolizes the blood shed for independence from the French.^[3]

Colour scheme

	Green	Yellow	Red
Pantone	2271c	115c	3546c
CMYK	91-0-100-0	0-9-100-0	0-86-63-0
RGB	20-181-58	252-209-22	206-17-38
Hexadecimal	#14B53A	#FCD116	#CE1126

Historical flags

Years of use	Ratio	Government	Description
c. 1324		Mali Empire (possible)	A reconstruction of the banner used by Musa I on the hajj, a possible historical flag of the Mali Empire. It consisted of a yellow rectangle centered on a red field.
1880–1958	2:3	French Sudan^[a]	The French tricolor was used as the official flag of French Sudan for most of its history.
1958–1959	2:3	French Sudan^[a]	A new flag was adopted in 1958, when French Sudan gained autonomy within the French Community. It consisted of the French tricolor with a black Kanaga centered on the white band.
1959–1960	2:3	Mali Federation	The flag initially adopted on Malian independence consisted of a vertical tricolor of green, gold, and red with a black Kanaga centered on the gold band.
1960-1961	2:3	Republic of Mali
1961–present	2:3	Republic of Mali	The current flag of Mali was adopted on 1 March 1961, removing the Kanaga featured on the previous flag.

Other flags

Historical flag of the Massina Empire (1818–1862), located in the present-day regions of Mopti and Ségou
Historical flag of the Wassoulou Empire (1878–1898), located in the Wassoulou region (part of present-day Mali, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire).
Flag of the Arab Movement of Azawad, a militant organization active in Azawad/northern Mali.
Flag of the Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies, a militant organization active in the Gao and Kidal regions.
Flag of the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, a militant organization and political movement active in the Gao and Kidal regions.
Roundel of the Mali Air Force
Roundel of the Mali Air Force (variant)

Notes

^ The colonial region of French Sudan went through a number of administrative reorganizations between 1880 and 1959, changing names several times throughout the process. See: French Sudan § Administration and jurisdiction

References

^ "Flag of Mali". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
^ Guide to the Flags of the World by Mauro Talocci, revised and updated by Whitney Smith (ISBN 0-688-01141-1), p. 124.
^ "What Do The Colors And Symbols Of The Flag Of Mali Mean?". WorldAtlas. 24 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.