Flag Fact Friday: Cape Verde

The national flag of Cape Verde (Portuguese: bandeira de Cabo Verde) was adopted on 22 September 1992, replacing the flag adopted during Cape Verdean independence, fought for with Guinea-Bissau, another former Portuguese colony on mainland West Africa.

The National Flag of the Republic of Cabo Verde has five unequal horizontal bands of blue, white, and red, with a circle of ten yellow five-pointed stars. The topmost blue stripe is half the width of the flag.


The 10 stars on the flag represent the main islands of the nation (a chain of islands off the coast of West Africa). The blue represents the ocean and the sky. The band of white and red represents the road toward the construction of the nation, and its colors stand for peace (white) and effort (red). The circle of yellow stars on a dark blue field is similar to the flag of Europe (which has 12 stars instead of 10).