The
Republic of the Congo, sometimes referred to as Congo-Brazzaville
(Brazzaville is the country's capital), was a French governed colony
from the late 19th century until full independence was declared in August
1960. The Republic of
the Congo was incorporated, along with three other French ruled
territories (Gabon, Chad and Ubangi-Shari - now the Central African
Republic), into French Equatorial Africa. Congo-Brazzaville
first adopted the
current national flag in 1959, a year later the territory of
French Equatorial Africa dissolved and all four nations attained
independence. In
December 1969, a new government changed the national flag to represent
its political views and it remained in use until 1991. A national
conference held in 1991 made the decision to restore multi-party
democracy to the country. The same conference also decided to re-adopt
the country's original (current) national flag on the 10th
of June 1991.
The Republic of the
Congo's flag displays the pan-African colours of red, yellow and
green, which have been adopted by many African ex-colonies and
symbolise African independence and unity.
It is believed the colours
originated from the flag of Ethiopia, the oldest independent nation in
Africa. |
