Last modified: 2004-12-29 by zeljko heimer
Keywords: cameroon | cameroun | africa | panafrican colours | star (yellow) | crab | stars: 2 |
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![[National Flag and Ensign]](../misc/oooooo.gif)
2:3~
by Zeljko Heimer, 13 October 2001
Flag adopted 20 May 1975, coat of arms adopted in 1984.
Vertical tricolor green red yellow, with a yellow
fivepointed star in the middle. Cameroon is second modern African state
(after Ghana) to adopt panafrican colours. When British South Cameroon
joined federation, two stars where added. In 1972, the country became a unitary state and three years later two stars where replaced with just one. The flag was officially hoisted on 20 May 1975. Proportions are aprox. 2:3. (based on [smi82])
Zeljko Heimer 8 December 1995
Red, yellow and green are the pan-African colours
and the pattern of the flag recalls the French Tricolore. Green stands
for hope and the Southern forests, red for unity (and the star as well
is the star of unity) and yellow for the sun ('the source of people
happiness') or prosperity as well as the Northern savannas. ([udk97],
[smi75c], [ped71])
Ivan Sache, 13 February 2000
In 'DTV-Lexikon politischer Symbole', 1970, Arnold Rabbow [rab70] writes:
'Green represents the rich vegetation of the southern region; yellow the
soil of the extreme North; the red stands for national sovereighnty.'
Mucha - Webster's concise Encyclopedia of Flags, 1985 [mch85a]:
'Green denotes the rich forest vegetation of the southern part of the
country, and the hope for a happy future; red is the symbol of
independence and unity; and yellow stands for the savannas in the
savannas in the northern part of the country and for the sun as the
source of the nation's happiness. The star symbolizes the unity of the
country.'
Jarig Bakker, 13 February 2000
The colours of the flag of Cameroon are the pan-African colours,
green/red/yellow. They are based on the colours of the flag of
Ethiopia, a horizontal tri-colour of green/yellow/red which dates
back to 1897. The colours of the Cameroon flag form a vertical
tri-colour based on the flag of France which was the colonial
power controlling most of its territory before independence.
The basic pattern of the flag of Cameroon dates back to 1957. In
1961 Southern Cameroon, a former British colony or dependency,
voted to join Cameroon in a federal type of government. At that
time two yellow stars were added to the upper part of the green
portion of the flag. In 1972 the federal system was replaced by
a unitary government, and in 1975 the two stars were removed from
the green and a single yellow star was placed on the red portion
of the flag.
Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., 27 February 2001
Vagnat & Poels 2000 book [vap00] gives Article 1(5) from the Constitution
last amended in 1996 which describes (but does not detail) the current flag.
The last legislation I have is Law No 84-1 dated 4 February 1984 (issued on the
basis of the 1972 Constitution as amended), but this also contains no details
regarding a size for the star.
Christopher Southworth 18 August 2003
The Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon was adopted on 2 June 1972 and last changed by Law #96/06 of 18 January 1996:
Part I
On the State and Sovereignty
Article 1
[...]
4. The motto of the Republic of Cameroon is: PEACE - WORK - FATHERLAND
5. Its flag shall be: green, red, yellow in three equal vertical stripes. It is charged with one gold star in the centre of the red stripe.
[...]
7. The seal of the Republic of Cameroon shall be a circular medallion in bas-relief, 46 millimetres in diameter, bearing on the obverse and in the centre the head of a girl in profile turned to the dexter towards a coffee branch