Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe
Three horizontal stripes, green, yellow and green, the yellow one and a half times as wide as each green, with a red triangle at the pole and two black five-pointed stars on the yellow, as the constitution describes it. The constitution gives no meanings; Larousse says the flag carries the four pan-African colours, the red triangle stands for the struggle for independence and the two stars for the two islands that make up the state.
How to read it
Article 14 of the constitution of 1975, as revised in 2003, describes the national flag: three horizontal bands, the outer two green and of equal width, the middle one yellow, one and a half times as wide as each of the others and bearing two black five-pointed stars, and a scarlet triangle whose base lies along the side of the flag by the pole, its height half its base. The same article describes the national insignia, a falcon and a parrot either side of an oval shield with a palm tree, and names the anthem, “Independência Total” (Total Independence). The constitution sets no overall proportions or shades.
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How the flag is drawn
The constitution’s measurements fix most of it. With the yellow band one and a half times as wide as each green one, the three bands stand in the ratio 2 : 3 : 2 from top to bottom. The red triangle’s base is the whole edge by the pole, and it reaches into the flag half as far as that edge is long. The two black stars sit on the yellow band, one for each island, São Tomé and Príncipe, as Larousse explains them.
Read next
- Next in African flagsFlag of BurundiA white diagonal cross divides the flag into red triangles at top and bottom and green ones at the sides, with a white disc in the centre holding three red six-pointed stars. The Presidency of Burundi says the red recalls the sacrifices made to defend the nation and win independence, the green hope and prosperity, the white peace and unity, and that the three stars traditionally stand for the national motto, “Unity, Work, Progress”.
- The same shape in Asian flagsFlag of JordanJordan’s flag has three equal stripes of black, white and green and a red triangle at the pole holding a white seven-pointed star. Al-Mamlaka, Jordan’s public broadcaster, explains the stripes as the Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates, the red triangle as the Hashemite family, and the seven points of the star as the seven verses of the Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran.
More african flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines, squares and rectangles, stars or triangles.
Sources
- Sao Tome and Principe 1975 (rev. 2003) Constitution, Constitution of São Tomé and Príncipe of 1975 (rev. 2003), Article 14 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 14
- Drapeau de São Tomé et Príncipe (Larousse), Encyclopédie Larousse en ligne, image entry with caption, Larousse, Caption
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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