Flag of Tanzania
Tanzania’s flag is divided diagonally by a black band edged in gold, from the bottom corner by the pole to the top corner at the fly, with green above and blue below. Tanzania’s Daily News explains the green as vegetation and fertile land, the black as the people, the gold as the country’s natural wealth and the blue as its lakes, rivers and ocean.
Easily confused with
- Flag of NamibiaBoth are split by a diagonal band from the bottom by the pole; Tanzania’s band is black edged in gold, Namibia’s red edged in white, with a gold sun in the blue.
- Flag of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago’s flag is red, crossed from the top corner by the pole to the bottom corner at the fly by a black band edged in white. The Office of the President says the red stands for the vitality of the land and its people, the warmth and energy of the sun and the people’s courage and friendliness, the white for the sea that binds the islands and the equality of all, and the black for the dedication of a people joined by one strong bond.
- Flag of Saint Kitts and NevisSaint Kitts and Nevis’s flag is divided by a black diagonal band edged in yellow, carrying two white stars, with green above and red below. The government says green is the fertile land, yellow the year-round sunshine, black African heritage, red the struggle from slavery through colonialism to independence, and the white stars hope and liberty.
How to read it
The flag was adopted on 30 June 1964, Store norske leksikon says, after Tanganyika and Zanzibar united, and its proportions are 2:3. In a letter of December 2018 passing on instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs, reported by Mwananchi, the Ministry of Education gave the colours as green, gold, black and blue, said it was wrong to use yellow, and gave the ratio as 2:3.
Also searched as: flag of tanzania, tanzania flag, tanzania flag meaning, tanzanian flag, tanzanian flag meaning.
Two flags in one
The flag joins the flags of the two states that formed Tanzania in 1964. Norway’s Store norske leksikon describes Tanganyika’s flag of 1961 to 1964 as green, black and green horizontal stripes separated by narrow yellow stripes, and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar’s from February to June 1964 as blue, black and green; Tanzania’s flag is a synthesis of the two. Lex, the Danish national encyclopedia, traces the colours further back, to the party flags of TANU in Tanganyika and the Afro-Shirazi Party in Zanzibar, and says they were set diagonally so that neither state’s colours would come first.
What the colours stand for
The Daily News gives green for vegetation and fertile land, black for the people, gold for natural wealth and blue for lakes, rivers and the ocean. Lex has green for the land, black for the people, the narrow stripes for mineral wealth, and blue for both Zanzibar and the sea.
Gold, not yellow
The government’s instruction of 2018 says the narrow stripes are gold (dhahabu), and that using yellow (njano) is a mistake.
Telling it from Namibia’s flag
Namibia’s flag is split the same way, by a diagonal band from the bottom corner by the pole, with a blue and a green triangle. Namibia’s band is red edged with white, its blue triangle is at the top with a gold sun of twelve rays, and its green is at the bottom; Tanzania’s band is black edged with gold, with green at the top and blue at the bottom, and no sun.
Read next
- Next in African flagsFlag of UgandaUganda’s flag is six horizontal stripes, black, yellow and red repeated, with a white disc in the centre holding a grey crowned crane, the national bird, facing the pole. Uganda’s mission to the United Nations explains the black as Africa’s people, the yellow as the sunshine of an equatorial country and the red as brotherhood with the rest of Africa and the world.
- 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 or triangles.
Sources
- Serikali yatoa maelekezo matumizi rangi ya bendera ya Taifa, wimbo wa Taifa (Mwananchi), “Serikali yatoa maelekezo matumizi rangi ya bendera ya Taifa, wimbo wa Taifa”, Mwananchi, 13 December 2018, Mwananchi (Mwananchi Communications, Nation Media Group), article text
- Tanzania’s flag, written in life (Daily News), Wilson Malima, “Tanzania’s flag, written in life”, Daily News, Dar es Salaam, 9 February 2026, Daily News (Tanzania Standard Newspapers), article text
- Tanzanias flagg og våpen (Store norske leksikon), Lars Roede, “Tanzanias flagg og våpen”, Store norske leksikon, Store norske leksikon, article text
- Tanzanias nationalflag (Lex), Christian Fogd Pedersen, “Tanzanias nationalflag”, Lex – Danmarks Nationalleksikon, Lex – Danmarks Nationalleksikon, article text
- Namibias flagg og våpen (Store norske leksikon), Lars Roede, “Namibias flagg og våpen”, Store norske leksikon, Store norske leksikon, article text
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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