Flag of Togo
Togo’s flag is five horizontal stripes, green and yellow in turn, with a red square in the top left corner holding a white five-pointed star. Its constitutions describe the flag without giving its colours a meaning; it was designed by the Togolese artist Paul Ahyi in 1960.
How to read it
Article 3 of the constitution of 1992, as revised in 2007, describes the national emblem as a flag of five horizontal bands, alternately green and yellow, bearing in the upper left corner a white five-pointed star on a square red field. The constitution of 2024 no longer describes the flag: its article 3 leaves the state seal, the arms, the national emblem and the official language to be set by law. Neither text gives shades or proportions. The flag is the work of Paul Ahyi, a painter and sculptor and a UNESCO Artist for Peace, who died in Lomé on 4 January 2010, according to UN News; Africultures dates the flag to 1960.
Also searched as: flag of togo, togo flag, togo flag meaning, togolese flag, togolese flag meaning.
What the law says about misusing it
Misuse of the national flag is a criminal offence in Togo, punishable by 3 to 12 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 to 10 million CFA francs, the officials responsible for civic training have reminded the public, in a notice on the government’s portal. Expressly forbidden: using the flag for partisan ends, letting it drag on the ground, using it as a tablecloth or a rug, burning it or tearing it.
Read next
- Next in African flagsFlag of CameroonThree equal vertical stripes, green, red and yellow, with a gold five-pointed star in the centre of the red, as Cameroon’s constitution describes it. Cameroon’s embassy in the Netherlands says the green stands for hope and the southern forests, the red for unity and the yellow for sunshine and prosperity, and calls the star the “Star of Unity”, for the unitary state; the constitution itself gives no meanings.
- The same shape in Asian flagsFlag of AzerbaijanAzerbaijan’s flag has three horizontal stripes of equal width, blue, red and green from the top, with a white crescent and a white eight-pointed star in the middle of the red. The President’s office gives the meanings: blue for the Turkic origin of the Azerbaijani people, red for the wish to build a modern society and develop democracy, and green for belonging to Islamic civilisation.
More african flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines, squares and rectangles or stars.
Sources
- Togo 1992 (rev. 2007) Constitution, Constitution of Togo (1992, rev. 2007), Article 3, Constitute Project, Article 3
- Togo 2024 Constitution, Constitution of Togo (2024), Article 3 (French text), Constitute Project, Art. 3
- UNESCO honours late Togolese Artist for Peace, UN News, 7 January 2010, UN News (United Nations), UN News, 7 January 2010
- Paul Ahyi (Africultures, fiche personne), Africultures, person record no. 21548, Africultures, Biography
- Du bon usage du drapeau togolais, République Togolaise (republicoftogo.com), “Du bon usage du drapeau togolais”, République Togolaise (republicoftogo.com), Du bon usage du drapeau togolais
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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