Flag of Suriname

How to read it

The flag was officially adopted at the independence celebrations of 25 November 1975. The Government of Suriname’s description fixes it closely. The flag is 2 units high to 3 long, and the stripes, from the top, are in the ratio 2 : 1 : 4 : 1 : 2. The colours are given as paint mixtures: the green nine parts chrome green to one of white, the red four parts bright orange (vermilion) to six of carmine (geranium), and the star’s yellow twelve parts chrome yellow to one of white. The centre of the circle around the star is on the flag’s vertical centre line, with the star’s top point on the same line; the circle’s radius equals the width of a green stripe, half the width of the red; and the gap from the top point to the top of the red stripe equals the gap from the two lowest points to its bottom edge. Johan Ferrier, Suriname’s first president, wrote in his book Laatste gouverneur, eerste president that the position of the points was debated and two were set pointing down, “with both feet firmly on the ground”, the government page notes.

Also searched as: flag of suriname, suriname flag, suriname flag meaning, surinamese flag, surinamese flag meaning.

What each colour stands for

The government’s account is the fuller one. The green is Suriname’s fertility and its many possibilities, and the hopeful expectation of the new Suriname. The white is justice and also freedom, and the white stripes join the green of the land’s possibilities to the red of renewal through the nation’s deeds. In the red, the vermilion is renewal and the carmine the love that leads to action. The star is the unity of the nation, and its yellow is sacrifice: the united, self-sacrificing nation turned towards a golden future.

The History of Suriname site gives the shorter version taught in schools: red for progress and the struggle for a better life, white for freedom and justice (peace), green for the fertility of the land, and the yellow star for the hope of a “golden” future or, as pupils learn it, unity.

The flag with five stars, before 1975

From 15 December 1959 Suriname had a different flag: white, with five stars joined by a black elliptical band. C. Choenni, writing for Hindorama, says the stars were in different colours for the main population groups of the time: black for the Africans (Creoles and Maroons), brown for the Hindustanis, yellow for the Javanese and Chinese, red for the Indigenous peoples and white for the white population, on a white field for the peace in which they lived together. It was criticised for stressing the differences between groups more than their unity, and the present flag replaced it at independence.