Flag of Niger

Template:Short description Template:Infobox flag The flag of Niger (Template:Langx) has been the national flag of the Republic of the Niger since 1959, a year prior to its formal independence from French West Africa. It uses the national colors of orange, white and green, were inspired by the colours shades of the Irish Tricolour, in equal horizontal bands, with an orange circle in the center. It forms one of the official national symbols of the Republic of the Niger, along with the coat of arms, the National Anthem ("The Honor of the Fatherland"), and the national motto: "Fraternité, Travail, Progrès".

Flags of Niger

Legal definition

Prior to the independence from French West Africa, the flag of Niamey was adopted by the Territorial Assembly of the Niamey Colony on 23 November 1959, shortly before the proclamation of the Republic within the French Community on 18 December 1959. The flag was designed in 1958. It was retained upon independence in 1960 and has remained unchanged through to the 2010 Constitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Symbolism

A number of sources have described the symbolic intent of the flag, although official sources have yet to confirm. Common interpretations are that the upper orange band represents the northern regions of the Sahara Desert or the Saharian zone, the center white band represents the Sahelian zone, and the lower green band represents the fertile regions of southern Niger or the Sudanian zone, the orange disc in the center band is thought to stand for the sun.<ref>see Flags of the World, which cites published (foreign) sources for this. Other examples include Flags of the World 101 Template:Webarchive
Susan Rasmussen Moving beyond Protest in Tuareg Ichumar Musical Performance. Ethnohistory 2006 53(4):633–655 describes Tuareg performers in orange, saying "orange symbolizes the Sahara desert" and relating it to the colors of the Nigerien flag.</ref>

Ratio

The flag's traditional portrayal with an unusual 6:7 ratio is of unknown significance and is not used consistently in print applications of the Nigerien government.<ref>The FOTW for a discussion of this, and the following government websites for examples of various ratios being used official capacity:

• http://www.presidence.ne/ President of Niger
• http://www.assemblee.ne/ Template:Webarchive National Assembly of Niger
• http://www.communication-gouv-niger.ne/ Template:Webarchive Government communications office of Niger.</ref> The ratio is not explicitly specified in the Constitution of Niger.

• Other ratios seen
• 
  Template:FIAV Ratio 2:3
• 
  Template:FIAV Ratio 3:5
• 
  Template:FIAV Ratio 1:2

Historical national flags

Flag	Years of use	Ratio	Government	Description
	1902–1904	2:3	As part of Senegambia and Niger	The French tricolor was used as the official flag of Niger for most of its history as a French colony.
	1904–1922		As part of Upper Senegal and Niger
	1922–1959		Colony of Niger
	1959–present	6:7		The current flag, consisting of a horizontal triband of orange, white and green; charged with an orange circle in the center, was adopted as the official flag of the Colony of Niger on 23 November 1959. It has remained the national flag of the Republic of the Niger since its independence in 1960.
			Republic of the Niger

Other flags

Military flags

• 
  Flag of the Niger Armed Forces, obverse side
• 
  Template:FIAV Flag of the Niger Armed Forces, reverse side
• 
  Flag of the Gendarmerie Nationale
• 
  Flag of the National Police
• 
  Roundel of the Niger Air Force
• 
  Historical roundel of the Niger Air Force (1961-1980)

Ethnic group flags

• 
  Flag of the Hausa people (53.1% of the total population of NigerTemplate:Efn)
• 
  Flag of the Kanuri people (5.9% of the total population of NigerTemplate:Efn)
• 
  Flag of the Toubou people (0.4% of the total population of NigerTemplate:Efn)
• 
  Flag of Daza-speaking Toubou people

See also

• List of Nigerien flags
• Coat of arms of Niger
• Flag of India, also horizontal orange-white-green tricolor, but with a blue Ashoka Chakra rather than an orange circle.
• Flag of Hungary, simple red-white-green tricolor rather than an orange-white-green one

References

• Portions of this article were translated from the German language Wikipedia article de:Flagge Nigers, (consulted 2008-07-25).
• W. Smith, O. Neubecker: Die Zeichen der Menschen und Völker: Unsere Welt in Fahnen und Flaggen. Reich Verlag Luzern, 1975, Template:ISBN
• Flag of Niger at FOTW, (consulted 2008-07-25).

Further reading

• Template:Cite book