Flag of Ethiopia#Colors

{{Infobox Flag

| Name = Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
{{nobold|{{Nastaliq|የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ}}}}

| Article =

| Image = Flag of Ethiopia.svg

| Nickname = ሰንድቅ ዐላማ

| Use = 111111

| Symbol = {{FIAV|111111}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Mirror}}

| Proportion = 1:2

| Adoption = 11 October 1897 (original version)
31 October 1996 (current, modified 16 May 2009)

| Design = A horizontal tricolour of green, yellow and red with the National Emblem superimposed at the center.

| Designer = Abebe Alambo

}}

The Flag of Ethiopia ({{lang|am|የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ ዐላማ}}) consists of a green, yellow, and red tricolour with the national emblem, a golden pentagram on a blue disc, superimposed at the center. While the colors green, yellow, and red in combination held symbolic importance since at least the early 17th century, the modern tricolour was first adopted on 11 October 1897 by Menelik II, and the present flag on 31 October 1996.

Colors

File:ET-Ethiopian flags.JPG]]

The colors of green, yellow and red were used for the flag of the Ethiopian Empire in 1914.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fireflyguidetofl0000unse |title=Firefly Guide to Flags of the World |date=2003 |publisher=Firefly Books |isbn=9781552978139 |page=74 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url-access=registration}} On 11 October 1897, a year after Ethiopia decisively defeated the Kingdom of Italy at the Battle of Adwa, emperor Menelik II ordered the three pennants combined in a rectangular tricolour from top to bottom of red, yellow, and green with the first letter of his own name (the Amharic letter "{{Lang|am|ም|italic=no}}") on the central stripe.{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Whitney |title=Flag of Ethiopia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Ethiopia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106235123/https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Ethiopia |archive-date=Jan 6, 2023 |website=Britannica}}{{cite book |title=Flag Bulletin, Volume 27 |date=1988 |publisher=Flag Research Center |pages=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jIrAQAAIAAJ |access-date=11 September 2021 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018070502/https://books.google.com/books?id=7jIrAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Lentakis |first1=Michael B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCqtpPyZPZ0C&pg=PA11 |title=Ethiopia: A View from Within |date=2005 |publisher=Janus Publishing Company Lim |isbn=9781857565584 |pages=11 |access-date=11 September 2021 |archive-date=24 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924140105/https://books.google.com/books?id=mCqtpPyZPZ0C&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=W. |title=Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard |date=1897 |publisher=W. Mitchell |pages=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JzcwAQAAMAAJ |access-date=11 September 2021}}{{cite journal|title=Vlajky a znaky Etiopie|journal=Vexilolog|date=2003|issue=8|url=http://vexilologie.cz/vexilolo/noxx.php?n=08|trans-title=Flags and emblems of Ethiopia|language=cs|access-date=2017-05-09|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052729/http://vexilologie.cz/vexilolo/noxx.php?n=08|url-status=live}} The letter of Menelik's name was removed from the flag after his death in 1913. For unknown reasons, the colour order was flipped - with green on top, red on the bottom, and the yellow remaining in place. The flag's tricolour scheme has existed since the early 19th century, and the colours red, yellow, and green carried special importance prior to that.Manoel Barradas, "Tractatus Tres Historico-Geographici: (1634); A Seventeenth Century Historical and Geographical Account of Tigray, Ethiopia", Elizabet Filleul, trans., Richard Pankhurst, ed., in Aethiopistische Forschungen 43. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1996, p. 59. To commemorate its adoption in 1897, Ethiopia celebrates Flag Day on the first Monday of the month of Tikimt (September–October).{{cite news |title=National Flag Day to be Observed on Monday |url=https://www.ena.et/en/?p=10064 |access-date=22 December 2020 |agency=Ethiopian News Agency |date=10 October 2019 |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222011513/https://www.ena.et/en/?p=10064 |url-status=live }}

The royal flag often featured the emblem of a Lion of Judah, a crowned lion carrying a cross centered in the banner's yellow midsection. Along with that, the symbols of Ethiopia in the Middle Ages were the war drums and red umbrellas carried by the Atse's retinue and the original sandak alama (ሰንደቅ ዐላማ), a golden globus cruciger fixed upon a metal pole with silk wrapped underneath resembling the ancient Roman Aquila and Mongol-Turkic tug.The Portuguese expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, page 41 at [https://books.google.nl/books?id=5-BOPQpoRDQC&q]). The flag is understood to be a link between the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the peoples, and the nation that was united. The processional cross carried by the lion was the former flag or symbol of Ethiopia, and has likewise been in use since at least the early 17th century.Barradas, pp. 70–71. Whilst red is currently featured at the bottom of the horizontal tricolour, it was on top until the mid-19th century. What the colors symbolise varies depending on point of view. However, generally, red represents the blood spilled in defense of Ethiopia; yellow represents peace and harmony between Ethiopia's various ethnic and religious groups; and green is said to symbolise hope, or the land and its fertility.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} The colors had historically been used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (red for faith and power, yellow for the church & peace, and green for natural wealth) prior to their adoption as the colors of the state, likely due to them being easy to produce and common in the Ethiopian landscape.{{cite journal |last1=Chojnacki |first1=S. |title=Some Notes on the History of the Ethiopian National Flag |journal=Journal of Ethiopian Studies |date=1963 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=49–63 |jstor=41965698 }} Two French travelers in the 19th century, Ferret and Joseph Galinier, said "red,

green, and yellow are the main colours of manuscript illuminations."70. P. V. Ferret and J. Galinier, Voyage en Abyssinie dans les provinces du Tigre, du Samen et de

l'Ambara (Paris, 1847-48), II, 390

Upon gaining independence from colonial rule, several newly-established countries in Africa adopted these three colors in homage to Ethiopia's resistance against foreign occupation. When adopted by Pan-Africanist polities and organisations for their activities, the colours are often referred to as the Pan-African colours.{{Cite web |title=About this Collection | Country Studies | Digital Collections |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/country-studies/about-this-collection/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114150228/https://www.loc.gov/collections/country-studies/about-this-collection/ |archive-date=Jan 14, 2023 |website=Library of Congress}}

File:Flag of Ethiopia (Blank).svg in 2009. Used by diaspora at community events,{{cite web |title=Man speaks during a vigil at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto,... |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/man-speaks-during-a-vigil-at-nathan-philips-square-in-news-photo/1132638525 |website=Getty Images |date=24 March 2019 |access-date=7 February 2021 |language=en-gb |archive-date=30 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530234509/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/man-speaks-during-a-vigil-at-nathan-philips-square-in-news-photo/1132638525 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Tefera |first1=G.W. |last2=Castro |first2=A.P. |title=Flag Politics in Ethiopia and the Ethio-American Diaspora |journal=Journal of International and Global Studies |date=2016 |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=15 |doi=10.62608/2158-0669.1321 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311825295 |access-date=7 February 2021|doi-access=free }}

by some government opposition groups,{{cite web |last1=Alfa Shaban |first1=Abdur Rahman |title=Ethiopia's ex-rebel group Ginbot 7 returns from Eritrea base |url=https://www.africanews.com/2018/09/03/ethiopia-s-ex-rebel-group-ginbot-7-returns-from-eritrea-base/ |website=Africanews |access-date=7 February 2021 |language=en |date=3 September 2018 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419033833/https://www.africanews.com/2018/09/03/ethiopia-s-ex-rebel-group-ginbot-7-returns-from-eritrea-base/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Ethiopia:Two prominent opposition parties form coalition ahead of election |url=https://borkena.com/2020/03/06/ethiopia-two-prominent-opposition-parties-form-a-coalition-ahead-of-election/ |website=Borkena Ethiopian News |access-date=7 February 2021 |date=7 March 2020 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121042208/https://borkena.com/2020/03/06/ethiopia-two-prominent-opposition-parties-form-a-coalition-ahead-of-election/ |url-status=live }} during Ethiopian Orthodox Christian holidays,{{cite web |title=Ethiopia celebrates new year after 'God's wrath' |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2020/09/11/Ethiopia-celebrates-new-year-after-God-s-wrath- |website=Al Arabiya English |access-date=7 February 2021 |language=en |date=11 September 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Carrington |first1=Daisy |last2=Harris |first2=Aja |title=Holy water washes away sins at Ethiopia's Timket festival |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ethiopia-timket-holy-water/index.html |website=CNN |date=18 February 2014 |access-date=7 February 2021 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Chapman |first1=Mark |title=Come & join the Timkat celebration in a Village in Ethiopia |url=https://www.tesfatours.com/come-join-the-timkat-celebration-in-a-village-in-ethiopia/ |website=Tesfa Tours |date=15 January 2016 |access-date=7 February 2021 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012002350/https://www.tesfatours.com/come-join-the-timkat-celebration-in-a-village-in-ethiopia/ |url-status=live }} and by transitional governments. ]]

= Symbolism =

{{legend|#078930|Green represents labor, development, and fertility.}}Pantone 347C{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
{{legend|#FCDD09|Yellow represents hope.}}Pantone Yellow C{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
{{legend|#DA121A|Red represents the blood in defense of Ethiopia.}}Pantone 032C{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
{{legend|#0645B1|Blue the circular blue background of the Emblem signifies peace.}}Pantone 2728{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Emblem

Prior to 1996, the plain green, yellow and red banner was commonly used as a civil flag. Although a number of different emblems were used by the government since 1974, flags with emblems were uncommonly used in public outside of government usage. The basic colour schematic has remained constant.

The star is yellow on a blue disc which overlaps the green and red stripes. The star testifies to Ethiopia's bright future, while the yellow rays which it emits are equidistant and are said to represent the equality of all Ethiopians regardless of race, creed, or sex. In recent years, the government of Ethiopia has taken a conscious effort to increase the usage of the flag with the emblem, which had been seen far less than the plain tricolour. As the plain tricolour was used and seen far more often than either the flag of the Derg or the Lion of Judah flag, this was considered unusual.

In 2009, the Parliament of Ethiopia passed Proclamation 654/2009 (The Federal Flag Proclamation), which prohibited firstly amongst 23 other provisions "use [of] the Flag without its Emblem", as well as "to deface the Flag by writing or displaying signs, {{sic}} symbols, emblems or picture {{sic}}", or "to prepare or use the Flag without the proper order of its colors and size or its Emblem."{{cite journal|title=Proclamation No. 654/2009 – The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Flag Proclamation|journal=Federal Negarit Gazeta|date=28 August 2009|pages=4843–4855|url=https://chilot.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/flag.pdf|access-date=9 May 2017|archive-date=14 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014073400/https://chilot.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/flag.pdf|url-status=live}} While most offenses were punishable by a fine of "3000 birr or rigorous imprisonment up to one year", the first offense, mandating the usage of the emblem, received an increased penalty of "5000 birr or rigorous imprisonment up to one year and six months." This replaced the 1996 Flag Proclamation, which had made no mention of offenses or penalties.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021|reason=Previous source is permanently dead.}}

[[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] Historical flags

Source:{{Cite book |last=Keller |first=Edmond |url=https://doi.org/10.2979/2823.0 |title=Revolutionary Ethiopia |date=1989 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-35014-5}}

{{gallery items|width=180

| File:Ethiopian Pennants.svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Pennants of the Ethiopian Empire prior to the 1870s. The traditional colours were displayed on war flags and by the church prior to the first official state flag.

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1914).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Flag of Ethiopia (1897–1913). Menelik II, on 6 October 1897, ordered for a rectangular tricolour consisting of, from top to bottom, red, yellow, and green, with ም,the first Amharic letter of his name in the middle, which lasted until his death.{{cite book |last1=Lentakis |first1=Michael B. |title=Ethiopia: A View from Within |date=2005 |publisher=Janus Publishing Company Lim |isbn=9781857565584 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCqtpPyZPZ0C |pages=11 |access-date=11 September 2021}}

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1936; 1941-1974).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Flag of the Ethiopian Empire with the Lion of Judah (a symbol of the Solomonic dynasty dating back to medieval times), otherwise known as the imperial flag (1897, 1913–1936, 1941–1974). It remains popular with the Rastafari movement, monarchists, and Ethiopian nationalists.

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (Blank).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Blank tricolor of the Ethiopian Empire which was flown alongside the imperial flag after the reign of Menelik. In tradition, the reversed colors are said to have first been used, exclusively, during times of war, but the reason behind the design change is unknown.

| |{{FIAV|historical}} Flag of Italian East Africa (1936–1941){{Cite web|url=https://www.vexilla-mundi.com/ethiopia_history.html|title=Vexilla Mundi|date=June 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628212127/https://www.vexilla-mundi.com/ethiopia_history.html|archive-date=2020-06-28}}

| File:War Ensign of Ethiopia (1955–1974).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} {{FIAV|000001}}War Ensign of the Imperial Ethiopian Navy (1955–1974), was based upon the Blue Ensign.

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1974-1975).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Flag of Ethiopia (1974–1975), modified after Haile Selassie's overthrow by removing the crown from the lion's head and by changing the cross tip to a spear point{{Cite web|url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/et-dpre.html|title=People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1987 - 1991)|website=www.crwflags.com|access-date=2021-02-11|archive-date=2021-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104110319/https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/et-dpre.html|url-status=live}}

| File:War Ensign of Ethiopia (1974–1975).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} {{FIAV|000001}} War Ensign of the Imperial Ethiopian Navy (1974–1975)

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1975–1987).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Civil flag of Ethiopia (1975–1987).

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1975–1987) (02).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} State flag under the Derg (1975–1987), and a forerunner to the flag introduced in 1987

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1987–1991).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} The flag of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1987–1991) introduced the current ratio of 1:2

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1991-1996).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} {{FIAV|100000}} The civil flag of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (1991–1996)

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1992-1996).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} {{FIAV|010000}} The state flag of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia, adopted on 28 May 1992

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1996).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} The flag of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1996 to 2009{{cite journal|title=Proclamation No. 48/1996 – A Proclamation to amend the Flag and Emblem Proclamation|journal=Federal Negarit Gazeta|date=31 October 1996|pages=272–273|url=http://www.hopr.gov.et/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=11402&folderId=108992&name=DLFE-3262.pdf|access-date=9 May 2017|archive-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030063651/http://www.hopr.gov.et/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=11402&folderId=108992&name=DLFE-3262.pdf|url-status=dead}}

| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1996-2004).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} The flag of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1996 to 2009 (variant)

| 33=File:Flag of Ethiopia.svg|34={{FIAV|normal}} The current flag, used since 2009}}