Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Adopted	February 18, 2006
Proportions	3:4

For a country of the similar name, see the Republic of the Congo.

The flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also called the DRC or Congo (Kinshasa), is light blue with a thick red diagonal stripe coming from the lower hoist to the upper fly, with two thinner yellow stripes on the sides of it. In the canton area of the flag is a large yellow five-pointed star.

Symbolism

Blue stands for peace, Red stands for bloodshed of those who fight for the country, Yellow stands for the country's wealth and the star is a radiant future for the country.

History

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was a colony of Belgium, so its' first flag was a yellow star on a blue background. The flag originally belonged to the International African Association, which was later dissolved after the Berlin Conference. The flag was later given to the Congo Free State, which was then renamed to the Belgian Congo.

1960-1963

1963-1966

1966-1971

After independence, the flag was given five golden stars (that were stacked on top of each other, and positioned to the hoist), but in 1963, was later changed to a design that shares elements to the current flag. The flag's red stripe was thickened in 1966. The design lasted until 1971.

The country was named Zaire after an attempt made by Mobutu Seko to, according to Wikipedia, "re-Africanize the country". Under his rule, the flag was a green background with a yellow circle containing a hand holding a torch. Like the regime itself, the flag was pretty disliked among its' people, even the National Conference, which was abolished by Mobutu.

1997-2003

2003-2006

After the Zaire flag (and name itself) were abolished after the government of Mobutu was overthrown in 1997, the country reverted to their 1960 design, a blue background with a big yellow star, and five smaller stars in the hoist, although in different shades of both blue and yellow. In 2003, the flag was given a brighter shade of blue. In 2006, the flag was changed to the 1966 design, with the same shade of light blue from the previous flag.