What are the Flags of Africa?

A national flag is a country's official symbol, and the colours and emblems on African flags often tell the story of how each nation was born. Most of the continent's flags were adopted at independence, mainly between the late 1950s and the 1970s, as colonies of Britain, France, Portugal and other European powers became sovereign states. Many use the Pan-African colours of green, gold and red, taken from the flag of Ethiopia, which was never colonised for long. Ghana adopted them at independence in 1957, and many newly independent nations followed. Other flags use the red, black and green of the Pan-African movement, or the Pan-Arab colours of red, white, black and green across North Africa. South Africa's six-colour flag was adopted in 1994 to mark the end of apartheid.