Gabon
What the source says
Referenced, awaiting primary-source reviewModified on August 9, 1960, just before independence. Green epitomizes the natural resources of Gabon, as well as its extensive forested area; yellow alludes to the Equator which cuts across the country [and] symbolizes the sun; blue represents the sea, specifically the South Atlantic Ocean. The Tricolour at the canton [was removed] and the yellow stripe at the centre [enlarged].
Referenced, not verified: a secondary work states this, and the document that constitutes the flag has not been read for this entry. What the marks mean.
Colors and meaning
Symbolism and history(r1)
A plain green-yellow-blue horizontal tricolor with no emblem, given its present form on 9 August 1960 just before independence, when the tricolour canton was removed and the central yellow stripe enlarged.
Most similar flags
The 6 closest of the 194 other national flags, ranked by a similarity index computed from the flag images themselves. The number is that index, 0–100 — not a claim that the two flags are “X% identical”.
- Rwanda83
the same horizontal band layout; near-identical colour proportions.
- Ghana74
the same horizontal band layout; the same colours in similar amounts.
- Ethiopia73
the same horizontal band layout; the same colours in similar amounts.
- Togo71
the same horizontal band layout; the same colours in similar amounts.
- Ukraine71
the same horizontal band layout; the same colours in similar amounts.
- Lithuania70
the same horizontal band layout; the same colours in similar amounts.
Computed at build time: each flag is rasterised to 64x48, and the score is 0.55 × colour overlap + 0.45 × structure. A different weighting would rank these differently. How the index works.
References — not verification
(r1) Referenced to Flag of Gabon (Wikipedia (English)) on 2026-07-17. States the adoption year, which colors the flag has, what the colors mean and the symbolism and history on this page. The passage it states them in is quoted at the top of this entry.
Further reading: Flag of Gabon on Wikipedia