Kenya

What the source says

Referenced, awaiting primary-source review

Officially adopted on 12 December 1963. Black represents the people; red the bloodshed during the fight for independence; green the country's land; white [symbolises] peace. The Maasai shield and spears symbolise the country's ongoing will to defend itself. The flag is mainly based on that of Kenya African National Union [and] incorporated elements associated with both KANU and KADU.

(r1) Flag of Kenya (Wikipedia (English)), read 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.

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

Black(r1) #000000
The people of Kenya(r1)
Red(r1) #BB0000
Blood shed in the fight for independence(r1)
Green(r1) #006600
The land and its agriculture(r1)
White(r1) #FFFFFF
Peace and unity(r1)

Symbolism and history(r1)

A black-red-green tricolor fringed in white bears a Maasai shield and two crossed spears symbolising the will to defend the country, mainly based on the flag of the Kenya African National Union in a compromise design that also drew on elements associated with KADU.

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”.

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 Kenya (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 Kenya on Wikipedia