Flag: Benin 🇧🇯
Copy & Meaning

The flag of Benin, a West African nation. The flag features the Pan-African colors in a unique arrangement: a vertical green stripe on the hoist side and two horizontal stripes of yellow on top and red on bottom on the fly side. The green represents hope and rebirth, the yellow symbolizes the country's wealth and the savannas of the north, and the red honors the courage of the ancestors and the blood shed for independence. Adopted in 1959 before independence from France in 1960, the flag was briefly replaced during the Marxist period (1975-1990), but restored when democracy returned in 1990.

Benin is internationally renowned as the birthplace of Vodun (Voodoo), an ancient spiritual tradition that influenced religions in the Americas through the slave trade. Every January 10th, Ouidah hosts a vibrant National Vodun Day festival. Historically, Benin was home to the powerful Kingdom of Dahomey, famous for its all-female military regiment known as the 'Mino' or 'Agojie,' which inspired the 2022 film 'The Woman King.'