Description
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the sub-region of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), the first permanent state in the territory of present-day Ghana dates back to the 11th century. Accra is the seat of Government and Capital city. Ghana’s population of approximately 30 million spans a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. Its diverse geography and ecology range from coastal savanna to tropical rainforests.
The national flag of Ghana was designed and adopted in 1957 was flown until 1962, and then reinstated in 1966. It consists of the Pan-African colours of red, gold, and green, in horizontal stripes, with a black five-pointed star in the centre of the gold stripe. The Ghanaian flag was the second African flag after the flag of the Ethiopian Empire to feature these colours. The flag’s design influenced that of the flag of Guinea-Bissau (1973). The flag of Ghana was designed by Theodosia Okoh (1922–2015). The red represents the blood of those who died in the country’s struggle for independence from Great Britain, the gold represents the mineral wealth of the country, the green symbolises the country’s rich forests and natural wealth, and the black star is the symbol of African emancipation. The black star was adopted from the flag of the Black Star Line, a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey that operated from 1919 to 1922. It is where the Ghana national football team derived their nickname, the “Black Stars”.