Use | National flag and ensign |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 |
Adopted | October 1, 1960 |
Design | A single white five-pointed star centered on a light blue field. |
Designed by | Mohammed Awale Liban |
The Flag of Somalia (Somali: Calanka Soomaaliya, Arabic: علم الصومال), also known as the Somali Flag, is the official flag of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Adopted on October 12, 1954, it was designed by Mohammed Awale Liban the flag was used for the nascent Somali Republic. It was originally conceived and serves as an ethnic flag for the Somali people.
The flag of Somalia was created in 1954 during the transitional trusteeship period of the nation's history. It was personally designed by the Somali scholar Mohammed Awale Liban, after he had been selected by the Somali labour trade union to come up with a design in preparation for independence. The flag was first used in the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the short-lived, which united on July 1, 1960, to form the Somali Republic.
As an ethnic flag, the five-pointed white Star of Unity in its center represents the areas where the Somali ethnic group has settled, namely Djibouti, Somaliland (former British protectorate), the Ogaden region in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province in Kenya, and southern Somalia (former Italian colonial possession). The Somali flag's light blue backdrop was originally influenced by the flag of the United Nations, in recognition of the UN's role in Somalia's transition to independence during the trusteeship period. However, it now officially denotes the sky as well as the Indian Ocean, which flanks the country.