Flag of the Gold Coast

Ghana

Use	National flag and state ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	1957 (readopted 1966)
Design	A horizontal triband of red, gold, and green, charged with a black star in the centre
Designed by	Theodosia Okoh
Variant flag of Ghana
Use	Civil ensign
Proportion	2:3
Design	A red field with the national flag, fimbriated in black, in the canton
Variant flag of Ghana
Use	Naval ensign
Proportion	2:3
Design	Red St. George cross on white centrrensign, with the national flag in canton.

The national flag of Ghana was designed and adopted in 1957 and was flown until 1962, and then reinstated in 1966. It consists of the Pan-African colours of red, yellow, 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). It was designed by Theodosia Okoh.

The red represents the blood of those who died in the country's struggle for independence from the 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 draw their nickname, the Black Stars, from.

Under terms of section 183 of Ghana's Merchant Shipping Act of 1963, the civil ensign is a red flag with the national flag in a black-fimbriated canton. In 2003, a new merchant shipping act was enacted, however, and this simply provides that "the National Flag of Ghana" is the proper national colours for Ghanaian ships. No mention is made of other flags or other possible flags.

The naval ensign is a red St. George cross on white flag, with the national flag in canton.

The Ghana Air Force has its own ensign which incorporates the flag of Ghana. Civil aviation in Ghana is represented by the national civil air ensign. It is a standard light blue field with the Ghanaian flag in the canton. It is charged in the fly with either a red, yellow and green roundel (in the case of the military ensign) or black five-pointed star (in the case of the civil ensign). they have both been used since independence, and the subsequent founding of the Ghana Air Force in 1959.