Cote d'Ivoire - Fact Sheet

The flag of Côte d'Ivoire is a vertical tricolor of orange, white and green.

According to the web site of the Presidency of the Republic (no longer available), orange is the colour of the land, rich and generous, the meaning of our fight, the blood of a young people fighting for emancipation. White is for peace, but peace with justice.  Green is for hope and the certainty of a better future.¹

Other sources have reported that orange represents the savannahs in the north of the land, and green the woods in the south. White is a symbol of unity. This symbolism is the same as for the orange-white-green flag of Niger, and the vertical positions are influenced by the French tricolor.

Officially adopted on 3 December 1959.

Proportions 2:3.²

Pantone approximation is given as orange Pantone 151c, green Pantone 347c.³

The elephant is the largest and strongest animal in the local fauna and gave its name to the country; it is considered as the national emblematic animal. The arms featuring the elephant, two palm trees and a rising sun, should be placed on all official documents. 

[The elephant was also the emblem of "Rassemblement Démocratique Africain", party of the late president Houphouet-Boigny at the time of independence, according to DK Pocket Book (1997). Smith (1975) says the party name was "Parti Démocratique de Cote d'Ivoire". These are probably two successive names for the same party.]

The arms are represented in Smith with a green shield and all the rest in yellow (scroll, palm trees, rising sun). Smith and DK Pocket Book both say the shield was initially blue, but altered to green in 1964 to match better the national flag colours. The website shows the scroll in the national colours - Republique on an orange background, de Cote on a white one, and d'Ivoire on a green one, a golden sun with black and white rays, green palm trees with black and white stipes [palm trees are botanically not trees but herbs, so they have stipes instead of trunks] and a shield of indistinct colour (orange-greenish).⁴

From the National Presidency web site:

The national flag should be placed

• on all official buildings
• on the desk of all State employees (public and semi-public administrations), as a table flag, horizontal or vertical ["fanion ou oriflamme"]
• in the courtyard of all schools, colleges and universities, barracks, military and paramilitary institutions
• in the right corner in front of the vehicles used by the President of the Republic and his representatives (prefets, sous-prefets, ambassadors).
⁵

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Footnotes

¹ M.V. Blanes, E-mail dated 21 June 2000
² Željko Heimer, E-mail (date unknown)
³ Željko Heimer, E-mail dated 1 June 2001 citing Album des Pavillons (2000)
⁴ Ivan Sache, E-mail dated 20 November 2000
⁵ Ibid.

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Artistic credits:

Nigerian flag: António Martins
Coat of Arms: source unknown, posted by Ivan Sache