🇹🇩

Flag of Chad

Africa

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Quick Facts

Capital
N'Djamena
Flag adopted
1959
Population
19,340,757
Area
1,284,000 km²
Languages
Arabic, French
Currency
Central African CFA franc (Fr) — XAF
Demonym
Chadian
Government
presidential republic
Subregion
Middle Africa
Driving side
Right
Timezones
UTC+01:00
Independence
1960

Religions

  • Muslim 52.1%
  • Protestant 24.1%
  • Roman Catholic 20%
  • None 2.8%
  • Unspecified 0.7%
  • Animist 0.3%

About This Flag

Three equal vertical bands of blue on the hoist side, yellow in the center, and red on the fly side. The design is almost identical to the flag of Romania, a coincidence that arose because Chad adopted its flag in 1959 based on the French tricolor structure with pan-African colors, while Romania's flag dates to 1848.

Blue represents the sky and hope, the southern rivers, and the waters of Lake Chad. Yellow symbolizes the sun and the desert sands of the north.

Red stands for the sacrifice and blood shed for independence. The flag was adopted on November 6, 1959, one year before formal independence from France, and has remained unchanged ever since.

What the colors & design mean

Blue symbolizes the sky, hope, and the waters of southern Chad including Lake Chad. Yellow represents the sun and the Sahara Desert in the north. Red signifies the sacrifice, courage, and bloodshed during the struggle for national independence from France.

blue yellow red

Pattern: Vertical Stripes

Bordering countries (6)

🇨🇲 Cameroon 🇨🇫 Central African Republic 🇱🇾 Libya 🇳🇪 Niger 🇳🇬 Nigeria 🇸🇩 Sudan

Fun Facts

  • Chad's flag is nearly indistinguishable from Romania's; the only difference is a slightly darker shade of blue. Chad raised the issue at the United Nations in 2004, but no changes were made by either country.
  • The flag also closely resembles Andorra's and Moldova's flags, which both add coats of arms to the same blue-yellow-red tricolor to distinguish themselves.
  • Lake Chad, referenced in the flag's blue band, has shrunk by approximately 90% since the 1960s due to climate change and irrigation demands.
  • Chad's original proposed flag included a green band instead of blue, but it was changed to avoid resembling the flag of neighboring Mali.

Similar looking flags

These flags share similar colors and patterns:

🇹🇩 Mongolia 🇹🇩 Andorra 🇹🇩 Moldova 🇹🇩 Romania 🇹🇩 Liechtenstein

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