 the flag of senegal () is a tricolour consisting of three vertical green, yellow and red bands charged with a five-pointed green star at the centre. adopted in 1960 to replace the flag of the mali federation, it has been the flag of the republic of senegal since the country gained independence that year. the present and previous flags were inspired by french tricolour, which flew over senegal until 1960. ==history==  under french colonial rule over senegal, the authorities forbade the colony from using its own distinctive colonial flag because they were worried that this could increase nationalistic sentiment and lead to calls for independence.  however, with the rise of the decolonization movement in africa, the french were obliged to grant limited autonomy to senegal as a self-governing republic within the french community. senegal was combined with french soudan on april 4, 1959, to form the mali federation.  that day, a new flag was adopted: a vertical green, yellow and red tricolour with a stylized depiction of a human being (referred to as a kanaga) on the centre band.{{cite encyclopedia|first=whitney|last=smith|encyclopedia=encyclopedia britannica|title=senegal, flag of|url=http://www.britannica.com/ebchecked/topic/1355497/senegal-flag-of|accessdate=may 24, 2013|publisher=encyclo
Flags_of_Africa National_symbols_of_Senegal