page_title: Flag of Ivory Coast
section_title: Adoption
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Ivory Coast / Design and symbolism / Adoption
caption_attribution_description: English: Flags of two similar flags: Ireland on left and Ivory Coast on right
context_page_description: The flag of Ivory Coast features three equal vertical bands of orange, white, and green. It is also the national emblem of the Republic of Ivory Coast. Its status as a national emblem affirms to Article 29 of the Constitution of Ivory Coast. The flag has the proportions of 3:2 and consists of three vertical bands of equal width.
context_section_description: The 1958 referendum which replaced the French Fourth Republic with the Fifth Republic also replaced the French Union with a French Community, under which most colonies became "autonomous states", including Ivory Coast on 4 December 1958. The new status for the first time allowed the adoption of a distinctive flag in place of the French one. The French commissioner suggested a red-white-and-blue flag with stars, but the Ivorians wanted a greater departure from the flag of the former colonial power. The orange-white-and-green flag was adopted by law n°59-240, passed by the Ivorian Legislative Assembly on 3 December 1959, just before the first anniversary of autonomy.
  Head of government Félix Houphouët-Boigny declared full independence from France on 7 August 1960 and the Legislative Assembly sat as a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. Augustin Loubao proposed changing the orange stripe to red, to symbolise a willingness to shed blood to defend the new republic. Other legislators expressed strong opposition to any change, and the existing flag was retained in Article 1 of the constitution adopted on 3 December 1960. It was retained as Article 29 of the 2000 constitution and Article 48 of the 2016 constitution.
caption: Contrasting flags: Irish flag on left & Ivory Coast on right
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