Madagascar’s flag—white vertical at the hoist, with red over green horizontal bands at the fly—was adopted on 14 October 1958 and retained at independence on 26 June 1960. White and red echo the Merina kingdom’s colours; green represents the coastal peoples and hope. A 2:3 ratio is standard; statutes regulate colour references and display protocol across the republic’s institutions.
Madagascar’s flag marries nineteenth‑century highland heraldry to a modern republican form. Selected in 1958 as autonomy deepened and retained unchanged at independence on 26 June 1960, the banner sets a white vertical panel at the hoist with two equal horizontal bands of red over green at the fly. White and red recall the colours of the Merina kingdom that dominated the plateau before colonisation; they signal historical continuity and a just peace. Green is commonly read as the vitality of the coastal peoples and as hope for renewal. The geometry—one vertical field and two horizontal bands—gives the flag a calm, legible structure distinct among African designs while acknowledging the French vexillological influence of the period.
Official drawings use a 2:3 ratio, with the hoist panel occupying one‑third of the length; colour references are standardised so that the red does not drift toward scarlet and the green remains saturated on cloth and digital assets. Protocol governs daily hoisting on ministries and schools, precedence alongside foreign flags, half‑masting by decree, illumination when flown at night, and dignified retirement of worn banners. The design has remained stable since 1958/1960; only manufacturing guidance has been refined. From independence parades to classroom posters and sports delegations, the white‑red‑green tricolour is the island’s most economical visual summary: a memory of Merina sovereignty, a place for coastal voices, and a confident republican rectangle that reads instantly in the trade winds.