The design of the flag currently used by the Federal Republic of Nigeria was completed in 1959, and it was first flown in an official capacity on October 1, 1960. The flag is divided into three equal vertical bars: green, white, and green. The two green stripes represent abundant natural resources, while the white stripe denotes peace and unity.
The fight for freedom resulted in establishment of a national planning committee, which, in 1958, announced the launch of a contest to select a flag to represent the nation. The winning design was a flag with equal green, white, and green stripes. The green colour represented farming, while the white represented unity and peace. Thousands of other designs were submitted.
Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi’s design was selected as the winner of a competition held in 1959, and that design was the basis for the flag. When Michael Akinkunmi came up with the design for the flag, he was a student and was 23 years old. While a student at Norwood Technical College in London, England, he spotted an article in a local newspaper calling for people to submit their ideas for a new flag representing Nigeria. The competition was to design the country’s next national flag.
Michael Akinkunmi developed a concept for a triband consisting of a white vertical band in the middle, with two green vertical bars on either side of it. In the middle of the white vertical stripe that ran the flag’s length was a red sun with red rays emanating from it. He was declared the competition’s winner; however, the judges eliminated the red sun from the design, leaving just a pattern consisting of three bands of green and white.
In countries with rich cultural diversity, such as Nigeria, it is common for the nation’s flag to be designed in a straightforward and uncomplicated way. This is done to avoid accidentally insulting any particular ethnic or religious group. It was formally adopted for the first time on October 1, 1960, the day Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Since then, there has been no change to the flag.
Nigeria has special ensigns for civil and naval vessels. There are also flags for some of its states.
