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Mali Flags – Malian Green, Gold & Red Flag, Bunting & Hand Flags
Green, gold and red vertical bands for Independence Day on 22 September, the Eagles at the Cup of Nations, desert blues festivals and Malian families in Britain. Choose the Mali flag in 20x12in to 8ft x 5ft, drape Mali bunting in 3m or 9m and pass round Mali hand flags for the match.
Mali Flagfrom £6.99-
Mali Flag
Choose size →4 sizes · 2 qualities · 3 fittingsThe price depends on the options chosen on the product pagefromAs low as £6.98
Shop Mali in every format
The Mali flag: green, gold and red
Mali flies a vertical tricolour of green, gold and red, with green at the hoist. The design comes from the short-lived Mali Federation with Senegal of 1959–60, whose flag carried a black kanaga figure, a stylised human form from Dogon masks, in the gold stripe; when the federation broke up and Mali became independent on 22 September 1960, the kanaga was kept for a few months and then removed on 1 March 1961, leaving the plain tricolour. Green is the fertile land and hope, gold the purity and the mineral wealth of the country, from the gold of the old Mali Empire of Mansa Musa onwards, and red the blood shed for independence. Our Mali flag prints the three bands in equal widths with green at the pole, which is the easy way to tell it apart from Guinea, which has the same colours the other way round, and from Senegal, which adds a green star.
Independence Day, the Eagles and Malian music
Independence Day on 22 September is the national holiday, with parades in Bamako and celebrations in every town. The Eagles, the national football side, hosted the Africa Cup of Nations in 2002 and have reached its semi-finals several times, and Malian players such as Frédéric Kanouté, Mahamadou Diarra, Seydou Keita and Yves Bissouma have made the flag familiar in European football. Music carries it further still: Ali Farka Touré, Toumani Diabaté, Salif Keita, Oumou Sangaré, Amadou and Mariam and Tinariwen have filled the Barbican, the Royal Festival Hall and the WOMAD fields, and the flag is a regular at their gigs. The Malian community in Britain is centred on London, with Independence Day gatherings, mosque events and Sahel cultural evenings, and schools studying Timbuktu, the Great Mosque of Djenné and the empire of Mansa Musa use the flag for history projects.
Sizes, grades and fittings
The 5ft x 3ft is the one for a flagpole, a festival stall or a club wall; the 3ft x 2ft for a window or a classroom; the 8ft x 5ft for a stage backdrop or a large mast; and the 20x12in for a car or a hand pole. Flagtex, printed woven polyester, covers indoor use and occasional outdoor use, while DuraFlag, knitted heavyweight polyester with a double-stitched hem, is the grade to leave flying for months. A sewn header with brass eyelets is standard, and DuraFlag can be supplied with clips or rope and toggle.
Mali bunting
Mali bunting carries rectangular green, gold and red pennants on a tape in lengths of 3m and 9m. The 3m version brightens a doorway, a food stall or a classroom history display; the 9m version stretches along a community hall, a festival tent or a restaurant for 22 September. Each pennant is double-sided polyester, so a passing shower does no harm.
Hand flags and table flags
Mali hand flags on wooden sticks come in 9x6in and 18x12in for Cup of Nations nights, concerts and school events. The Mali table flag is a 6x4in flag with a base for a desk or a reception, and the large wooden table flag at 18x12in suits a conference or a top table. Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and Ivory Coast flags are under world flags.
Mali flag FAQs
What do the colours of the Mali flag represent?
Green for the land and hope, gold for purity and the country’s mineral wealth, and red for the blood shed in the struggle for independence.
Why did the Mali flag once have a figure on it?
The 1959–61 flag carried a black kanaga, a human figure from Dogon art, in the gold stripe. It was removed in March 1961, leaving the plain tricolour.
How do I tell the Mali flag from the Guinea flag?
Mali reads green, gold, red from the pole; Guinea reverses it to red, yellow, green. Senegal uses Mali’s order but adds a green star in the centre.
When is Mali Independence Day?
22 September, the anniversary of independence in 1960.
Which Mali flag size suits a concert or festival stall?
A 5ft x 3ft to hang behind the stall or hold up in the crowd, with hand flags for the group.
Is the Mali flag the same as the old Mali Empire flag?
No. The modern tricolour dates from 1961; the colours are pan-African rather than taken from the medieval empire.
How fast can a Mali flag be delivered?
All Mali products are stocked in and dispatched from our Stoke-on-Trent warehouse; order by 2pm on a weekday for same-day dispatch and 1–2 working day delivery.