The flag of Togo

Togo

Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...

was adopted on April 27, 1960. It has five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow. There is a white five-pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner. It uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, but the design resembles the flag of Liberia

Flag of Liberia

The Liberian flag bears close resemblance to the flag of the United States, showing the ex-American slave origins of the country. The Liberian flag has similar red and white stripes, as well as a blue square with a white star in the canton.- Symbolism :...

 which itself echoes the flag of the United States

Flag of the United States

The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

.

The flag was designed by artist Paul Ahyi

Paul Ahyi

Paul Ahyi was a Togolese artist, sculptor, architect, painter, interior designer and author. Ahyi is credited with designing of the flag of Togo....

 and approximates a golden rectangle closely. Ahyi (1930 – January 4, 2010) was regarded as the greatest African artists in the contemporary field. Born in Togo, Ahyi graduated from the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts

École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts

The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...

in Paris in 1959 and returned to Togo. He designed the flag of Togo while working on other contemporary works.