Flag: Ghana Emoji

The flag of Ghana. Three horizontal bands of red, gold, and green with a black five-pointed star centered in the gold. Ratio 2:3. Adopted on March 6, 1957, the day Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence from a European power.

The flag was designed by Theodosia Salome Okoh, a teacher and artist in her 30s. She's one of very few women to have designed a national flag in Africa. The red stands for the blood of those who died fighting for independence. Gold stands for the country's mineral wealth (Ghana is the continent's largest gold producer and was called the 'Gold Coast' by Europeans). Green stands for the forests and cocoa farms (Ghana is the world's second-largest cocoa producer). The black star was taken from Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line, the 1919 to 1922 shipping company that aimed to return African-Americans to Africa. The star represents African emancipation and gives the Ghana football team (the Black Stars) its name.

Ghana sits on the Gulf of Guinea and holds roughly 35 million people, concentrated in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale. Its cultural output and political stability make it one of Africa's soft-power anchors. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president, was the founding figure of pan-Africanism and a key architect of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union). Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997 to 2006), was Ghanaian and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

Emoji 2.0 (2015), regional indicator pair U+1F1ECU+1F1EC + U+1F1EDU+1F1ED (G + H). Platforms without flag support fall back to GHGH.

The Black Stars and the Jollof Derby. Ghana's national football team, the Black Stars, are four-time AFCON champions (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982). Matches against Nigeria are the Jollof Derby, where the rivalry extends to whose jollof rice is better. Every match generates dual 🇬🇭🇳🇬 threads for days.

Afrobeats co-creation. Ghana, alongside Nigeria, is a founding pillar of the global Afrobeats sound. Accra artists like Sarkodie) (Best International Flow, 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards), Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale, and Gyakie regularly crack global charts. The annual December in Ghana (now AfroFuture) concerts and parties have turned Accra's Christmas month into the biggest Afro-diaspora homecoming week on the continent.

Year of Return and diaspora homecoming. In 2019, President Akufo-Addo launched the Year of Return commemorating 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. The campaign brought Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Cardi B, Naomi Campbell, and thousands of African-American, Caribbean, and Brazilian visitors to Ghana. Tourism grew about 45% year-over-year. The movement continues as Beyond the Return and December in Ghana, triggering massive 🇬🇭 waves every December.

Kofi Annan memory. Kofi Annan, seventh UN Secretary-General (1997 to 2006) and 2001 Nobel Peace Laureate, is Ghana's most globally revered figure. His passing on August 18, 2018 triggered a sustained global 🇬🇭 wave.

Diaspora. ~500,000 Ghanaians live in the US and UK, with smaller communities in Canada, Germany, and Italy. The Brooklyn Ghanaian community and UK's Peckham neighborhood host the biggest overseas celebrations of Independence Day (March 6).

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  Capital: Accra (5.60°N, 0.19°W)
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  Population: ~35.4 million (2026)
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  Area: 238,535 km² (slightly smaller than the UK)
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  Currency: Ghanaian cedi (GHS, ₵)
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  Languages: English (official); Twi (Akan), Ga, Ewe, Dagbani, Fante widely spoken
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  Religions: ~71% Christian, ~18% Muslim, ~5% traditional beliefs
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  Calling code: +233
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  Time zone: GMT (UTC+0), no DST
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  Internet TLD: .gh

Foods that show up next to 🇬🇭

Landmarks and cultural sites

Gold Coast to Ghana. For centuries, the region was called the Gold Coast) by European traders and later British colonial administrators. Ghana took its modern name ("strong warrior king") from the medieval Ghana Empire, a 300 to 1200 AD power centered roughly 1,500 km north of present-day Ghana, a pan-African statement of historical continuity.

The first sub-Saharan flag. On March 6, 1957, at midnight in Accra, Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom. Theodosia Okoh's flag (red, gold, green with a black star) was raised for the first time. Ghana became the first sub-Saharan colony in the 20th century to gain independence. Nkrumah's famous line: "The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent."

The 1964 to 1966 interlude. In 1964 Nkrumah declared Ghana a one-party state; the flag was modified with a white middle stripe (replacing gold) to match his Convention People's Party colors. After Nkrumah was overthrown by a military coup on February 24, 1966, the original 1957 flag was restored and has not changed since.

Pan-African anchor. Ghana has been the diplomatic and spiritual home of pan-Africanism since 1957. Kwame Nkrumah drafted the 1963 founding charter of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union). The African Union's Accra-based policy think tank continues today. Ghana's Year of Return (2019) was explicitly framed in Nkrumah's terms as an invitation to the Black diaspora to come home.

Designer's legacy. Theodosia Okoh died in 2015 at age 92 and was given a state funeral. Her flag has flown over Ghana unchanged for more than 70 years.

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  March 6: Independence Day: The biggest civic day. Presidential parade at Independence Square in Accra. Marks Ghana's 1957 breakthrough as the first sub-Saharan colony to gain independence.
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  July 1: Republic Day: Commemorates Ghana becoming a republic under Kwame Nkrumah on July 1, 1960.
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  August 4: Founders' Day: Honors the founding fathers who struggled for independence in the 1940s onward.
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  September 21: Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day: Nkrumah's birthday (1909). Wreath-laying at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra.
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  December: December in Ghana / AfroFuture: [AfroFuture (ex-Afrochella)](https://www.afrofuturefest.com/) concerts, Beyond the Return homecoming events, and diaspora parties every weekend from mid-December to early January. Hotels book out six months ahead.

• •Ghana's flag was designed by Theodosia Okoh, a teacher and artist, one of very few women in the world to have designed a national flag. She died in 2015 at age 92 and received a state funeral.
• •The flag's black star was taken from Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line, a 1919 to 1922 shipping venture meant to return African-Americans to Africa. The Ghanaian football team (the Black Stars) is named after it.
• •Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence in the 20th century. Kwame Nkrumah declared independence at midnight on March 6, 1957. His lifelong vision of pan-Africanism shaped the founding of the OAU in 1963 (now the African Union).
• •Kofi Annan was Ghanaian and the 7th UN Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006. He received the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize along with the UN. His passing on August 18, 2018 triggered global tributes.
• •Ghana's 2019 Year of Return brought over 1 million diaspora visitors and roughly $1.9 billion in tourism revenue. Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Cardi B, Naomi Campbell, and Idris Elba all visited.
• •Ghana is the world's second-largest cocoa producer (after Ivory Coast). Most European chocolate passes through Ghanaian ports. Cocoa accounts for about 20% of Ghana's exports.
• •The Ashanti Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy within Ghana. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has been on the Golden Stool since 1999. The Ashanti have one of the richest living heritages in West Africa.
• •The Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle were the main departure points for the Atlantic slave trade from 1482 onward. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Obama, the Pope, and multiple US presidents have walked through the Door of No Return.

• •🇬🇭 is a regional indicator sequence: U+1F1ECU+1F1EC (G) + U+1F1EDU+1F1ED (H). ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code: GHGH.
• •Unsupported platforms render it as the letters GHGH. Common in older Windows chat clients.
• •Shortcode: :flag_gh::flag_gh: or :ghana::ghana: on most messaging platforms.

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