Flag of Mauritius

The Mauritian flag is a flag with four horizontal bands. The used colors in the flag are blue, green, red, yellow. The proportion of the Mauritian flag is 2:3. The Flag of Mauritius was adopted in 1968. The first use of the current flag design was in 1968. The last change to the current Mauritian flag design was in 1968.

The national flag of Mauritius, also known as the Four Bands and Les Quatre Bandes (French for “the four bands”), was adopted upon independence, March 12, 1968. It consists of four horizontal bands of equal width, coloured (from top to bottom) red, blue, yellow, and green. The flag was recorded at the College of Arms in London on 9 January 1968.

The flag was designed by Gurudutt Moher whose contribution was recognised posthumously in March 2018 in the form of the national title Member of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (MSK). Moher, who was a retired school teacher, died of a heart attack on October 7, 2017 at the age of 93.

The civil ensign (for private vessels) and government ensign (for state vessels) are red and blue flags, respectively, each with the national flag in the canton and the coat of arms of Mauritius in the fly.

The naval ensign (used by coast guard vessels) is an unusual design consisting of red, white, and blue vertical stripes of unequal widths defaced by a central anchor/key emblem.

Colours

The flag of Mauritius consists of red, blue, yellow and green bands which officially stand for:^[2]

Red represents the struggle for freedom and independence.
Blue represents the Indian Ocean, in which Mauritius is situated.
Yellow represents the new light of independence.
Green represents the agriculture of Mauritius and its colour throughout the 12 months of the year.

In an attempt to unite the nation, especially following the deadly and divisive 1965 Mauritius race riots and 1968 Mauritian riots, the colours also have political origins. Indeed the colours also represent the main political parties which existed at the time, namely: