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Nigeria

by Antonio Martins

Description of the flag

According to Pedersen in "The International Flag Book in Color" (English Edition, 1971) the Nigerian National and Merchant Flag and Jack was "Chosen in 1959 from among 2870 suggestions in a competition; it was designed by a student from Ibadan, Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi. The green panels represent agriculture; the white, peace and unity." In "Flags Through the Ages and Across the World" by Whitney Smith, 1975, this flag was first officially hoisted 1 October, 1960, Nigeria's date of independence. So the flag that was adopted in 1959 didn't become the official flag of the country until Nigeria became an official country on 1 October 1960.
nick artimovich, 5 Feb 1996

Original proposal had a red sun on the white field, but that was not accepted.
zeljko heimer, 6 Feb 1996

The Nigerian national flag is green, under with standard No. BF of 1955 it is chart 0-0-10, under The British Colour Council it is clasified as CC104-CC105, and under SILOR international color chart is classified as 193-173 (Source: Federal Ministry of Information).
jaume olle, 15 Jul 199?

Naval flag

Nigerian naval flag is red cross on white (St.George) with Nigerian flag in canton.
zeljko heimer, 4-JUL-1996

Jan Zrzavy mentions that "Flaggkarta" (Lantmäteriet - Kartförlaget, 1995 (Swedish)) shows the naval ensign as white with the national flag in the canton and the Navy's emblem (a blue oval with anchor and eagle) in the fly.
ole andersen 14-MAY-1998

Civil ensign

Nigerian civil ensign - red with national flag in canton. W. Smith doesn't mention it in the book, and states that both civil and merchant vessels use national flag. ratio 1:2?
zeljko heimer, 4-JUL-1996
William Crampton states ('The World of Flags', London, 1990) that the naval ensign is white with the national flag in the canton and the badge of the navy in the fly. That seems more likely to me: a flag with a cross would be more than a little problematic in a country where Islam is so strong.
Can anyone clarify which flag is correct?
Vincent Morley, 10-FEB-1998I have here one photo of a Nigerian warship showing only the national flag!
Armand Noel du Payrat, 11-FEB-1998I have since noticed that William Crampton in 'Observers Flags' (London 1992), which was published two years after his 'World of Flags', says that 'The naval ensign is like that of the UK but with the flag of Nigeria in the canton', which contradicts his earlier statement and agrees with the drawing on FOTW. Of course, the southern half of Nigeria is mainly Christian, so perhaps the use of a cross on a _naval_ flag is not such a big problem.
Vincent Morley, 13-FEB-1998

Jan Zrzavy mentions that "Flaggkarta" (Lantmäteriet - Kartförlaget, 1995 (Swedish)) shows the civil ensign as red with the national flag in the canton.
ole andersen 14-MAY-1998

State flag and State ensign

I've been browsing trough the World Flag Database, and came by Nigeria. There is a state flag pictured there, same as national flag, but with the state arms in the middle (and thus similar to former Zimbabwe flag :-) ). I have never seen this state flag, and Smith both in 1975 and 1980 book don't have it, claiming the simple green-white-green flag to be used for all purposes but the naval ensign. Was this changed since?
zeljko heimer, 30-OCT-1996
The Nigerian embassy in Dublin flies the plain triband with no arms. I would expect an embassy to use the state flag if one exists, as the Spanish embassy here does.
Does anyone know whether or not the state flag described by Crampton still exists?
Vincent Morley, 10-FEB-1998I asked William (Crampton, ed.) the same question and he answered to me that it was a mistake and no different Nigerian State flag exists.
Mario Fabretto, 12-FEB-1998

Jan Zrzavy mentions that "Flaggkarta" (Lantmäteriet - Kartförlaget, 1995 (Swedish)) shows the state ensign as blue with the national flag in the canton.
ole andersen 14-MAY-1998