The flag of Malawi consists of a horizontal tricolour featuring the colours (from the top of the flag to the bottom of the flag) black, red and green. In the centre of the flag's black band sits a red rising sun with 31 rays. The flag's colours of black, red and green represent the African people, the blood shed for freedom and the land respectively, whilst the rising sun symbolises a new dawn, with its 31 rays representative of Malawi's status as the 31st African nation.
The flag of Malawi was officially adopted on 6 July 1964 following the colony of Nyasaland gaining its independence from Britain and naming itself Malawi. In 2010, the flag was briefly changed to a slightly different design featuring a white sun at its centre; however, public outcry ensued and the flag was changed back to its original form on 28 May 2012.
The flag's ratio is 2:3.