The Ethiopian Flag has a very long history though the actual time when it was adopted is yet unknown. However, many peoples believe that it was taken from the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The church is said to have been adopted the three popular colours of the flag from the seven basic colours of the rainbow revealed to Noah (one of the well-known Biblical Fathers of the Old Testament) as the sign of the Covenant between God and himself. The rainbow was an indication of the promise of God to Noah not to destroy the world with the flood anymore. In this connection, it is common to see the green-yellow-red colours flag in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church during ceremonies.

The official flag of the current Ethiopian government is the tri-colours flag with a yellow ground and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands. The yellow ground on the blue disk is also known as the ‘national coats of arms’. It has a message of conveying the desire of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia as well as its religious communities, to live together in unity and equality.

The most prominent components of the Ethiopian flag comprise the three equal horizontal bands in green, yellow and red colours respectively. The green is at the top, the yellow at the middle and the red at the bottom. The bands of the colours are structured horizontally and be of the same size. And the length of the flag is twice its width. The well-known representation is the green colour band – fertility, the yellow – peace and the red – scarification.

The famous green-yellow-red colours of the Ethiopian flag have also adopted by many African countries in a variety of styles. The tri colours of the Ethiopian flag have also been regarded as the Pan-African colours. This is apparently because Ethiopia has become a symbol of African solidarity, pride and patriotism particularly as consequences of her long-standing independence, the major role played by her for the formation of the Organization of African Unity and the Adwa victory. In addition, the role played by Ethiopia to accomplish the major mission of the pan-African movement that is the liberation of all-African countries from colonialism could be considered.