Family research · Phase 11 of the world atlas

Flags of Sierra Leone

For centuries before European contact, this stretch of coast was home to distinct Temne, Mende, and other peoples governed as separate chiefdoms, with no single flag over any of it. What sets Sierra Leone apart in this atlas is what came next: in 1787, British abolitionists founded a settlement at Freetown expressly for freed and formerly enslaved people — Black Loyalists who had fought for Britain in the American Revolution, and later tens of thousands of "recaptives" freed at sea by the Royal Navy after Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807. That settlement grew into a Crown Colony, was joined by a separately administered interior Protectorate, and became an independent republic in 1961 whose green-white-blue tricolor has never changed since — not even through the brutal civil war of 1991–2002.

Five entries below, oldest to newest, each with a paint-ready flag reconstruction and its historical grounding.

Scope of this page: the territory of present-day Sierra Leone, c. 1400–present, five political entities. The Colony (Freetown and its peninsula) and the Protectorate (the interior) were administered separately for six decades under one British governor; rather than fabricate two competing flags for that span, this page treats 1896–1961 as a single honest entry describing both halves under the shared colonial ensign. Part of a larger atlas — see the map and linked pages at the bottom.

One coastline, five flags

Sierra Leone's own real border, traced whole — there is no internal split to draw. The Colony (Freetown and its peninsula) and the Protectorate (the interior) were administered separately for six decades, but under one British governor and one flag, not two rival banners. Press play, or drag the slider.

Colony and Protectorate, one flag throughout. Unlike several other pages in this atlas, the 1896–1961 Colony/Protectorate split was never a genuine two-flag division — both halves flew the same colonial ensign under the same governor, so this page carries a single region, not a partition.

Real traced border (Natural Earth 10m); neighboring-country labels are placed at their real geographic positions using the same projection.

green-white-blue horizontal tricolor — unchanged since 1961

1961 – present

Republic of Sierra Leone (independent)

Independent stateMilton MargaiSecular (no state religion)

Migration & conquest:Emigration: refugees fleeing the civil war (1991–2002)

Who & why: Sierra Leone gains independence from Britain on 27 April 1961, initially as a Commonwealth dominion under Queen Elizabeth II with Milton Margai as prime minister, becoming a republic with its own president on 19 April 1971. Decades of one-party rule, economic strain, and regional instability culminate in a civil war from 1991 to 2002, fought in large part over control of the country's diamond wealth, marked by mass displacement and systemic atrocities against civilians before ending with UN-backed disarmament and a formal declaration of peace in January 2002. Through all of it, the national flag itself never changes.

What it represents: green for agriculture, the country's mountains, and its natural resources; white for unity and justice; blue for the Atlantic and Freetown's natural harbour, one of the world's largest, and for the hope that Sierra Leone will contribute to world peace.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3, three equal horizontal bands.

LayoutGreen (top), white (middle), blue (bottom).

Green#1EB53A

White#FFFFFF

Blue#0072C6

Blue Ensign, Union Jack canton, Lion Mountains badge in the fly

1896 – 1961

Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate

Colony & protectorateQueen VictoriaChurch of England (colonial administration)

Ruling house:House of HanoverHouse of Windsor

Who & why: on 31 August 1896, Britain declares a Protectorate over the interior beyond Freetown, chiefly to forestall French expansion from neighbouring Guinea, leaving existing paramount chiefs in place under British oversight rather than administering the interior directly as it did the coastal Colony. A new house tax imposed to fund the Protectorate sparks the 1898 Hut Tax War, a large-scale revolt led by Temne chief Bai Bureh and Mende leaders, crushed by British forces within months. For the rest of this period, the Colony (Freetown and its peninsula, governed directly) and the Protectorate (the much larger interior, governed indirectly through chiefs) run side by side under a single British governor, gradually unified in practice in the years leading up to independence.

What it represents: the standard pattern of a British colonial Blue Ensign, Union Jack in the canton, with a colonial badge added to the fly showing the "Lion Mountains" — the Serra Lyoa the Portuguese named the coastline in 1462 — and a palm tree, formalized as the colony's arms in this era.

Paint guide

Proportions1:2, as flown at sea; shown here as a plain rectangle.

LayoutBlue field, Union Jack canton, circular colonial badge (mountain and palm tree) in the fly.

Ensign blue#00247D

Union red#CF142B

Mountain, badge#6B5C4A

plain British Blue Ensign, Union Jack canton, no colonial badge yet

1808 – 1896

Sierra Leone Colony (Crown Colony)

Crown ColonyGeorge IIIChurch of England (colonial administration)

Migration & conquest:Immigration: recaptives from intercepted slave ships (1808–60s)

Ruling house:House of Hanover

Who & why: the Sierra Leone Company, financially exhausted and unable to govern the settlement effectively, surrenders its charter, and on 1 January 1808 Freetown and its peninsula become a British Crown Colony administered directly by the Crown. Freetown's role changes dramatically after Britain's 1807 Slave Trade Act: the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, based there, intercepts slave ships across the Atlantic and lands tens of thousands of "recaptives" — Africans freed from intercepted vessels, of many origins and languages — who are resettled in and around the colony and go on to shape its distinctive Krio culture and language.

What it represents: a plain British Blue Ensign, Union Jack canton on a blue field, as flown by an ordinary Crown Colony before a distinct Sierra Leone colonial badge was formalized later in the century.

Paint guide

Proportions1:2, as flown at sea; shown here as a plain rectangle.

LayoutBlue field, Union Jack canton, no distinguishing badge.

Ensign blue#00247D

Union red#CF142B

Union white#FFFFFF

the Union Jack, flown by the British-chartered settlement; no distinct settlement flag is documented

1787 – 1808

Province of Freedom (Freetown settlement)

Company settlementGranville SharpNo official state religion

Migration & conquest:Immigration: Black Loyalists & Jamaican Maroons (1787–1800)

Ruling house:House of Hanover

Who & why: on 15 May 1787, roughly 400 settlers land on the Sierra Leone peninsula under a scheme organized by British abolitionists, including Granville Sharp: Black Loyalists who had fought for Britain in the American Revolution and been evacuated afterward (many by way of Nova Scotia and London), together with other Black Britons, come to found what they call the "Province of Freedom." The settlement nearly collapses — disease, and conflict with a local Temne ruler who burns it down in 1789 — before it is reorganized in 1791 under the newly chartered Sierra Leone Company, a private abolitionist venture, and rebuilt as Freetown. A further wave of about 1,200 Black Loyalists arrives directly from Nova Scotia in 1792, and Jamaican Maroons follow in 1800. After 1807, Freetown's role expands again as the base for intercepting slave ships and resettling those freed from them.

What it represents: no separate settlement flag is documented; as a British-chartered enterprise, the settlement flew British colours. Shown here as the Union Jack of the period, honestly standing in for the absence of a distinct Sierra Leone Company flag.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded for this use; shown at 3:2.

LayoutThe pre-1801 Union Flag (England and Scotland only, no St. Patrick's saltire).

Blue#00247D

Red#CF142B

White#FFFFFF

placeholder maroon field — pre-colonial era, no unifying flag

c. 1400 – 1787

Fragmented Temne, Mende, and other polities

Fragmented politiesNo single ruler documentedTraditional African religions (no single state faith)

Who & why: for centuries before European contact, the region that becomes Sierra Leone is home to numerous distinct peoples — including Temne kingdoms along the coast and northern interior, Mende chiefdoms across the south and east, and smaller groups such as the Limba, Loko, and Susu — organized into individual chiefdoms and small kingdoms rather than one unifying state. Portuguese sailor Pedro de Sintra names the mountainous coastline Serra Lyoa ("Lion Mountains") around 1462, and the natural harbour draws Portuguese, and later other European, traders across the following centuries, but no single polity governs the territory that will become the colony.

What it represents: no flag unifies these many separate polities; each had its own regalia, drums, and symbols of chieftaincy rather than territorial flags in the European sense. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Fragmented polities — no single ruling authority yet

Company settlement — governed by a private chartered venture under British protection

Crown Colony — administered directly by the British Crown

Colony & protectorate — coastal colony and indirectly-ruled interior under one governor

Independent state — sovereign, self-governing

Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start

State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for Sierra Leone lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

Search Record Atlas for Sierra Leone →

More of the atlas

This page is one lineage in a larger set. See the region-wide map and the other countries here:

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