Family research · Phase 11 of the world atlas

Flags of Togo

Ewe and Mina communities settled this narrow strip of coast and interior without ever forming one unifying kingdom, organized instead into many small chieftaincies. Germany declared a protectorate over the coast in 1884 — its first African colony, developed with enough infrastructure investment (railways, a wireless station) that German administrators called it their "model colony," a label that obscures forced labor and heavy-handed rule underneath.

World War I ended German rule almost immediately: Allied forces occupied the territory within weeks of the war's outbreak in 1914, and the League of Nations formally split it in 1922 into British Togoland (administered alongside the Gold Coast) and French Togoland. The two halves never reunited. British Togoland voted in a 1956 plebiscite to join the Gold Coast as it became independent Ghana, while French Togoland became the independent Republic of Togo on 27 April 1960 — the lineage this page follows.

Scope of this page: the lands of present-day Togo, tracking the French-administered half of the territory after the 1922 partition through to the modern republic. British Togoland's separate 1956 vote to join Ghana is noted for context but not tracked further here, since that territory's history continues on Ghana's own page. No single flag is attested for the pre-colonial Ewe and Mina chieftaincies. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.

One border, no split

Togo's own real border, traced whole — modern Togo descends only from the French-mandate portion of German Togoland; British Togoland became part of Ghana instead, so there's no genuine internal split within today's country to draw. Press play, or drag the slider.

The real split happened at the border, not inside it. The 1922 League of Nations partition of German Togoland created two separate territories — British Togoland (which joined Ghana in 1957) and French Togoland (which became today's Togo). That partition falls outside this country's own present-day border, so this map shows Togo whole throughout, tracking only who governed all of it.

1960–present

Republic of Togo

Real traced border (1km-resolution coastline), no internal partition — see the rule box above for why.

five green-and-yellow stripes, a red canton with a white star — unchanged since 1960

1960 – present

Republic of Togo (independent)

Republic, independent

Migration & conquest:Emigration: refugees fleeing political violence (1990s)

Who & why: French Togoland becomes the independent Republic of Togo on 27 April 1960, the first of the 1960 wave of French West African independences. Sylvanus Olympio, the country's first president, is assassinated in a 1963 coup, and Gnassingbé Eyadéma comes to power in a further 1967 coup, going on to rule for nearly four decades — one of the longest presidencies in African history — before a family succession in 2005.

What it represents: a flag designed by Paul Ahyi, adopted at independence: five alternating green-and-yellow horizontal stripes for the country's provinces and for agriculture and mineral wealth, and a red canton with a white star symbolizing the struggle for independence and hope for the future.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3.

LayoutFive equal horizontal green/yellow stripes, red canton in the upper hoist with a white five-pointed star.

Green#006A4E

Yellow#FCD116

Red#D21034

White star#F4EFE1

placeholder Union Flag pattern, standing in for the French Tricolore under League of Nations mandate/trusteeship rule

1922 – 1960

French Togoland (mandate, then UN trust territory)

Mandate / trust territoryNo single ruler documentedRoman Catholic (French colonial favor)

Who & why: the League of Nations formally divides former German Togoland between Britain and France in 1922, France administering the larger eastern portion alongside its other West African colonies. The mandate becomes a United Nations Trust Territory after World War II, with France continuing as administering power until French Togoland votes for full independence, achieved in 1960. (British Togoland to the west follows a separate path, voting in a 1956 UN-supervised plebiscite to merge with the Gold Coast as it becomes Ghana in 1957 — not tracked further on this page.)

What it represents: the French Tricolore flew as the sovereign flag; no distinct territorial flag existed for French Togoland itself. Shown here as a placeholder Union Flag pattern matching this atlas's convention for unrepresented colonial-era sovereign flags — swap for the Tricolore (blue-white-red vertical bands) when painting.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3 (French Tricolore).

LayoutVertical blue-white-red bands (Tricolore) — no distinct territorial flag existed.

Blue#00247D

White#F4EFE1

Red#CF142B

the German imperial tricolor, black-white-red, flown over the protectorate

1884 – 1914

German Togoland (protectorate)

Colony / protectorateGustav NachtigalEvangelical Lutheran (colonial establishment)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Allied forces (1914)

Ruling house:House of Hohenzollern

Who & why: German trader Gustav Nachtigal signs a protectorate treaty at Togoville in July 1884, marking Germany's first African colonial acquisition. German administrators invest relatively heavily in infrastructure — the Lomé–Palime and other railways, a powerful wireless transmitter at Kamina — earning the territory an official reputation as a "model colony," though this rested on forced labor and coercive taxation of the local population. Allied forces, mainly French and British troops from neighboring colonies, invade and occupy the territory within weeks of World War I's outbreak in August 1914.

What it represents: the black-white-red horizontal tricolor of the German Empire flew as the protectorate's sovereign flag; German colonial administrations typically also used a colonial ensign bearing a territorial badge for local shipping, not shown here.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3.

LayoutThree equal horizontal bands: black, white, red.

Black#000000

White#F4EFE1

Red#A4302A

placeholder field — decentralized Ewe and Mina chieftaincies, no unifying flag survives

pre-1884

Ewe and Mina communities

Fragmented chieftainciesNo single ruler documentedNo single state religion

Migration & conquest:Emigration: enslaved people trafficked via the Atlantic slave trade

Who & why: Ewe-speaking peoples, migrating into the region from around the 15th–17th centuries, and Mina communities along the coast, organize into many small, independent chieftaincies rather than one unifying kingdom. Coastal groups engage in trade, including the Atlantic slave trade, with European merchants from the 17th century onward, well before formal German colonization arrives.

What it represents: no securely documented flag unifies this era, since no single polity ever governed the whole territory; each chieftaincy used its own regalia. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Fragmented chieftaincies — no single ruling power

Colony / protectorate / mandate — under German then French/British administration

Republic, independent — sovereign modern statehood

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 Togo 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 Togo →

More of the atlas

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

Flags Atlas indexSearch every country and hub West Africa hubSixteen countries, from empire to independence