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Democratic Republic of Congo

République Démocratique du Congo, Congo - Kinshasa

Last modified: 2005-04-02 by jarig bakker
Keywords: congo | kinshasa | zaire |
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[Congo, Rep. Dem.] by Vincent Morley, 8 Jan 1997 See also:

Description and construction details

I have just received the graphic construction of the flag of Congo - Kinshasa which they made for that government
  • proportions: 3/2
  • height of the big star = 3 times height of a small star
  • colours:
    • blue field: Pantone 286C
    • yellow stars: Pantone 109C
Armand Noel du Payrat, 09 Dec 1997

It may be approximated that the small stars each inscribed circles 1/7th of the hoist and with offset from upper and lower edge being haf of that size. The big star's circle is then 3/7ths. One also wonders where exactly lies the big star: in the center of the flag or in the center of the solid blue part of it? I'd say in the exact center of the flag, so slightly nearer to the small stars than to the fly edge.
António Martins, 27 Jan 2000

Possible flag-change?

According to Radio Okapi, Kinshasa, 29 October 2004, the draft of the future Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo might include a reversion to the flag used from 1963 to 1971.
The first draft of the Consitution proposal shall be discussed in the Senate this Friday. The draft was presented to the media a few days ago but its content was not revealed yet.According to  Jean-Claude Ntumba Kamanga, the text of the Constitution shall prescribe the reestablishment of the 1964 flag, blue with a red diagonal stripe fimbriated yellow.
Source: DigitalCongo.
Ivan Sache, 2 Nov 2004

The Senators have been discussing again the Constitution of the future IIIrd Republic since the end of February 2005. There is currently a big dispute between the Unitarists, promoting a united, decentralized country with its current ten provinces and Kinshasa as its capital city, and the Federalists from Lower-Congo and Katanga, who want to increase the number of the provinces to 21, 25 or 28. The Unitarists say that the Federalists' proposals are a threat for the national unity and a potential cause of implosion of the country.
However, it took only three hours to the Senators to agree on the first article of the draft of the Constitution, concerning the coat of arms and the motto  of the Republic. The new coat of arms would show a leopard's head flanked by a spear and an ivory point. The new motto would be "Justice Paix Travail" (Justice Peace Work). The new flag would be the flag used from 1964 to 1971. Therefore, the symbols used by Congo before Mobutu's rule would be reinstated.
Source: DigitalCongo <http://www.digitalcongo.net/fullstory.php?id=49937>.
Ivan Sache, 11 Mar 2005

The newspaper "Le Phare" (The Lighthouse, Kinshasa) gives in its issue dated 21 March 2005 the text of a pilot draft of the future Constitution of the country.

TITLE 1: General provisions

Chapter 1: Of the State and sovereignty

Section 1: Of the State

Article 1. The Democratic Republic of Congo is, within the borders fixed on 30 June 1960, a constitutional State, independent, indivisible,social, democratic and secular.
Its emblem shall be a sky blue flag charged with a yellow star in the upper left corner and crossed by a diagonal red stripe finely edged in yellow..
Its motto shall be «Justice -Paix - Travail» "Justice-Peace-Work". Its coat of arms shall be made of a leopard's head flanked with an ivory point on the left and with a lance on the right, the whole being supported by a stone.
Its anthem is «Debout, Congolais!» "Arise, Congolese". Its currency shall be the Congolese Franc. Its official language shall be French.
Its national languages shall be Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba.
The State shall promote them without discrimination.
The other languages of the country are part of the Congolese cultural heritage whose protection is provided by the State.
Ivan Sache, 24 Mar 2005