The current flag of Senegal was adopted on 20th August, 1960, after one year of gaining independence from France in 1959. Senegal joined the Sudanese Republic in 1959. The Sudanese Republic is now a Mali and in conjunction with Senegal is known as the Mali federation. The flag of Federation was based on the French flag, red, blue and white but it got replaced by Pan-African colours green, red and yellow.

The green colour represents Islam, which means peace. The yellow represents the country's natural wealth which can only be achieved by people's hard work. The red represents the struggle and the sacrifices of people for independence. The green star stands for unity and hope. All the colours which have been used for this flag are traditional African colours.