The flag of Somalia designed by Mohammed Awale Liban was adopted on October 12, 1954. It consists of a blue background with a large, white, five-pointed star in the middle of the flag.
This flag is based on the flag of the United Nations as it was the United Nations that helped Somalia gain independence from Italy.

The star represents African freedom with its individual points representing the five historical regions inhabited by the Somali people. These are Italian Somaliland (Somalia), British Somaliland (Somalia), French Somaliland (Djibouti), the Ogaden region of Ethiopia and north Kenya.