On 20th May, 1966, the current Guyanese flag was approved. A competition to design the flag was held; it was won by the American Dr. Whitney Smith in 1962, his original design endures, despite a change in government in 1964.

The flag consists of five colours: green, red, white, black and gold. All of these are symbolic; the colour green represents the Guyanese forests and agriculture, red symbolises the spirit, commitment and perseverance of the country, white stands for rivers and water, black represents endurance and gold represents the country's mineral wealth.

Because the flag has a golden arrow shape design, since 1966 it has been called the 'Golden Arrowhead'.