Gabon, flag ofArticle Free Pass The French did not allow the
development of national flags in their colonies, fearing the
flags might become symbols around which separatists could rally.
Therefore there were few such traditions in French Africa when
autonomous governments were established in 1958 (the year of the
new constitution of France). Whereas some countries did not
adopt flags for more than a year, Gabon, one of the more
progressive of the territories, quickly settled on a distinctive
design. Instead of the vertical stripes of the French Tricolor,
which was adopted with appropriate changes in colours by many
former colonies, Gabon chose horizontal stripes. However, these
were not of equal width: the central yellow stripe was narrower
than the green stripe at the top of the flag and the blue stripe
at the bottom. Gabon also set itself apart from its neighbours
in rejecting the pan-African green-yellow-red and in having the
French Tricolor as a canton. None of the other autonomous
republics expressed a s