Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo flag consists of a blue base with a yellow/gold five-point star in the middle of the flag. On the left side of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's flag are six smaller five-point stars lined up vertically. Originally the stars on the left side of the flag represented the six provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but this is no longer appropriate. The Democratic Republic of the Congo flag was adopted on May 17, 1997. The country was formerly known as Zaire. It is often called Congo-Kinshasa, after its capital, to distinguish it from the Republic of Congo, which is a separate country. The Meocratic Republic of Congo gained independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. The design of this flag was based on the old colonial flag, which didn't have the stars on the left. The Democratic Republic of the Congo flag is very similar to the old flag used between1960-1963..