Full Name: The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

Capital: Dili

Phone code: +670

TLD: .tl^c

Region: Asia

The national flag of East Timor (Portuguese: Bandeira de Timor-Leste) is one of the official symbols of East Timor.

According to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Part I, Section 15:

“The national flag is rectangular and is formed by two isosceles triangles, the bases of which are overlapping. One triangle is black and its height is equal to one-third of the length overlapped to the yellow triangle, whose height is equal to half the length of the Flag. In the centre of the black triangle there is a white star of five ends, meaning the light that guides. The white star has one of its ends turned towards the left side end of the flag. The remaining part of the flag is red.”

National Flag of All Countries: Details And Meaning

Timor-Leste Flag History

The flag was adopted in 2002. It is the same as the flag originally adopted when the country declared its independence from Portugal in 1975, nine days before being invaded by Indonesia.[1] At midnight on 19 May 2002, and during the first moments of Independence Day the next day, the United Nations flag was lowered and the flag of an independent East Timor was raised.

As per the Constitution of East Timor, the yellow (PMS 123) triangle represents “the traces of colonialism in East Timor’s history”. The black triangle represents “the obscurantism that needs to be overcome”; the red (PMS 485) base of the flag represents “the struggle for national liberation”; the star, or “the light that guides”, is white to represent peace.