Flag: Togo

Five green and yellow stripes, with a red square holding a white star. The stripes run across the flag, green at the top and bottom, and the red square sits in the upper corner by the pole. It is a tidy design that reads clearly even at emoji size.

Togo is a thin strip of a country on the Gulf of Guinea, barely wider than a hundred kilometres in places and stretching north from a short Atlantic coast. The capital, Lomé, sits right on the border with Ghana. French is the official language, Ewe and Kabiyé are the most widely spoken local languages, and the country was a German colony (Togoland) from 1884 to 1914 before being split between British and French rule; the French part became independent Togo.

The flag was adopted at independence from France on 27 April 1960 and designed by the Togolese artist Paul Ahyi. In the government's own reading, green stands for hope, forests and farming, yellow for faith and the country's mineral wealth, red for the blood shed for independence, and the white star for peace and light. The five stripes are often said to stand for Togo's five regions. In messages it simply means Togo: where someone is from, where they are going, or who they are supporting.

What does it mean when someone sends 🇹🇬?

Almost always: Togo, Togolese, or support for Togo. In a bio or username it marks home or heritage, often next to a second flag for the country someone lives in now. In a chat it announces a trip, a story from Lomé, or pride on 27 April, Independence Day.

With a ball it is sport: Togo's national football team is nicknamed the Éperviers, the Hawks, and the flag turns up around their matches, especially the Africa Cup of Nations. Beyond that there is no hidden meaning, slang or irony attached to it. If someone sends it with no context, the safe reading is that Togo matters to them.