Esperanto was invented in 1887 by the doctor Ludwik Zamenhof so that people anywhere could…
1905
It was their club’s flag, but in August 1905 the city hosted the first world Esperanto congress
The full story
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The Esperanto flag belongs to no country: it is the flag of a language. Esperanto was invented in 1887 by the doctor Ludwik Zamenhof so that people anywhere could understand each other in a second, easy and neutral language. Its green flag with a star is the symbol by which its speakers recognise each other.
How it came about
The green and the star were already Esperanto colours before the flag. Zamenhof told how the Irishman Richard Geoghegan made him notice the green, the colour of Ireland, and he saw it as the colour of hope. He took the star from a grammar by Louis de Beaufront.
The flag was designed by three members of the Boulogne-sur-Mer Esperanto club (France): Michaux, Sergeant and Duchochois. It was their club’s flag, but in August 1905 the city hosted the first world Esperanto congress. On 9 August the congressists approved it unanimously as the flag of all Esperantists.
How it has changed
The design is almost the same as in 1905.
1905
The first flag had a white E inside the star. Sergeant asked for it because a rule of the region obliged the flags of associations to carry an identifying sign.
Today
The E disappeared soon, although flags with the letter can still be seen.
Other flags and proposals
The Boulogne club turned down the only proposal that would have given the flag a national look.
Propuesta · 1905
With the French tricolour
Duchochois wanted to add a stripe in the colours of France. Sergeant persuaded him that a flag for the whole world could not belong to a single country.
No oficial · 1987
The jubilee symbol
Two green E letters, one facing the other, on white. A Brazilian Esperantist designed it for the centenary of the language, and some groups prefer it because the flag seems too nationalist to them.
What it means
The meaning was explained after the flag was created:
Green
hope. The name of the language comes from ‘Doktoro Esperanto’, ‘the one who hopes’, the pseudonym of Zamenhof.
White
peace and neutrality.
Five-pointed star
the five continents.
Fun facts
It was drawn in chalk on a shop counter
The three from Boulogne went to the shop of the merchant Gras, in the rue Faidherbe. Duchochois asked for a piece of chalk and drew the flag on the counter, and it was ordered there and then.
Green because of Ireland
In an 1911 letter, Zamenhof explained that the Irishman Richard Geoghegan told him the green on one of his pamphlets was the colour of his country. He published all his books with green covers from then on.
A flag signed by Zamenhof
Zamenhof signed two of the first flags. Sergeant kept his for 23 years and then gave it to the Esperanto Museum in Vienna.
It flew on the Google logo
On 15 December 2009, on the 150th anniversary of Zamenhof, the Google logo carried the green flag hanging from the letter L.
They call the rival symbol the melon
The 1987 jubilee symbol earned the nickname of la melono, the melon, from its critics because of its shape.
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