The flag of Cape Verde has five unequal horizontal bands of blue, white, and red, with a circle of ten yellow five-pointed stars, all pointing upwards.

The lowest star is inscribed in an invisible circle centered at the middle of the lower blue stripe (that is, one eighth of the height from the bottom).

The original national flag of Cape Verde was introduced on independence in 1975 and was based on the flag of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).

It used the common African colours of red, green and yellow, and was identical to the flag of Guinea-Bissau except for the proportions and the charge in the hoist-side stripe.

Their similarity evoked the plans to unite both countries, which were abandoned shortly after independence.