[3][1][4] During the period between 1971 and 1997 as Zaire, the flag consisted of a light green fabric with a yellow circle holding a flaming torch.

It is one of the few national flags incorporating a diagonal line, with other examples including Tanzania, Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Brunei.

This flag was used from 1966 to 1971 and consisted of the same yellow star, now made smaller, situated in the top corner of the hoist side, with a red, yellow-lined band running diagonally across the center.

This flag was adopted by the New Zaire Government in Exile formed in 2017 and was displayed used during a failed coup attempt in May 2024.

In 1997, when the Mobutu government was overthrown and the country assumed its current designation of Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country reverted to 1960s post-independence design, featuring a single large star and six smaller stars.