Blue was substituted for green to avoid confusion with Mali. The basic design is the same as that of the flag of Romania, and the flag of Andorra. However, it is closest in appearance to the flag of Romania, looking virtually identical to it, differing only in having a darker shade of blue than Romania's flag (indigo rather than cobalt).

Blue symbolizes, officially, the sky, hope, and water; yellow the sun and the desert to the north of the country; red progress, unity, and sacrifice. Red also recalls the blood shed for independence. RGB colours values are, respectively, 12-28-140, 252-209-22 and 206-17-38.

The flag was adopted by law # 59/13 for the autonomous republic and retained on independence in 1960, and in the constitution of 1962. Despite many political upheavals within Chad since independence, the flag has not been changed. This may be because the flag is not associated with any of the main power rivals within Chad, having had no sense of national identity before independence, and to a lesser extent after independence.:)