Evangelical Protestant Christian movement that was founded by John Wesley in 1739 within the Church of England, but became a separate body in 1795. The Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in the USA in 1784. In 2001 there were over 50 million Methodists worldwide.
The small stars stand for the original provinces of Congo at independence in 1960. The single gold star was said to represent the light of civilization. Effective date: 17 May 1997.