King of the Belgians from 1865, son of Leopold I. He financed the US journalist Henry Stanley's explorations in Africa, which resulted in the foundation of the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), from which he extracted a huge fortune by ruthless exploitation.
Green, yellow, and red are the pan-African colours. The flag is modelled on the French tricolour. The design was identical to the Rwandan tricolour, obliging that country to modify its flag. Effective date: 1 March 1961.