WHY DO AFRICAN FLAGS ALL HAVE SIMILAR COLOURS

I had noticed on previous occasions that a lot of African countries use the same colours in their national flags.  In the truck, Sam has the nine flags of the countries that we are travelling to and it made me ask the question on why do they all use the same colours making their flags look very similar.  Well during the Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was the only African country beside Liberia that retained its sovereignty as a recognized independent country, and was one of only four African members of the League of Nations. Ethiopia then became a founding member of the UN.  When other African nations received their independence following World War II, many of them adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag, and Addis Ababa became the location of several international organizations focused on Africa. 

The term Pan-African colours refers to two different sets of three colours: green, yellow and red (inspired by the flag of Ethiopia), and red, green and black (which were adopted by the United States-based Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, or UNIA). They are used in flags and other emblems of various countries and territories in Africa and the Americas to represent Pan-Africanist ideology. The Rastafarian movement and many Pan-African organizations also often employ the colours for their activities.  Green, gold and red are now found on the national flags of many African nations.  The colour combination was borrowed from the flag of Ethiopia. Although not Pan-African in its conception, the Ethiopian flag has influenced the flags of many Pan-African organizations and polities. Except for a brief period of occupation by Italy under the Fascists, Ethiopia remained outside European control during the colonial era. As a result, the country drew the admiration of many newly-independent states in Africa. The adoption of the Ethiopian national colours by many Pan-African entities is a consequence of this. The first African state to adopt a red, gold and green flag upon independence was Ghana in 1957.

The colous of the flags have different meanings: 

Red-means the blood spilled on their land in the time of slavery.

Black-means the color of their skin.

Green-means the land they owned and what color it is. 

Gold is the sun.

Blue is the sky.

Following are countries and territories that have the Pan African colours in their official flags.  

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Congo-Brazzaville

Ghana

Guinea Bissau

Guinea 

Mali

Mozambique

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Togo

Zimbabwe