The red in Ghana’s flag stands for the blood lost in the country’s struggle for independence; the gold, the country’s rich mineral resources; and the green, the country’s rich forests, natural wealth, and fertile agricultural land.

The black star at the centre of the flag stands for Ghana being the lodestar of African freedom. But did you also know that the black star found its way onto the flag because of one man; Professor Anton Wilhelm Amo?

But who is Professor Anton Wilhelm Amo?

Speaking in a recent interview on Angel FM, historian Yaw Anokye Frimpong claimed that Prof Amo was the first Black person to receive formal education.

He said that the late Professor Amo, who was taken to school as part of an experiment, went on to become a professor of philosophy in Germany and lectured in some of the top universities in the European country.

It's an insult to place Nkrumah's face alongside others on cedi notes – Anokye Frimpong

“Professor Anton Wilhelm Amo is the first Black person ever to have gone to school. In those days, Germany produced the greatest philosophers in the world — the likes of Karl Marx, Heidegger, and Hegel were all Germans. A Ghanaian went to study philosophy up to the PhD level, and later the professorial level, and he taught in five leading German universities.

“He was born in 1703, and he died in 1758. In WAEC exams, when they ask who the first Ghanaian professor is, and Professor Amo’s name is not on the list of possible answers, but the correct answer is Professor K A Busia, who became a professor in 1948. Anton Wilhelm Amo became a professor by the 1730s, but we don’t know him,” he said.

He added, “We also don’t know that it is because of Professor Wilhelm Amo that we have the black star in the middle of our national flag.”

The historian went on to narrate how Professor Amo inspired the addition of the black star to Ghana’s flag.

He said that the first Black person to receive a formal education was referred to as the Black Star of Africa after the presentation of his dissertation.

“Marcus Garvey conducted research where he found that during the era when Blacks were taken abroad to be slaves, one Black man was taken to school by way of experiment. The boy was first in all his classes; he became a school prefect, an SRC leader, and a professor over there.

“He (Professor Amo) was called the ‘Black Star’ after his first dissertation at the University of Wittenberg… that is what Marcus Garvey saw, and he said, ‘One day we will all come back to Africa in a ship called the Black Star — the appellation given to Amo’,” Anokye Frimpong said.

He added that Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, after discovering Prof Amo, insisted that a black star should be placed on the country’s flag in honour of him.

“Nkrumah also found that Amo was a Ghanaian and was also from his hometown. So, when Theodosia Okoh designed the Ghana flag, Nkrumah told her that she should put a black star in the middle.

“Because Ghana was the first African country to shine in the world through Amo. During a period where Blacks were slaves, a Ghanaian child studied and topped the Whites, so the black star refers to us, standing for Amo. The woman suggested that a lot of black stars be placed on the flag, but Nkrumah said, ‘No, I need only one star referring to Amo’,” the historian added.

Watch a video of his comments below:

Beautiful presentation!!! Know your History 👏🔥💯👂 pic.twitter.com/5YgOlVTb86

— Aristotlektv (@aristotledada) November 9, 2025