Nigeria: Original flag proposal

The original proposal had a red sun on the white field, but that was not accepted.

Flying over his native land on his way to London for university work, M. T. S. Akinkunmi was impressed by the virgin green land below him. He chose that color as the primary symbol for Nigeria in the flag he designed which was the winner in a contest that drew almost 3000 entries.

The white stripe in the center signifies peace; the green stands for agriculture, which remains the backbone of the national economy. The red sun that Akinkunmi had included on the white stripe was omitted by the committee that approved the design for independence.

Source: Flags Through the Ages and Across the World [smi75c]
Željko Heimer, 6 February 1996, 26 February 2005 (quoted reference)