R-tistry (Part 2)

Using geom_segment() to generate images depicting the flags of the East African Community

RStudio
R
Tutorial
Blog
R-tistry
Author

William Okech

Published

December 6, 2023

Introduction

In this post, I will use geom_segment() to generate images depicting the flags of the East African Community.

For a background of this post, review Part 1 of the series.

Section 1: Load all the required libraries

Code 
library(tidyverse) # collection of packages for preparing, wrangling and visualizing data
library(ggplot2) # package for data visualization
library(ggthemes) # ggplot themes

# Section 2: Flags of the East African Community and Individual Countries

a) Kenya

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(2.5), 19), 2.5))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(4.5), 19), 4.5))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(7), 19), 7))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(8), 19), 8))

lines5 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(10.5), 19), 10.5))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines5, color = "#000000", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 3.4,lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#BB0000", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 3.8,lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#006600", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15)  +
  coord_polar() +                       # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Kenya") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

b) Tanzania

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(2.5), 19), 2.5))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3.5), 19), 3.5))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(6), 19), 6))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(7), 19), 7))

lines5 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(9.5), 19), 9.5))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines5, color = "#1EB53A", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#FBD016", size = 3.2, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#000000", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FBD016", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#00A3DD", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 10) +
  coord_polar() +                    # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Tanzania") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

c) Uganda

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(1.5), 19), 1.5))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3), 19), 3))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(4.5), 19), 4.5))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(6), 19), 6))

lines5 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(7.5), 19), 7.5))

lines6 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(9), 19), 9))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines6, color = "#000000", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines5, color = "#FCDC04", size = 3.2, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#D90000", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#000000", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FCDC04", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#D90000", size = 4.0, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15) +
  coord_polar() +                     # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Uganda") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

d) Burundi

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3), 19), 3))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(6), 19), 6))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(10), 19), 10))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#CE1126", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 4.0, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#1EB53A", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15) +
  coord_polar() +                     # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Burundi") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

e) Rwanda

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(2), 19), 2))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(4), 19), 4))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(6), 19), 6))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(8), 19), 8))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#00A1DE", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#00A1DE", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FAD201", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#20603D", size = 4.0, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15) +
  coord_polar() +                     # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Rwanda") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

f) South Sudan

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines00 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(1), 19), 1))

lines0 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(2), 19), 2))

lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(4.5), 19), 4.5))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(5.5), 19), 5.5))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(8), 19), 8))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(9), 19), 9))

lines5 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(11.5), 19), 11.5))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines5, color = "#000000", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 4,lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#DA121A", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 4,lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#078930", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines0, color = "#0F47AF", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines00, color = "#FCDD09", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15)  +
  coord_polar() +                     # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "South Sudan") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

g) Democratic Republic of the Congo

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(2.5), 19), 2.5))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3.5), 19), 3.5))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(6), 19), 6))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(7), 19), 7))

lines5 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(9.5), 19), 9.5))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines5, color = "#007FFF", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#F7D518", size = 3.2, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#CE1021", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#F7D518", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#007FFF", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 10) +
  coord_polar() +                     # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Democratic Republic of the Congo") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

h) Somalia

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3), 19), 3))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(6), 19), 6))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(10), 19), 10))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#418FDE", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 4.0, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#418FDE", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15) +
  coord_polar() +                     # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Somalia") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

i) East African Community

Generate the lines required for the plot

Code 
lines1 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3), 19), 3))

lines2 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(3.5), 19), 3.5))

lines3 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(4.5), 19), 4.5))

lines4 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(5), 19), 5))

lines5 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(7), 19), 7))

lines6 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(7.5), 19), 7.5))

lines7 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(8.5), 19), 8.5))

lines8 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(9), 19), 9))

lines9 = tibble(
  x = seq(0, 38, by = 2),
  xend=x,
  y=rep(0, 20),
  yend=c(rep(c(12), 19), 12))

Plot the image

Code 
ggplot() + 
  geom_segment(data=lines9, color = "#418FDE", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines8, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines7, color = "#000000", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines6, color = "#006600", size = 3, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines5, color = "#FBD016", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines4, color = "#006600", size = 3.4, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) +
  geom_segment(data=lines3, color = "#D90000", size = 3.6, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines2, color = "#FFFFFF", size = 3.8, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  geom_segment(data=lines1, color = "#418FDE", size = 4.0, lineend = "round",
               aes(x=x, xend=xend,
                   y=y, yend=yend)) + 
  ylim(-5, 15) +
  coord_polar() +                   # allows for the drawing of a polar plot
  labs(title = "Somalia") +
  theme(axis.title.x=element_blank(),
        axis.text.x=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.x=element_blank(),
        axis.title.y=element_blank(),
        axis.text.y=element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y=element_blank(), 
        panel.background = element_rect(fill = "white", colour = "white"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 12, hjust = 0.5))

Conclusion

In this post, ggplot2 and geom_segment(), available in R/RStudio, were used to generate images depicting the flags of East Africa. To compare the generated diagrams with the original flags look at the Flags of the World page on Worldometer

Assignment

Try and generate your own image, preferably the flag of your home country or country of residence, save with ggsave() using the correct dimensions and dpi, and the share on social media #aRt