africa Archives - Smoke Tree Manor

Zimbabwe

Flags / africa, childhood, economy, flags, geography, history, political, transportation

The national flag of Zimbabwe consists of seven even horizontal stripes of green, gold, red and black with a white triangle containing a red 5-pointed star with a Zimbabwe Bird. The present design was adopted on 18 April 1980. The soapstone bird featured on the flag represents a statuette of a bird found at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. The bird symbolizes the history of Zimbabwe; the red star beneath it officially stands for the nation’s aspirations but is commonly thought to symbolize socialism, and the revolutionary struggle for freedom and peace. The design is based on the flag of Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front.

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Zambia

Flags / africa, economy, flags, geography, history, political, transportation

The flag of Zambia is the national flag of Zambia. It was adopted upon independence on 24 October 1964, by the first Republican President Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda. Before that, Zambia was the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia and used a defaced Blue Ensign as its flag.

The current flag is used as both national flag and ensign. It is green with an orange-colored African fish eagle in flight over a rectangular block of three vertical stripes, colored, from left to right: red, black and orange. The placement of the eagle and block of stripes at the flag’s fly is notable as most emblems and devices on flags are placed at center or at the hoist. Green stands for the nation’s lush flora, red for the nation’s struggle for freedom, black for the Zambian people, and orange for the land’s natural resources and mineral wealth. Additionally, the eagle flying above the colored stripes is intended to represent the people’s ability to rise above the nation’s problems.

The Zambian flag was slightly modified in 1996. The shade of green used in the 1964 flag was replaced with brighter and lighter green and the eagle was slightly altered so as to be more like the one used in the Zambian coat of arms.

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Uganda

Flags / africa, childhood, economy, flags, geography, history, political, transportation

The flag of Uganda was adopted on 9 October 1962, the date that Uganda became independent from the British Empire. It consists of six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red (bottom); a white disc is superimposed at the center and depicts the national symbol, a grey crowned crane, facing the hoist side.

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Tunisia

Flags / africa, Cities, economy, flags, geography, history, Mediterranean, political, transportation

The red and white flag of Republic of Tunisia, adopted as the national flag in 1827, has its origins in the naval ensign of the Kingdom of Tunis adopted in 1831 by Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud. The current official design dates to 1999.

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Togo

Flags / africa, Atlantic Ocean, childhood, economy, flags, france, geography, history, transportation

The flag of Togo is the national flag, ensign, and naval jack of Togo. It has five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow. There is a white five-pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner. It uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia, but the design resembles the flag of Liberia which itself echoes the flag of the United States.

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Tanzania

Flags / africa, economy, flags, geography, history, indian ocean, islands, transportation

The flag of Tanzania consists of a yellow-edged black diagonal band, divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a green upper triangle and blue lower triangle. Adopted in 1964 to replace the individual flags of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, it has been the flag of the United Republic of Tanzania since the two states merged that year. The design of the present flag incorporates the elements from the two former flags. It is one of a relatively small number of national flags incorporating a diagonal line, with other examples including the DR Congo, Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago and Brunei.

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Sudan

Flags / africa, economy, flags, geography, history, indian ocean, political, transportation

Red, white, black and green are called the pan-Arab colours and have been historically linked to the Arab people and Islamic religion for centuries. The colours stand for Arab unity and independence. The red stripe represents Sudan’s struggle for independence and many other struggles, and the sacrifices of the country’s martyrs. The white represents the people, light and optimism. It also represents the White Flag League which was a nationalist group that rose up against colonial rule in 1924. The black represents Sudan; in Arabic, ‘Sudan,’ means ‘land of the black people.’ It also represents the black flag of nationalists who fought colonial rule during the Mahdist Revolution, late in 19th century. Green represents Islam, agriculture and the prosperity of the land.[

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Melilla

Flags / africa, Cities, economy, europe, flags, geography, history, Mediterranean, transportation

The flag of Melilla, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, consists of a pale blue background with the city’s coat of arms in the center.

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Ceuta

Flags / africa, Cities, economy, europe, flags, geography, history, Mediterranean, transportation

The flag of Ceuta is the flag of the Spanish city of Ceuta, consisting of a black and white gyronny with a central escutcheon displaying the municipal coat of arms.

The gyronny is identical to that of the flag of Lisbon, to commemorate the conquest of the city by the Portuguese in 1415. The city was a part of the Portuguese Empire until 1640, after which it decided to remain with Spain. Thus the coat of arms of the city is nearly identical to that of the Kingdom of Portugal, showing the seven castles over the red bordure and the five escutcheons with silver roundels.

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Canary Islands

Flags / africa, Atlantic Ocean, economy, europe, flags, geography, history, islands, transportation

The tricolor flag has its origins in the Canarias Libre movement of the 1960s. It was designed by Carmen Sarmiento and her sons Arturo and Jesus Cantero Sarmiento, and first displayed (in paper form) on 8 September 1961. It combined the blue and white colors of the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Province of Canary Islands) with the blue and yellow colors of the Province of Las Palmas.

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