So where is the Central African Republic? Well, it's a Republic in Central Africa so get out the old atlas and find out what's kicking in the heart of Africa kids because this week- it's THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC!
The Central African Republic wins the award for coolest pre-independence name of any country in Africa- EVER. (Even more so than Nyasaland, Tanganyika, Zanzibar or Djibouti.) Are you ready for it? Are you sitting down? OK- here it is:
UBANGUI-SHARI!
That's right, the Central African Republic used to be known as Ubangui-Shari! (And for a brief, weird period as the Central African Empire. I think I read somewhere the Emperor in question was reputed to eat his enemies- but Emperor Bokassa is happily unemployed now and I'm honestly not sure how true that rumor is- and I guess he was acquitted of charges of cannibalism during his trial in 1987.
Adopted for national and civil usage on December 1st, 1958 and a lot of the colors in this flag symbolize the country's longstanding ties to France. The red vertical and the white and blue horizontal stripes are taken directly from the French Tricolore while the red, yellow and green are pan-African colors. The vertical stripe represents unity and the blood of humanity. (That's a little a dark, that last part- at least I think so.)
The star is probably the most interesting part of this flag- it represents a hoped for-talked about-but never achieved union with France. It's tucked away in the upper right corner because they were hoping more stars could be added as they went but so far- only one. (And interestingly, as rebels advanced towards the capitol, the C.A.R government was screaming for assistance from France. Which declined to help out- Gerard Depardieu's assets being a far greater enemy for the French to handle- at least for now.)
Ladies and Gentlemen: The CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC! (The country formerly known as Ubangui-Shari!)
And until next time, keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!
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