This Week In Vexillology #55

Last week, we looked at Jamaica with it's lush green mountains, good coffee and reggae beats.  This week in vexillology, we're heading back to Africa and the snows of Kilimanjaro with one of my favorite African flags, Tanzania:

Adopted on June 30th, 1964 for national and civil usage, the flag of Tanzania is actually a unified flag of the old British Colony of Tanganyika and the Republic of Zanzibar, which is a group of islands just off of the coast.  Together they formed the new Republic of Tanzania.  How, you ask?  Well, something like this.  This was the original flag of Tanganyika:

And this was the original flag of the Republic of Zanzibar (the colors in this flag were taken from the Afro-Shirazi Party which overthrew the ruling Sultan in 1964.)   Fun bonus fact about Zanzibar:  Freddie Mercury was born there.

Together, the two countries combined to make the flag you see above.  The green and black were taken from the old Tanganyikan flag- which represents the lands and the people.   The yellow on either side of the black stripe in the middle represents mineral wealth, while the blue was taken from the old flag of Zanzibar and represents the sea.

All in all, I just really like this flag.  The colors (although in my handy dandy reference guide, the blue is a lot darker than it appears here) are great and the design very clean-  plus, there's nostalgia for my halcyon Swahili days as an undergraduate- though I wish I would have absorbed more of the language that I did.   One fine day, I read on the news (as you do) that it was Tanzanian Independence Day and suggested to my teacher that she (being from Tanzania) should give us the day off to celebrate.   And to my surprise (and the delight of the rest of the class) she thought about it, shrugged and said 'ok.'

(You begin to see why I didn't absorb much Swahili beyond a hearty HUJAMBO! right?  Well, and I hate to say it- because we did actually learn- it's just that, well, the learning was somewhat relaxed and unusual in its nature- but a rumor had run around campus that Swahili was one of the easiest languages to learn so joining me in my Swahili class were a veritable forest of football players- including current Iowa O-Line Coach Brian Ferentz and current Vikings Player Chad Greenway.  Just one of the many small strange things that make my life seem very bizarre sometimes.)

So, kids, put your hands together and give it up for Tanzania!  And remember, until next time keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!