Adopted on April 18th, 1980 for national and civil usage, the flag of Zimbabwe displayed many of the green, yellow and red colors common to pan-Africanism and seen in flags throughout the continent. The design was partially taken from the flag of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) which lead the struggle for independence. Their flag had the green, yellow, red and black arranged in concentric panels with the black panel being at the center- the national flag takes these colors and arranged them in stripes.
At the hoist, you'll see a white triangle with a black edge: the black stands for the country's new leaders and the white, their desire for peace. The red star represents the country's international outlook. (Not sure what that says about their Cold War politics since they gained independence at the dawn of the Reagan Era) and that brings us to the bird... the Zimbabwe Bird was a soapstone sculpture found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe (the ancient city that the country is named after)- and is the national emblem of Zimbabwe.
I'll spare everyone the long, tortured path to independence that Zimbabwe had to go through. (Britain actually re-assumed control of the country briefly during the political transition) but for those that want the TL;DR version, Wikipedia's page on Southern Rhodesia isn't a bad starting point.
In the meantime, put your hands together for Zimbabwe! And remember, until next time, keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!
No comments:
Post a Comment