Flag_of_Lesotho

Flag of Lesotho

Flag of Lesotho

National flag

The current national flag of Lesotho, adopted on the 40th anniversary of Lesotho's independence on 4 October 2006,[2] features a horizontal blue, white, and green tricolour with a black mokorotlo (a Basotho hat) in the center. The design is intended to reflect a state that is both at peace internally and with its only neighbour South Africa, replacing the old flag design that featured a military emblem of a shield, spear and knobkerrie.[3][4]

Quick Facts Proportion, Adopted ...
A mokorotlo is a type of straw hat widely used for traditional Sotho clothing
Lesotho flag at the Sani Pass border post

Colours

The symbolism of the colours is:[5]

More information Colour, Meaning ...
More information Colors scheme, Blue ...

Construction Sheet

  • flag construction sheet

History

1966–1987

Flag from 1966–1987
21 years of use
Royal Standard variant

The first flag of Lesotho was introduced on 4 October 1966, the day of Lesotho's full independence from the United Kingdom. It featured a prominent white mokorotlo. The blue stood for sky and rain, the white for peace, the green for land, and the red for faith.

1987–2006

Flag from 1987–2006
19 years of use
Royal Standard variant

A new flag, designed by Sergeant Retšelisitsoe Matete,[6] was adopted on 20 January 1987, following a military coup which ousted the Basotho National Party after 20 years in power. A light brown traditional Basotho shield along with an assegai (lance) and knobkierrie (club) replaced the mokorotlo as the primary emblem. The colour scheme and pattern changed as well, with a triangular white field standing for peace. The bottom diagonal contained a blue strip for rain and a green triangle for prosperity.

2006–present

In 2006, a new flag was chosen from four proposed designs; all of these designs included a brown Basotho hat instead of the shield. This was subsequently changed to a black Basotho hat in order to represent Lesotho as a black nation. The bill changing the flag was approved by the National Assembly on 18 September 2006, with 84 members of parliament voting in favour of it, 18 against it, and two abstaining.[6] It was subsequently approved by the Senate as well.[4]

Historical flags

  • Union Jack served as the flag of Basutoland (1884–1966)
  • Unofficial flag of Basutoland (1951–1966)
  • Unofficial flag of Basutoland without circle (1951–1966)
  • Flag of the Resident Commissioner of Basutoland (1951–1966)
  • Coat of arms of Basutoland (1951–1966)
  • Incorrect variant of Royal Standard of Lesotho (1966–1987)[7]
    reported in a source in 1975[8]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Lesotho Flag".
  2. [2]
    "Flag of Lesotho".
  3. [3]
    "Lesotho unfurls 'peaceful' flag". BBC News. 2006-10-04.
  4. [4]
    "Senators give new flag green light". The Lesotho Government Portal. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  5. [5]
    "Flags of the World". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. p. Lesotho, Flag. Archived from the original on 2020-10-12.
  6. [6]
    "New National Flag Passed by Parliament" Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, 3rd Quarter 2006, trc.org.ls.
  7. [7]
    Lesotho Royal Standard 1966 -1987 (incorrect version) at Flags of the World. 24 February 2000. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  8. [8]
    Whitney Smith. Flags Through the Ages and Across the World. McGraw-Hill, 1975.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Flag_of_Lesotho, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.