Flag of Namibia
Wanjo Lingerner | |
Use | National flag and ensign |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 |
Adopted | 21 March 1990 |
Design | A white-edged red diagonal band radiating from the lower hoist-side corner. The upper triangle is blue, charged with a gold sun with 12 triangular rays and the lower triangle is green. |
Designed by | Theo Jankowski Don Stevenson Ortrud Clay |
Use | Naval jack |
Design | A white field with the national flag in the canton. |
The flag of Namibia consists of a red diagonal band edged in two white bands with a blue upper triangle charged with an 12-ray yellow sun and green lower triangle.
The flag was adopted on 21 March 1990 upon independence from South Africa. During apartheid rule, it used the South African orange-white-blue tricolor.
Design
[edit]The National Symbols Sub-Committee received 870 entries for the national flag. Six designs were short-listed; this was reduced to three, those of three Namibians – Theo Jankowski of Rehoboth, Don Stevenson[1] of Windhoek and Ortrud Clay of Lüderitz. These three designs were combined to form the Namibia national flag, adopted unanimously on 2 February 1990 by the Constituent Assembly. The three designers were publicly acknowledged by judge Hans Berker, the chairman of the subcommittee, at the unveiling ceremony on 9 March 1990.[2][dubious – discuss]
However, two other claims were made – South African Frederick Brownell claimed that he had designed the flag in his role as South African State Herald.[3] The other claimant was Briton Roy Allen, who claimed that the flag design was the result of a competition run by Hannes Smith of the Windhoek Observer, and that he had won.[4]
It is one of the few national flags incorporating a diagonal line, with other examples including the DR Congo, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brunei.
Colours
[edit]The colours of the Namibian flag are described in the Government Gazette.[5] This document also details construction of the Presidential flag. The tone or specific shade for white has not been specified.
Color model | Blue | Yellow gold | Green | Red |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pantone | 294 C | 116 C | 347 C | 186 C |
Coates SP | 5 809 | 1 802 | 65 | 35 |
RGB[6] | 0, 47, 108 (#002F6C) | 255, 205, 0 (#FFCD00) | 0, 154, 68 (#009A44) | 200, 16, 46 (#C8102E) |
Construction sheet
[edit]Symbolism
[edit]The chairman explained the symbolism of the flag's colours as follows:[3]
- Red – represents Namibia's most important resource, its people. It refers to their heroism and their determination to build a future of equal opportunity for all.
- White – represents peace, unity, tranquility, and harmony.
- Green – symbolises vegetation and agricultural resources.
- Blue – represents the clear Namibian sky and the Atlantic Ocean, the country's precious water resources and rain.
- Golden-yellow sun – life and energy. The golden-yellow colour represents wealth of the country.
- The twelve rays of the sun – represents the twelve ethnicities of Namibia, which make up most of the Namibian population, which are divided into four main groups of three.
Description
[edit]The flag has a white-edged red diagonal band radiating diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner. The upper triangle is blue with a gold sun with 12 triangular rays and the lower triangle is green.
Blazon: Per bend sinister Azure and Vert, a bend sinister Gules fimbriated Argent and in dexter chief a Sun with twelve straight rays Or charged with an annulet Azure.
Other flags
[edit]-
Presidential Standard
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Police Flag
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NDF Flag
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Army Flag
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Navy Flag
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Air Force Flag
Historical flags
[edit]-
Flag of the German Empire
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Flag of the Reich Colonial Office, used in German South-West Africa from 24 April 1884 to 9 July 1915.
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Proposed flag of German South-West Africa.
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Flag of South West Africa between 1915 and 28 June 1919.
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Merchant flag of South West Africa from 1915 to 1928.
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Flag of South West Africa from 1982 until 1990 under Mandates and Trusteeships by South Africa.
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Flag of SWAPO used at the United Nations between 1976 and 21 March 1990.
Flags of bantustans in South West Africa
[edit]Some of the bantustans established by South Africa during its period of administering South West Africa had adopted their own distinctive flags whilst others used the flag of South Africa.
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Kaokoland (until 1982)
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Kaokoland (from 1982)
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Tswanaland (until 1982)
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Tswanaland (from 1982)
References
[edit]- ^ Donny's Flag: An American Graphic Artist Designs Namibia's Flag (Namibia Documentary Series), 15 August 2014, retrieved 2022-11-28
- ^ Kangootui, Herman; Amagola, Elizabeth (14 June 2018). "The Namibian flag: Its origins and spirit that inspire the nation". New Era. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018.
- ^ a b (reported by) FG Brownell (December 1990), Coats of Arms and Flags in Namibia (A series of 8 articles.)
- ^ Schütz, Helge (23 October 2015). "Allen from Plymouth ... The man who designed the Namibian flag". The Namibian.
- ^ "Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia, No. 6807" (PDF). Government of the Republic of Namibia.
- ^ "Pantone Color Picker". Find a PANTONE color. Pantone LLC. Retrieved 10 January 2020.