Flags!

We’ve been looking at it quite often this quarter— Bob even found it at a local supermarket!

The Namibian flag has a rich history, though it has only been used for a short period of time (prior to its current conception, Namibia had a series of different flags depending on which country occupied it through colonization).

The first “official” flag we know of is the German South West Africa flag used while Namibia was under German colonization until approximately 1915. At that time, South Africa claimed authority over the country, and the GSWA flag was replaced with the South West Africa flag, which was essentially just a Union Jack. This is because South Africa and South West Africa were both under British rule from the first World War onward, until the countries’ respective liberations. The sole Union Jack did not remain as its official flag for all of Great Britain’s rule, however. It was replaced in 1919 by a Merchant flag of South West Africa, used until 1928, at which point the last of the “transitory” flags were used. The flag of South West Africa until 1990 was an amalgamation of multiple flags into a single flag, reflecting the outside powers (Great Britain, South Africa) wrestling over Namibia.

 

Top Left: German South West Africa; top right: South Africa; bottom left: South West Africa; bottom right: pre-liberation Namibia

    

On Namibia’s Independence Day on March 21, 1990, the current, Namibian-only flag was officially adopted, although different variations of it had been used by SWAPO during the liberation movement in the 1970s and 1980s. The colors are also drawn from SWAPO’s party propaganda and color schemes, both of which are representative of Namibia’s people; SWAPO’s flag featured three horizontal bands of color (blue, red, and green) that represent the most important colors to the Ovambo people, who are most populous in Namibia. Each color also holds symbolic significance as well:

Red: the people— heroism, determination in building the ideal, equal Namibia

White: peace, unity

Blue: Namibian sky and the Atlantic Ocean (rain and water resource, respectively)

Green: agriculture, nature

The sun, located in the top right hand corner, represents life, excitement, and energy.

Though it is still unclear, the flag was supposedly created by either Frederick Bronwell or Roy Allen (there was some sort of mix-up in the submission/flag claiming process).

Namibia’s flag history is incredibly diverse, and even today different aspects of the country are represented by different flags— police and president, for example. This speaks to the diversity of the country and its inhabitants, but also to the diversity of their history with the constant shift of power from country to country, group to group.

~ Elizabeth