The national flag of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, also known as the Four Bands and ''Les Quatre Bandes'' ( French for "the four bands"), was adopted upon independence, March 12, 1968. It consists of four horizontal bands of equal width, coloured (from top to bottom) red, blue, yellow, and green. The flag was recorded at the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

in London on 9 January 1968. The flag was designed by Gurudutt Moher whose contribution was recognised posthumously in March 2018 in the form of the national title ''Member of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean'' (MSK). Moher, who was a retired school teacher, died of a heart attack on October 7, 2017, at the age of 93. The

civil ensign A civil ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by civilian vessels to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from the state ensign and the naval ensign (or war ensign). It is also known as the merchant ensign or merchant flag. ...

(for private vessels) and government ensign (for state vessels) are red and blue flags, respectively, each with the national flag in the canton and the

coat of arms of Mauritius The coat of arms of Mauritius are stipulated in the "''Mauritius Laws 1990 Vol.2 SCHEDULE (Section 2)''". In the lower left quarter is a key and on the right-hand side is a white star, which are referred to in the Latin motto "Stella Clavisque Ma ...

in the fly. The

naval ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large ver ...

(used by coast guard vessels) is an unusual design consisting of red, white, and blue vertical stripes of unequal widths defaced by a central anchor/key emblem.

Colours

The flag of Mauritius consists of red, blue, yellow and green bands which officially stand for: * Red represents the struggle for freedom and independence. * Blue represents the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, in which Mauritius is situated. * Yellow represents the light of freedom shining over the island. * Green represents the agriculture of Mauritius and its colour throughout the 12 months of the year. In an attempt to unite the nation, especially following the deadly and divisive riots of 1965 and those of 1968, the colours also have political origins. Indeed, the colours also represent the main political parties which existed at the time, namely: * Red: Parti Travailliste, a social-democrat party * Blue: PMSD, conservative * Yellow: IFB, socialist, Indo-Mauritian * Green:

CAM Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...

, Islamist The official colour codes of the flag are in accordance with the Mauritius Standard Bureau. Colour; Pantone Fashion home cotton * Red 18-1664TC or 185 C * Blue 19-3939TC or 295 C * Yellow 14-0957TC or 116 C * Green 17-6030TC or 356 C

Sizes

The official sizes of the flag are in accordance with the Mauritius Standard Bureau; standard MS.1-1:2011. The flag size is in the ratio of 2:3.

Historical flags

File:Flag_of_the_Dutch_East_India_Company.svg,

Dutch Mauritius Mauritius was an official settlement of the Dutch East India Company on the island of Mauritius between 1638 and 1710, and used as a refreshing station for passing ships. It was already frequented by Dutch ships from 1598 onwards, but only settl ...

; Flag of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

(1638–1710) File:Royal Standard of the King of France.svg,

French Mauritius Isle de France () was the name of the Indian Ocean island which is known as Mauritius and its Outer Islands of Mauritius, dependent territories between 1715 and 1810, when the area was under the French East India Company and a part of the Fren ...

; Royal Standard of the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

(1715–1792) File:Flag of France (lighter variant).svg,

;

Flag of France The national flag of France (french: link=no, drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the ''Tricolour'' (), although the flag of Irelan ...

(1792–1810) File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg,

British Mauritius Mauritius was a Crown colony off the Southeast coast of Africa. Formerly part of the French colonial empire, British rule in Mauritius was established de facto with the Invasion of Isle de France in November 1810, and de jure by the subsequen ...

colonial flag (1810-1869) File:Flag of Mauritius (1869–1906).svg,

colonial flag (1869-1906) File:Flag of Mauritius (1906–1923).svg,

colonial flag (1906-1923) File:Flag of Mauritius (1923–1968).svg,

colonial flag (1923-1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauritius, Flag of

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

Flags of Africa Rainbow flags Flags introduced in 1968 National flags

Colours

Sizes

Historical flags

See also

References

External links