The flag of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

was adopted on 21 March 1990 upon independence from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Design

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 of

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and Ortrud Clay of

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includi ...

. These three designs were combined to form the Namibia national flag, adopted unanimously on 2 February 1990 by the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. The three designers were publicly acknowledged by judge Hans Berker, the chairman of the subcommittee, at the unveiling ceremony on 9 March 1990. However, two other claims were made – South African

Frederick Brownell Frederick Gordon Brownell } (8 March 1940 – 10 May 2019) was a South African herald, vexillologist, and genealogist. He designed the flags of Namibia and South Africa. Family and early life Brownell was born in Bethlehem, in what was th ...

claimed that he had designed the flag in his role as

n State

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

. (A series of 8 articles.) The other claimant was Briton Roy Allen, who claimed that the flag design was the result of a competition run by

Hannes Smith Johannes Martin "Hannes" Smith (17 March 1933 – 5 August 2008), affectionately known as Smithie, was a Namibian journalist, editor and publisher. He was first reporter at, then the editor of, the ''Windhoek Advertiser'' until 1978 when he and Gw ...

of the ''

Windhoek Observer The ''Windhoek Observer'' is an English-language Saturday weekly newspaper, published in Namibia by Paragon Investment Holding. It is the country's oldest and largest circulating weekly. it had a circulation of 12,000 to 13,000 copies. The ''Wind ...

'', and that he had won. It is one of the few national flags incorporating a diagonal line, with other examples including the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, and

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

Colours

The colours of the Namibian flag are described in the Government Gazette. This document also details construction of the Presidential flag. The tone or specific shade for white has not been specified.

Construction Sheet

Symbolism

The chairman explained the symbolism of the flag's colours as follows: * 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

Description

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. ''In

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: Tierced 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

File:Flag of the President of Namibia.svg, Presidential Standard File:Flag of the Namibian Police Force.svg, Police Flag

Historical flags

File:Reichskolonialflagge.svg, Flag of

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

from 24 April 1884 to 9 July 1915. File:Flag of Deutsch-Südwest.svg, Proposed flag of German South-West Africa. File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg, Flag of South West Africa between 1915 and 28 June 1919. File:Red Ensign of South Africa (1912–1951).svg, Merchant flag of South West Africa from 1915 to 1928. File:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg, Flag of

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

from 1928 until 1982 under Mandates and Trusteeships by

. File:Flag of South Africa (1982–1994).svg, Flag of

from 1982 to 21 March 1990 under Mandates and Trusteeships by

. File:Flag of South West Africa People's Organisation.svg, Flag of

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

used at the United Nations between 1976 and 21 March 1990.

Flags of bantustans in South West Africa

Some of the

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now N ...

s 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. File:Flag of Bushmanland.svg,

Bushmanland Bushmanland (Boesmanland in Afrikaans) may refer to: * Bushmanland (South West Africa), a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia) * Bushmanland, Northern Cape Bushmanland is an arid area south of the Orange River and west of Kenhar ...

File:Flag of Damaraland.svg,

Damaraland Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of what later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damara (people), Damaras. It was bounded roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the east, a ...

File:Flag of Caprivi Bantustan.svg,

East Caprivi East Caprivi or Itenge was a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Masubiya people. It was set up in 1972, in the very corner of the Namibian panhan ...

File:Flag of Hereroland.svg,

Hereroland Hereroland was the first bantustan in South West Africa (present day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Herero people. It was set up in 1968. Hereroland, like other homelands in South Wes ...

File:Flag of South Africa (1928–1994).svg,

Kaokoland Kaokoland was an administrative unit and a ''bantustan'' in northern South West Africa (now Namibia). Established during the apartheid era, it was intended to be a self-governing homeland of the OvaHimba, but an actual government was never e ...

File:Flag of Kavangoland.svg,

Kavangoland Kavangoland was a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Kavango people. It was set up in 1970 and self-government was granted in 1973. The Kavango Le ...

File:Flag of Namaland.svg,

Namaland Namaland was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Nama people. Namaland comprised an area of and was to accommodate the estimated 34,806 southern N ...

File:Flag of Ovamboland.svg,

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

File:Flag of Rehoboth-Basterland.svg, Rehoboth (Basterland) File:Flag of South Africa (1928–1994).svg, Tswanaland

References

External links

*
World Statesmen – Namibia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namibia, Flag of Flags of Africa

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 introduced in 1990 Flags adopted through competition