The flag of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

was adopted on 9 January 2005. It is a horizontal

tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...

of blue, black, and green with the national flag of Tanzania in the canton.

Historical flags

Zanzibar was a part of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, which flew a plain red flag, beginning in 1698. Majid bin Said declared an independent

Sultanate of Zanzibar The Sultanate of Zanzibar ( sw, Usultani wa Zanzibar, ar, سلطنة زنجبار , translit=Sulṭanat Zanjībār), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was a state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Su ...

on 2 November 1856 but did not adopt a new flag. The red flag remained in use during the British

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

period. When Zanzibar gained independence from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 10 December 1963, a green disk with two yellow cloves was added to the flag. On 12 January 1964, John Okello overthrew the

Sultan of Zanzibar The sultans of Zanzibar ( ar, سلاطين زنجبار) were the rulers of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which was created on 19 October 1856 after the death of Said bin Sultan, who had ruled Oman and Zanzibar as the sultan of Oman since 1804. Th ...

and adopted a black-yellow-blue tricolour as the flag of the

People's Republic of Zanzibar The People's Republic of Zanzibar () was an African state founded in 1964, consisting of the islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago. It existed for less than a year before it merged with Tanganyika to create the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zan ...

. On 29 January, the country's flag was changed to a blue-black-green tricolour. This design, which was based on the flag of the Afro-Shirazi Party, was the longest-lived of the post-independence flags and eventually formed the basis for the current flag. On 26 April 1964, Zanzibar united with Tanganyika to form the new country of

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 Zanzibar's old flag fell out of use.

References

Flags of Africa Flag Flags introduced in 2005 {{Africa-flag-stub