The current national flag of Lesotho, adopted on the 40th anniversary of

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

's independence on 4 October 2006, features a horizontal

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

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 ...

with a black ''

mokorotlo A mokorotlo is a type of straw hat widely used for traditional Sotho clothing, and is the national symbol of Lesotho. An image of the Mokorotlo appears on the Lesotho flag, and on Lesotho license plates. The design is believed to have been inspir ...

'' (a

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

hat) in the center. The design is intended to reflect a state that is both at peace internally and with its only neighbour

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 coun ...

, replacing the old flag design that featured a military emblem of a shield, spear and knobkerrie.

Colours

The symbolism of the colours is:

Construction Sheet

History

1966–1987

The first flag of Lesotho was introduced on 4 October 1966, the day of Lesotho's full 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It featured a prominent white ''

''. The blue stood for sky and

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

, the white for

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, the green for

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

, and the red for

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...

1987–2006

A new flag, designed by Sergeant Retšelisitsoe Matete,"New National Flag Passed by Parliament"
, Summary of Events in Lesotho, 3rd Quarter 2006, trc.org.ls. was adopted on 20 January 1987, following a military coup which ousted the

Basotho National Party The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état. In the ...

after 20 years in power. A light brown traditional Basotho

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

along with an

assegai An assegai or assagai (Arabic ''az-zaġāyah'', Berber ''zaġāya'' "spear", Old French ''azagaie'', Spanish ''azagaya'', Italian ''zagaglia'', Middle English ''lancegay'') is a pole weapon used for throwing, usually a light spear or javelin ...

(lance) and

knobkierrie A knobkerrie, also spelled knobkerry, knobkierie, and knopkierie (Afrikaans), is a form of wooden club, used mainly in Southern and Eastern Africa. Typically they have a large knob at one end and can be used for throwing at animals in hunting or ...

(club) replaced the mokorotlo as the primary emblem. The colour scheme and pattern changed as well, with a triangular white field standing for peace. The bottom diagonal contained a blue strip for rain and a green triangle for prosperity.

2006–present

In 2006, a new flag was chosen from four proposed designs; all of these designs included a brown Basotho hat instead of the shield. This was subsequently changed to a black Basotho hat in order to represent Lesotho as a

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

nation. The bill changing the flag was approved by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

on 18 September 2006, with 84 members of parliament voting in favour of it, 18 against it, and two abstaining. It was subsequently approved by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

as well.

Gallery

Historical flags

File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg,

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

served as the flag of

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), t ...

(1884–1966) File:Unofficial flag of Basutoland.svg, Unofficial flag of Basutoland (1951–1966) File:Unofficial banner of Basutoland.svg, Unofficial flag of Basutoland without circle (1951–1966) File:Flag of the Resident Commissioner of Basutoland.svg, Flag of the Resident Commissioner of Basutoland (1951–1966) File:Coat of arms of Basutoland.svg, Coat of arms of Basutoland (1951-1966) File:Royal Standard of Lesotho (1975).svg, Royal Standard of Lesotho (1975)Incorrect

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lesotho, Flag of Lesoto Lesoto Lesoto 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 ...