Flag of Mozambique

Republic of Mozambique

Use	National flagandensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	1 May 1983(1983-05-01)
Design	A horizontal tricolour ofteal,white-edged black and yellow with the red isosceles triangle based on thehoist-sidebearing the yellow five-pointed star that bears aKalashnikov riflewith thebayonetattached to the barrel crossed by afarming mattocksuperimposed on an open book.

Theflag of Mozambiqueis the national flag of theRepublic of Mozambiquethat was adopted on 1 May 1983. It is atricolorflag with whitefimbriationsand a red triangle.Tealstands for the riches of the land, the white fimbriations signify peace, black represents the African continent, yellow symbolises the country's minerals, and red represents the struggle for independence. It includes the image of aKalashnikov riflewith a bayonet attached to the barrel crossed by a hoe, superimposed on an open book. The rifle stands for defence and vigilance, the open book symbolises the importance of education, the hoe represents the country's agriculture, and the star symbolizes the spirit of the international solidarity of the Mozambican people. It is one of four national flags amongUN member statesthat feature a gun, along with those ofGuatemala,HaitiandBolivia,but is the only one of the four to feature a modern firearm instead of cannons or single-shot rifles.

History

Flag of Mozambique during theDia de PortugalFestival inSan Jose

The flag is based on the flag of theMozambican Liberation Front(FRELIMO), the leadingpolitical partyinMozambique.The FRELIMO flag, used for a brief period after the country gained its independence fromPortugal,looks like the current flag but lacking the emblem, with green, black, and yellow horizontal stripes separated by white fimbriations and a redtrianglein thehoist.

On independence the colours were rearranged to form the national flag, in diagonals emanating from the upper hoist. Over this was a whitecogwheelcontaining the hoe, rifle, book, and star that appear on the present flag. The flag was altered in 1983; the colours were arranged in horizontal stripes, and the star was made larger. Later in the same year the cogwheel was removed, leading to the current form of the flag.

2005: new flag proposal

In 2005, a competition was held to design a new flag for Mozambique. This came in the context of a drive to create a new crest and anthem for the country.RENAMO,Mozambique's parliamentary opposition, specifically wanted to see two symbols removed from the flag: the star, which they saw as representative of the country's communist past; and theKalashnikov assault rifle,which they argued is incompatible with a country trying to be peaceful after theMozambican Civil War.FRELIMO,the ruling party, argued that the star's resemblance to the communist symbol was coincidental, and that the rifle represented the nation's struggle for independence.

169 entries were receivedand a winning flag was selected, but was rejected by the FRELIMO-led parliament in December 2005. All 169 proposed flags were turned down, including the current flag without the rifle.

Gallery

Presidential standards

• 
  Presidential Standard of thePeople's Republic of Mozambiquefrom 1975 to 1982.
• 
  Presidential Standard of the People's Republic of Mozambique from 1982 to 1990.
• 
  Presidential Standard of the Republic of Mozambique since 1990.

Historical flags

• 
  Proposed flag of Portuguese Mozambique
  (1932)
• 
  Proposed flag of Portuguese Mozambique
  (1965)
• 
  Flag of Portuguese Mozambique
  (5 September 1974 – 25 June 1975)
• 
  Flag of Mozambique
  (25 June 1975 – April 1983)
• 
  Flag of Mozambique
  (April 1983 – 1 May 1983)

Regional flags

• 
  Flag ofMaputo.

External links

• MozambiqueatFlags of the World