Flag of Lesotho

The current national flag of Lesotho, adopted on the 40th anniversary of Lesotho's independence on 4 October 2006,[2] features a horizontal blue, white, and green tricolour with a black mokorotlo (a Basotho 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, replacing the old flag design that featured a military emblem of a shield, spear and knobkerrie.[3][4]

Kingdom of Lesotho
Proportion2:3
Adopted4 October 2006 (2006-10-04)
DesignA horizontal triband of blue, white and green in proportions 3:4:3;[1] charged with a black mokorotlo (a Basotho hat) centred on the white band.
UseRoyal Standard
A mokorotlo is a type of straw hat widely used for traditional Sotho clothing
Lesotho flag at the Sani Pass border post

Colours

The symbolism of the colours is:[5]

Colour Meaning
Blue Represents the sky or rain.
White Represents peace. Lesotho has had the ideology of peace since the ages of King Moshoeshoe I.
Green Represents prosperity.

Colors scheme		 Blue White Green Black
CMYK100-80-0-380-0-0-0100-0-55-42100-100-100-99
HEX #00209F #FFFFFF #009543 #000000
RGB 0-32-159 255-255-255 0-149-67 0-0-0

Construction Sheet
  • flag construction sheet
    flag construction sheet

History

1966–1987
Flag of Lesotho (1966–1987)
21 years of use
Royal Standard of Lesotho (1966–1987)

The first flag of Lesotho was introduced on 4 October 1966, the day of Lesotho's full independence from the United Kingdom. It featured a prominent white mokorotlo. The blue stood for sky and rain, the white for peace, the green for land, and the red for faith.

1987–2006
Flag of Lesotho (1987–2006)
19 years of use
Royal Standard of Lesotho (1987–2006)

A new flag, designed by Sergeant Retšelisitsoe Matete,[6] was adopted on 20 January 1987, following a military coup which ousted the Basotho National Party after 20 years in power. A light brown traditional Basotho shield along with an assegai (lance) and knobkierrie (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 nation. The bill changing the flag was approved by the National Assembly on 18 September 2006, with 84 members of parliament voting in favour of it, 18 against it, and two abstaining.[6] It was subsequently approved by the Senate as well.[4]

Historical flags
  • Union Jack served as the flag of Basutoland (1884–1966)
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Union Jack served as the flag of Basutoland (1884–1966)
  • Unofficial flag of Basutoland (1951–1966)
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Unofficial flag of Basutoland (1951–1966)
  • Unofficial flag of Basutoland without circle (1951–1966)
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Unofficial flag of Basutoland without circle (1951–1966)
  • Flag of the Resident Commissioner of Basutoland (1951–1966)
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Flag of the Resident Commissioner of Basutoland (1951–1966)
  • Coat of arms of Basutoland (1951–1966)
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Coat of arms of Basutoland (1951–1966)
  • Incorrect variant of Royal Standard of Lesotho (1966–1987)reported in a source in 1975
    Incorrect variant of Royal Standard of Lesotho (1966–1987)[7]
    reported in a source in 1975[8]

See also

References
  1. "Lesotho Flag".
  2. "Flag of Lesotho".
  3. "Lesotho unfurls 'peaceful' flag". BBC News. 2006-10-04.
  4. "Senators give new flag green light". The Lesotho Government Portal. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  5. "Flags of the World". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. p. Lesotho, Flag. Archived from the original on 2020-10-12.
  6. "New National Flag Passed by Parliament" Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, 3rd Quarter 2006, trc.org.ls.
  7. Lesotho Royal Standard 1966 -1987 (incorrect version) at Flags of the World. 24 February 2000. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  8. Whitney Smith. Flags Through the Ages and Across the World. McGraw-Hill, 1975.
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