flag of Lesotho

The British protectorate of Basutoland was established in 1868 to preserve the mountain kingdom of Basotho from being absorbed by South Africa. The Basotho (Southern Sotho) therefore flew the Union Jack and had little need for a national flag of their own. Decades later a national flag was designed for hoisting on Independence Day, Oct. 4, 1966, when the nation became known as the Kingdom of Lesotho. The prime minister, Chief Leabua Jonathan, wanted to use the flag of his own ruling Basotho National Party, which had four equal horizontal stripes from top to bottom of blue, white, red, and green. Other parties objected, and instead the national flag displayed green, red, and blue vertically with a white silhouette version of a typical Sotho straw hat.

The military overthrew the government of Jonathan in 1986, and a new flag was hoisted on Jan. 20, 1987. Divided diagonally, it contained a white triangle for peace on which, represented in brown, were design elements from the Basotho coat of arms. The animal-skin shield in silhouette was supplemented by a staff with ostrich feathers and by traditional weapons, the assegai and knobkerrie. These recalled the battles of the past that had preserved Basotho independence. The green triangle at the fly end of the flag was for prosperity, and the blue stripe between the other colours symbolized rain. The flag was designed by a Basotho soldier with technical advice provided by Frederick Brownell, the state herald of South Africa.

A new flag was hoisted on Oct. 4, 2006, to honour the 40th anniversary of Lesotho’s independence. It consists of three horizontal stripes in the same colours as the previous flag but with the white stripe now in the centre, on which is depicted, as a black silhouette, the traditional Sotho straw hat.