Remember back in primary school when you had to draw the Singapore flag every year to celebrate National Day? For the average 9-year old, that wasn’t too difficult. But what if you lived in Sub-Saharan Africa instead?
Check out these 10 unique flags and feel thankful that a moon and five stars is all you had to draw!
The flag of Comoros consists of a white crescent with four white stars in a green triangle, and four stripes of different colours. These stripes represent the four islands of the nation: yellow for Mohéli, white for Mayotte, red for Anjouan and blue for Grande Comore. The stars, crescent the colour green are symbols of Islam, the nation’s major religion.
While this flag is pretty to see, make sure you get those stars and lines properly aligned!
The Kenyan flag has four colours – black (to represent the people of Kenya), red (for the blood shed during the fight for independence), green (for Kenya’s agriculture and natural resources) and white (for peace, unity and honesty). The traditional black, red, and white Maasai shield and two spears are symbolic of the defense of Kenya’s freedom.
The flag looks striking, but be careful not to get the colours mixed up!
Lesotho’s flag consists of three stripes – blue, white and green – and a black mokorotlo (a Basotho hat). Blue symbolizes sky, rain and water, white represents peace, green represents prosperity and the Basotho hat represents the indigenous people of Basotho.
This flag isn’t too hard to draw, but it might get tricky when you’re down to the details of the mokorotlo.
Malawi’s flag includes a rising sun that represents the dawn of hope and freedom for Africa, black that symbolises the indigenous people of the continent, red for the blood of their struggle, and green for nature.
Can you try counting the number of rays on the rising sun? We did, and that’s 31 sunrays to fit into a piece of paper.
For Mozambique, green stands for the riches of the land, white for peace, black for the African continent, yellow for the country’s mineral wealth, and red for the struggle for independence. The rifle signifies the country’s determination to defend its freedom and for vigilance, while the open book stands for the importance of education, and the hoe symbolises the country’s agriculture. The star represents Marxism and internationalism.
As a kid, I’d get cross-eyed trying to draw all the symbols on the left. But there should be no problem if you just take it one step at a time.
The flag of Seychelles has five colours which represent more than one idea. Together, red, white and green represent the Seychelles People’s United Party, while blue and yellow stand for the country’s Democratic Party.
Individually, the colour blue signifies the sky and sea that surround Seychelles and yellow stands for the sun which gives light and life. Red is for the people and their determination to work for the future in unity and love, white represents social justice and harmony, and green symbolizes the land and natural environment. The oblique bands that expand in width depict Seychelle’s dynamic growth into the future, and its vitality.
This flag is easy to draw on paper, but will look almost hallucinogenic if painted on the face.
Swaziland’s flag has stripes of three colours – blue for peace and stability, yellow for the country’s resources and red for Swaziland’s past battles. In the center of the flag is an ox hide combat shield with two spears, depicting protection from the country’s enemies. The black and white of the shield shows how black and white people coexist peacefully. The tassels on the shield are symbolic of the monarchy.
The flag is indeed rich in meaning, but it might take a long time getting the shield just right.
The country of Uganda has a flag with three main colours – black (for the African people), yellow (for sunshine) and red (for African brotherhood and fraternity; the colour of blood, which bonds all Africans). These were also the colours of the Uganda People’s Congress party. The grey crowned crane is fabled for its gentle nature and its raised leg signifies the country moving forward.
The idea of the bird is majestic, but tracing all those details may ‘ruffle your feathers’.
The Zambian flag is mostly green, which depicts the nation’s lush flora and vegetation. The are three stripes on the bottom right – the red stripe represents the nation’s struggle for freedom, the black stripe is for the people of Zambia and the orange stripe is for the land’s natural resources and mineral wealth, especially copper. The eagle flying above these stripes stands for freedom and the people’s ability to rise above the nation’s problems.
You might think drawing this flag is all fine and dandy.. until you have to draw that eagle. Have fun drawing the wings!
For Zimbabwe’s flag, green represents the country’s agriculture and rural areas, yellow stands for its mineral wealth (predominantly gold), red is for the blood shed during the struggle for independence and black is for the heritage, ethnicity and community of native Zimbabweans. The white triangle on the left is a symbol of peace, and the “Great Zimbabwe Bird” is symbolic of the strong bond that ancestral humans had with animals, nature and spirit guides. Underneath the bird is a red star said to indicate Zimbabwe’s hopes and aspirations for the future, Marxism, and the revolutionary struggle for freedom and peace.
It looks simple enough, but colouring this flag may take a while!
Every country has a flag and every flag is symbolic. While we can appreciate each flag for what it looks like and what it stands for, we can also appreciate the work put into replicating the flag on paper or even someone’s face. Next time you hear a child complain about their art homework, show them an African flag!
Which of these flags do you think is the hardest to draw? Let us know in the comments!
