The flag of Tanzania

Do you ever wonder why a certain flag’s colors are what they are? Or what historical events inspired them?

The Tanzanian flag is made up of four colors: Green, blue, black and yellow.

The green signifies Tanzania’s land and its agricultural fertility. The blue signifies the Indian Ocean, which Tanzania faces to its East. The black represents the Tanzanian population, while the yellow represents mineral wealth.

The current flag commemorates the amalgamation of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in April 1964, although the flag was not adopted until 30th June 1964.

To read more about the Tanzanian flag, and the rest of the world’s flags, check out World Flags 101.

Flags tend to inspire the creation of other things, such as football jerseys, banners, and logos. Do you think they promote solidarity amongst citizens, or do they or isolate non-citizens? Rather, how can flags be used to promote mutual understanding, if at all?

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Al-Amin founded Vijana FM in 2009. With over a decade of experience in communications, design and operations, he now runs a digital media consulting agency - Lateral Labs - in Dar-es-Salaam.

This post has 4 Comments

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  1. I think the purpose of a flag is to bring solidarity between people living in the same country and for this reason it automatically excludes those that are non-citizens. But this is not to say that it isolates these non-citizens, I think the symbol of a flag gives citizens a sense of identity and belonging and those who are non-citizens can take part of this if they wished to do so.But its also important to keep in mind that these non-citizens probably have a sense of belonging elsewhere.

  2. … I thought the blue also signified Tanzania’s lakes as well, especially Victoria, Tanganyika & Nyasa…

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