The Republic of Angola

Angola

The Angolan flag is actually a modified version of the ruling political party’s flag. Angola finally won independence from Portugal on November 11th, 1975. The fight had been led by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), who have ruled Angola ever since. The MLPA was a Marxist movement at its birth, and used a simple flag design, being somewhat similar to Vietnam.

The party flag of the MLPA is a bi-colour flag, with 2 horizontal bars of red and black. The red represents socialism, and the black represents Africa. The flag also has a gold star emblazoned on the centre, in a similar manner to the Vietnamese flag.

The national flag of Angola is a modified version of the party flag for the MLPA. It has the 2 horizontal bars of red and black, except this time, the red is switched from socialism, to stand for the blood shed in the struggle for independence. The black is still Africa. The gold star remains, except now it is placed above a symbol that is uniquely Angolan, but harking back to the Soviet hammer and sickle. It consists of  half a cog wheel, representing industry and the workers, crossed by a machete, representing the peasantry. It is a simplified version of the national coat of arms of Angola.

There is, however, a proposal from 2003 after a long and bitter civil war, to change the flag to one that does not carry the links to the MLPA, though it has not been greeted with universal approval. The proposal features horizontal stripes of red white and blue. 2 thin stripes of blue, at the top and bottom, edged with white, and a centre stripe of red. Pretty much the same as Costa Rica, and North Korea. The differential is a yellow stylised sun emblazoned on the centre.

However, given the colours are very similar to several nations, and the style is similar to even more, many people have expressed dissatisfaction with this proposal, and it has since gone quiet. Many people hold fond memories of the current flag, and it looks like it will be around for a while yet!