Botswana Flag

How to identify it

Light blue with a black horizontal band across the middle, edged above and below by thin white lines.

Design and construction

Proportions

2:3

Adoption and legal status

Designed by British colonial administrator George Winstanley and adopted 30 September 1966, the day of independence from the United Kingdom, replacing the Union Jack.

Construction

A light blue field cut horizontally in the centre by a black stripe with a thin white border on each side.

Officially documented meaning

Per the Botswana Emblems Law, light blue represents water and rainfall, reflected in the national motto "Pula" (rain); the black stripe framed by white represents racial harmony, inspired by the coat of the zebra, the national animal.

History of the design

The flag was deliberately designed to avoid both the pan-African colours used elsewhere on the continent and to contrast visually with apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia.

Sources