Eswatini Flag

How to identify it

Blue, yellow-edged crimson, blue horizontal bands with a black-and-white Nguni shield lying sideways across the centre, backed by two spears and a staff.

Design and construction

Proportions

2:3

Adoption and legal status

Designed by King Sobhuza II, based on a military flag he gave the Swazi Pioneer Corps in 1941, first hoisted 25 April 1967, registered by the College of Arms in London on 30 October 1967, and formally adopted as the national flag under the Flags and Coat of Arms Act on 6 October 1968 at independence from the United Kingdom.

Construction

Five horizontal bands of blue, yellow, crimson (triple width), yellow and blue, with a black-and-white Nguni shield lying across the centre, backed by two spears and a feather-tasselled staff (injobo).

Officially documented meaning

Blue stands for peace and stability, yellow for the country's resources, and crimson for past battles; the shield and spears symbolise protection from enemies, and the shield's black-and-white colouring is said to represent the peaceful coexistence of Black and white residents.

Sources