flag day: out with the new - in with the old

In honor of today’s holiday, Flag Day, World Camp is highlighting the beautiful flag of Malawi.

Mutharika’s flag on left; Original flag on right

The original flag, adopted in 1964 when Malawi reached independence, featured three horizontal stripes of green, red, and black, with a red rising sun on the top black stripe.  The black represents African heritage; red, the blood of martyrs struggling for independence; and green, the land of Malawi.  The rising sun represents the dawn of hope and freedom for all of Africa.

In 2010, past president Bingu Wa Mutharika altered the Malawian flag despite much public protest.  The Mutharika administration changed the flag to feature a full white sun placed in the center of the flag, which represents the economic progress Malawi has made since independence.  The order of the colored stripes were also changed to closer resemble the Pan-African layout.

Changing the Malawian flag came at a massive cost to the country.  The Mutharika administration spent nearly 3 billion kwacha, roughly US$565,000, changing the layout of the flag.  Official stationery, new flags, stickers, and other official items distributed to embassies, offices, and the private sector had to be changed, forcing Malawi to spend unnecessary amounts of money.

One of President Joyce Banda’s first orders of business, once inaugurated, was to present a bill to Parliament requesting the Malawi flag be restored to its original post-independence design.  President Banda said “the decision to revert to the old flag was arrived upon observing that the process to change the present flag did not involve adequate national consultation and participation by Malawians.”  Parliament, agreeing with Banda, passed the bill in late May.  Now, to the joy of many Malawians, the flag is restored to its original splendor and to many, better represents the history and identity of Malawi.


Sources:
http://www.nyasatimes.com/malawi/2012/05/28/malawi-parliament-approves-to-revert-to-original-flag/
http://www.nyasatimes.com/malawi/2012/05/30/dpp-govt-blew-k3bn-on-flag-change/