Last modified: 2014-06-14 by bruce berry
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image by Željko Heimer,
07 Apr 2002
Following a military coup which deposed the ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) government which had led the country since independence, a new flag was adopted on 17 January 1987. It is believed that the old flag was scrapped because it was identified too closely with the BNP and incorporated its colours of red, white, blue and green.
The flag was adopted on January 20, 1987 after a military coup in which the
military replaced the governing Basotho National
Party. That's why the shield and spears are included - they signify the
importance of defence.
Steve Kramer and Bruce Berry, 02 May 1996
In an article about the then new Lesotho flag in The Flag Bulletin
(XXVI:4 = 121 of 1987: p. 175) [tfb87a]
Fred Brownell, then State Herald of South Africa, and who is fluent in Sesotho and as such was able to directly
participate in the 1987 discussions leading to the design of the new Lesotho
flag, in which he was involved in an official capacity.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 04 June 2008
According to the Lesotho Government Gazette Extraordinary of 15 January 1987, the new national flag is a rectangular tricolor in proportion three by two, per bend reversed, white, blue and green, the white occupying half the surface area of the flag and charged, with the centre line one fifth of the distance from the hoist with an assegai and knobkerrie in saltire, surmounted of a traditional Basotho shield with plumed spine, all in light brown; the blue and green each occupying half the remaining surface area of the flag.
The colours of the new flag represent the three elements of the national motto:
white for peace; blue for rain and green for prosperity. It is for this reason
that the blue and green stripes are not separated even though when viewed from
a distance they merge together.
Steve Kramer and Bruce Berry, 02 May 1996
National Flag. CSW/--- 2:3
Tricolour of white blue green divided in rising
diagonal and with light brown emblem in canton.
The flag is divided along diagonal in upper white part, while the lower fly triangle is divided in
blue and green parallel to the diagonal dividing it in two equal areas. With
the flag overall ratio
2:3, this would mean that the blue stripe width would be 1/4 of the hoist size.
(at least as I figured it out, I would appreciate if
some would check that out, and possibly provide decent
mathematical explanation).
The emblem size is not quite defined, but the vertical axis is to be along line
1/5 of the flag length from the hoist.
Source: Album 2000.
Željko Heimer,
07
Apr 2002
The Lesotho Flag is based on the traditional motto of the Lesotho Nation: Khotso (Peace);
White occupies the top triangular half with diagonal traversing from left
bottom corner adjoining the hoist. Blue and green: each occupy
half the surface area of the lower triangle, in that
order. The light brown shield is situated on the white half of the flag, with
its centre line one fifth (1/5) of the distance from the hoist. Supported by an
assegai (left), a bludgeon (right), and a plumed spine (centre), it symbolises the Lesotho Nation's traditional safeguards for
peace."
Source: The Lesotho Government
Official Website.
Jarig Bakker,
11 Jun 2001
The "Shipmate Flagchart 1998",
authenticated by the Flag Research Center, shows the current Lesotho national
flag as being in proportion of 9:14.
Your various correspondents are a little unclear on the shields appearing in
the arms and current flag of
In the Tswana shield (and the one used by Qwaqwa, a
South Sotho state) the four corners stick out more or less straight, and have
their ends cut off straight. In the Sotho version they hang down slightly (more
so on the
Another characteristic that the Sotho and Tswana shields have in common is that they are normally made fairly small, maximum height 30cm, for use in stick-fighting - which is the traditional recreation of young men among both the Basotho and the abeNguni.
This is in contrast with the Nguni shield, which
although nowadays chiefly also used in stick-fighting mode,
is still to be seen in larger formats recalling their use in actual warfare.
Various Nguni dance troops (chiefly Zulu) use these
shields, most often in the style introduced by the Zulu King Shaka.
In reforming the style of warfare in his realm (in the process building a
kingdom out of his own rather small Zulu clan and the Mthethwa
confederacy, whose king had taken him under his wing), Shaka
abolished the traditional large Nguni shield, which
stood about the height of a man.
The warrior traditionally stood behind his shield while the enemy threw long
throwing spears, and then stepped out to throw his own spears - or return the
enemy's. This practice of hiding behind the shield gave rise to the Sotho
(especially North Sotho) name for the Nguni peoples: Matabele.
This means "people who hide behind large shields". The word was taken
into isiNguni as Ndebele, and came to be used for
three distinct Nguni groups: the amaNdebele
(or South Ndebele) of
In case you're not clear on the shape of the Nguni
shield, it appears in the arms of
Mike Oettle, 14 Dec 2001
I saw some interesting information about the Tswana definition of
"thebe" in your web page about
Baitsi Podisi,
23 Feb 2002
![[Variant]](../misc/fis_vari.gif){kind=small}
2:3~
image
by Željko Heimer,
07 Apr 2002
I've just been looking at the construction sheet for the
The explanation is a little tricky - the ratio of sides is 2:3.
The area of a triangle is base x height divided by 2. That is A = bh/2
The entire lower triangle (green & blue) has area
30 x 20 / 2 = 300 units.
The green alone therefore should have area of 150 units.
We want a green triangle with bh/2 = 150. We know that the base is 3/2 the size
of the height (the ratio of the flag). Therefore, with a little algebra we need
to find 3x.2x/2 = 150, where x is 1/3 of the triangle's length and also 1/2 of
its width.
3x.2x = 6x.x, so 6x.x/2 = 150.
Dividing both sides by 6/2, we find that x.x = 50.
If x squared is 50, x is a little over 7.
The sides of the green triangle are therefore three times a little over 7 by
twice a little over seven, or - to be a little more precise: 21.213 x 14.142
units.
James Dignan, 31 Aug 2003.
I am
afraid that the diagram we have on FOTW is not quite accurate. According
to official figures published in Issue No 2 of the Lesotho Government Gazette
Extraordinary Vol XXXIII dated 15 January 1987, the
flag is given as 200 x 300 units, the width of the blue stripe as 64 units
measured on the vertical, the emblem as being contained within an imaginary
rectangle of 116 units high x 90 units wide and set 15 units from the hoist and
the top of the flag.
Christopher Southworth, 31 Aug 2003
I can't
argue against this - 1/5 is indeed 6/30 and not 2/30 as I indicated it on the
gif for some reason. I
believe that I have indicated that width of the blue stripe is approximately
1/4 of the hoist size, as width is measured perpendicular to the stripe, not
along the hoist - so it would not yield 3/4 for the green! See the sheet how
the 1/4 is measured (i.e. see line indicated ~5). I am not going though
the procedure in detail, but at first glance it does seem reasonable, so it is
probably right. Now, if you indicate what would be the approximate length of
the blue edges, I could make a sheet that makes a bit more sense. (The same
procedure with a just bit more maths would provide
exact number of the width of the blue stripe, and would confirm my
"estimate" to 5).
Željko Heimer,
31 Aug 2003
I
misunderstood you to mean that the blue would have taken up 1/4 of the width of
the flag. Still, the 2 for the distance to the emblem is completely wrong (and
would be impossible to construct). The blue edges would be: along the length, 8.787; along the width
5.858; diagonally against the white, 36.056; diagonally against the green,
25.495.
James Dignan, 31 Aug 2003
![[Lesotho - 1966]](../images/l/ls-1966.gif)
| 
2:3~
image by Bruce Berry, 19 Feb 1998
The Royal Standard, illustrated in Whitney Smith's Flags through the
Ages and across the World [smi75b], had the full Arms in colour superimposed on the
white Basotho hat in the fly.
Bruce Berry, 19 Feb 1998
Whitney Smith explains the colors as: blue - sky and rain, white - peace,
green - land and red - faith. It was officially hoisted on 04 October 1966 and
was designed by Peter Hancock, a local architect. The
Royal
flag was similar, having a bit smaller hat above the states coats of
arms.
Željko Heimer, 01 May 1996
I've always seen the 1966 Lesotho flag in a lighter shade of blue.
Philippe Bondurand, 19 Feb 1998
This flag incorporates the colors of the National
Party which led Lesotho to independence and shows a traditional Basuto
hat. The constitution was suspended in 1970 when the National Party refused
to accept the victory of the opposition Congress
Party in the first post-independence elections. A military coup overthrew
the National Party régime in 1986 and the present flag was adopted
a year later. Elections subsequently brought the Congress Party to power.
Vincent Morley, 21 Feb 1998
As the designer of the original Lesotho flag, in use from 1966 to 1987,
I thought it might be of interest to know the true story of how the flag came to
be designed.
In 1965-66 I was the architect of the Prime Minister of Lesotho's new official
residence, which I called Thlako-ea-Pere (the Horseshoe), as the Basotho
pony is the national and traditional form of transport, although seldom seen
today except in the mountainous interior of Lesotho, which reaches 11 425 ft (3
482m). I was then sent drawings of various flags of newly independent
states, such as Guyana (formerly British Guiana), and told to 'draw them up',
which I did. None were accepted, but I was then sent a design which
comprised a simple large blue square, with a vertical red and green stripe on
the staff side. I looked at the design and thought it unimaginative and that it
needed some sort of motif to give it life and identity.
It was then that I thought of the Basotho hat, or
Mokorotlo, which I thought would make an excellent motif as the Basotho hat
is the traditional headgear of the Basotho people. I coloured the Basotho
hat, in the centre of the blue square, whit, like the white clouds against
the blue sky. Knowing that if the colours of the flag were red, white, blue and
green, they would be the colours of the ruling Basutoland National Party; and
the Opposition Basutoland Congress Party, would reject the design. So, to
make the flag politically neutral, I offered two alternatives - one with a red
Basotho hat and the other with a yellow Basotho hat. Having drawn the
design, I handed it to the Prime Minister's secretary who was a woman called
Sonia and a friend of mine and asked her to place the design on the Prime
Minister's desk, which she did. The next morning the phone rang
at 8 a.m. and Sonia said that the PM wanted to see me immediately.
I then went to see then the Prime Minister, Chief Leabua Jonathan, where he said
to me and I quote:
"The Cabinet is unanimous. This is the flag we shall have but the hat must
white; and here is the hat". Having said that he handed me a
Basotho hat of the type found in the Leribe district, about 60 miles (96 km)
north of Maseru (the capital) adding, "And this is the hat.... ".
I also designed the original royal standard and a new
coat of arms for the newly independent Lesotho. The
latter featured a horizontal crocodile (Kuena in Sesotho) supporting a
traditional Basotho shield, set above a drawing of Thaba Bosiu ('mountain by
night'), the mountain fortress where Moshoeshoe I established his capital on top
of the flat-topped mountain plateau, or mesa, about 20 miles (32 km) from the
present capital of Maseru. When I showed the late king of Lesotho this
design for the royal standard, which required his approval, he was polite and
acquiescent, saying "It's about the best we could have hoped for".
That, in outline is the true story of the origin and design of the first Lesotho
National flag.
Peter Hancock, 28 Feb 2012