Zimbabwe – national flag
Zimbabwe – National Flag, The flag was officially introduced in 1980. The colors originate from the Zimbabwe African National Unions, ZANU ‘s, flags and are also the Pan African. Black stands for the people, red symbolizes the blood sacrificed in the freedom struggle, yellow stands for the country’s riches, green for vegetation and agriculture. The Zimbabwean bird, which is the national emblem of the country, together with the red star represents Zimbabwe’s quest for better times and its place in the community of nations. The white triangle symbolizes peace and the country’s desire for progress.
- Countryaah: What does the flag of Zimbabwe look like? Follow this link, then you will see the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Zimbabwe – history
According to a2zgov, approximately 500,000 year old traces of people have been found in the country. San is considered to be a descendant of early residents; they were displaced by Bantu people who immigrated from the north from about 400-t. and began to exploit gold and other minerals in the area between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. The Shonas ancestors erected monumental stone structures with a technique that culminated in Great Zimbabwe near the present. Masvingo; the city was the center of a commercial kingdom that flourished from approximately 1100 and dominated large parts of the area that makes up modern Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The kingdom remained in 1400-t. split in the northern kingdom, Monomotapa, and the south, Changamire. Monomotapa was defeated by the Portuguese in the 1600’s, while Changamire survived until the 1800’s, when the kingdom was destroyed by, among other things. ndebele, another bantu who immigrated from the south in the 1830’s.
- AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world, such as ZI which represents the official name of Zimbabwe.
Lobengula, ruler of the Ndebele Empire from 1870, tried in vain to resist the British South Africa Company, led by British politician and imperialist Cecil Rhodes; the company was commissioned by the British Government in 1889 to govern the area, which in 1895 was formally named Rhodesia. In 1911 the territory was divided into Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). With the abolition of the charter of the company in 1923, white residents chose to form an autonomous colony within the British Empire, and Southern Rhodesia was formally annexed by Britain.
The number of white colonies grew rapidly, from 34,000 in 1922 to 157,000 in 1953. From 1934, a number of land laws were passed, giving white farmers 75% of the highland’s best land. The development was met by growing African resistance, especially after the 1953 merger of Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the Central African Federation, whose constitution conferred all power to the whites. In 1961, J. Nkomo founded the nationalist movement ZAPU, from which the more radical ZANU under N. Sithole and R. Mugabewas split in 1963. In response to the growing protests of the blacks, the white population in 1962 elected a government led by the newly formed, racist party Rhodesian Front. Britain dissolved the Central African Federation at the turn of the year 1963-64; Zambia and Malawi became independent while Southern Rhodesia remained a colony. In 1964, Ian Smith was elected leader of the Rhodesian Front and prime minister. He banned ZANU and ZAPU, imprisoned the leaders of the organizations, and in November 1965 he issued a unilateral declaration of independence for the country under the name of Rhodesia.
Independence was not recognized abroad, and at the British request, the United Nations adopted financial sanctions against the country, which in 1970 broke completely with the Commonwealth and declared itself a republic. However, the international sanctions were greatly undermined by South Africa and the Portuguese neighboring colonies. ZANU and ZAPU began armed struggle against the Smith regime in 1966. The struggle for freedom increased in intensity in the 1970’s as the independence movement in Mozambique, Frelimo, gained power and in 1974 gained power. In 1976, ZANU and ZAPU joined the Patriotic Front (PF), and the increasingly pressured government had to declare itself ready for change. In April 1979, a non-racial election was held, which excluded the freedom movements. Bishop Abel Muzorewas UANCwon and formed government, but only later in the year at the so-called Lancaster House negotiations came a peace deal in place. In the following free elections in February 1980, ZANU won big, and Mugabe became prime minister of the country whose independence under the name Zimbabwe was internationally recognized in April.
Mugabe initially pursued a conciliatory reconstruction policy, but it became clear that his intention was to monopolize power through a declared one-party socialist state. ZAPU received several ministerial posts, but Nkomo was excluded from the government in 1982. In 1987, Mugabe and Nkomo agreed on a merger of their parties to ZANU-PF. A simultaneous constitutional change made Mugabe president while Nkomo became minister and after the 1990 elections, when ZANU-PF won 116 out of 120 seats in parliament, vice president.
The Lancaster House agreement had prevented radical redistribution of agricultural land, but in 1992 a law was passed that allowed redistribution of part of the land owned by whites. However, Zimbabwe did not receive the promised financial support from Britain for land acquisition, and the redistribution projects proved to be both poorly planned and unprofitable. In the 1990’s, Mugabe was also met by growing opposition from the trade union movement and new political parties as well as by increased international skepticism. Zimbabwe’s economic crisis led to increasingly social unrest from 1997. The government sought to curb the unrest by allowing the displeased, organized as so-called war veterans, to occupy white-owned farms that received no compensation. The campaign accelerated in 1999 and 2000 as part of the fight against the newly formed opposition party MDC (Movement for Democratic Changes), which, based on the trade union movement, had quickly gained considerable strength. However, the proposal for a constitutional amendment to strengthen Mugabe was rejected by a referendum in February 2000. By contrast, the ruling party won the parliamentary elections in June. Zimbabwe has been involved in the war since 1998The Democratic Republic of Congo on the Kabila regime. The resulting financial strain has contributed to the greatly increased instability that continues to affect Zimbabwe. The political crisis in Zimbabwe intensified against the presidential elections in 2002 and as war veterans occupied the farms of white farmers and foreign companies. After the election, Mugabe was declared the winner with 56% of the vote. This resulted in international condemnation and several donor countries announced that they would reduce or halt aid altogether. As a result, the Danish government announced that the Danish embassy in the country would be closed and all assistance stopped. Internally, Mugabe tightened power, among other things by limiting the freedom of the press and making it impossible for white grandfather’s terms.
At the March 2006 parliamentary elections, ZANU-PF won by 59.6% of the vote; MDC got 39.5% of the vote. The MDC won the major cities and southern Zimbabwe, while the ZANU-PF won the central and northern regions, which are also the most densely populated areas. The opposition also complained about election fraud in this election, but a commission of election observers from the South African government did not support the charges. The political turmoil continued after the election and the repression of the opposition continued. At the end of 2006, ZANU-PF postponed the presidential election to 2008. At the March 2008 elections, ZANU-PF lost its absolute majority in parliament for the first time and the MDC became the largest party. At the same time, MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai struck Mugabe in the first round of the presidential election. However, Tsvangirai resigned a few days before the second round, following a series of deadly attacks on his supporters. Instead, Mugabe could now win the election without counter-candidates. It sparked fierce international criticism, accompanied by demands for Mugabe’s resignation, and the Mugabe regime’s previous partial understanding of some of its neighbors in southern Africa, not least the South African ANC government, was significantly strained. After several months of international pressure, in September Mugabe had to accept an agreement to share power with Tsvangirai and the MDC, so that Tsvangirai was given the post of Zimbabwe’s prime minister, while Mugabe’s powers as president were curtailed. After the 2013 elections, ZANU-PF again won the majority in parliament.