Traill's Crest Loft

Those interested in the history of African countries may confirm that today's nations in Africa are relatively new in comparison to (for example) countries in Europe. European influence, for the good or the bad, can be seen throughout Africa. The republic of Angola, for example, was under rule of mainly the Portuguese for a numbers of years. The republic's flag was first hoisted on residential flag poles when it was granted independence.

It is not surprising that applied elements to the respective flag's design have much to do with the country's search for independence. In fact, the Popular Movement of Angola, an organization that sought liberation for the people of Angola, also maintains the symbols used.

Countries have many representing banners and flags, a good number of them being tricolor or bicolor flags, meaning that they display only horizontal or vertical bands in different colors. The Angolan national flag is a bicolor flag, featuring the colors red and black. For as young as this national banner may be, some seek a new national flag-design.

Called officially the Republic of Angola, this young nation is located in the central part of Africa and borders the following other nations: Namibia, the Republic of Congo and Zambia. Europeans, and especially the Portuguese, were found in the territory for some 300 years. Following the year of independence, the country experienced a dramatic and intense civil war that lasted nearly 27 years!

The so-called "National Assembly's Constitutional Commission," back in 2003, determined what the new symbols should be for the then newly proposed Angolan national flag, but also for the republic's anthem and insignia.

The red colored stripe is for the liberation struggle, the black stands for an independent black country in Africa. The machete and the cogwheel are said to symbolize the land and industrial laborers of the Angolan nation, united to help move the country forward. The gold colored star in between the two above mentioned elements stands for internationalism and advancement, the five points representing democracy, justice, liberty, progress and unity.

The last elections in the republic were held back in 2008. At that time the so-called MPLA was called out to be the winning party, having received more than eighty percent of the votes. The closest other political party had only ten percent of the votes. Even though these elections came very much welcomed, they weren't considered completely fair.

National flags have been around for a good time. Even though the concept of a national flag was a successful development of the twentieth century, there are yet a handful of world countries to implement the idea. I have yet research which countries have no national ensign. In the past, the use of banners and flags was restricted to the upper class within societies. This no longer is the case, especially since many individuals and organizations seek to create their own custom banners and flags, for use with commercial type and residential flagpoles.