ISSUE 3 March 2007
Greetings all Flag Institute members and welcome to our third edition of eFlags. As you can see we have developed our logo a bit now….at least it’s memorable! This edition seems to have developed something of an African theme growing out of the chairman’s visit to the cinema to see the ‘Last King of Scotland’ (an amazing and flesh cringing film…well worth a visit by the way). Events have also moved fast in the Institute’s development, and we hope the final section will keep you all in touch.
Please do think about coming to one of our meetings, they are great fun, ( its one of the few occasions when you can talk about flags and not face the ridicule of your family or friends!) and we have a line up of some fascinating presentations. As always any comments or suggestions would be gratefully received at [email protected] .
THE EMPEROR, THE MIGHTY WARRIOR & THE LORD OF THE ALL THE BEASTS page 2
NEW FLAG DISCOVERED page 9
FLAGS IN THE NEWS page 10
SITES OF VEXILLOGICAL INTEREST page 11
PUTTING A FACE ON FLAGS page 12
FLAG INSTITUTE EVENTS page 13
NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS page 14
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE INSTITUTE page 15
1 The Emperor, the Mighty Warrior and the Lord of All the Beasts.
The 1970s in Africa saw the rise of a number of ‘colourful’ figures in the national histories of various countries. Of course the term ‘colourful’ here is used to mean that very African blend of an eccentric figure of fun, with brutal psychopath. Buoyed up by a number of factors, a vacuum caused by rapid de-colonisation, colonial powers still wishing to wield influence, and the cold war ethos of my enemy’s enemy is my friend (to name but three); regimes were built up and then supported which made the image of the be-uniformed president for life, an almost compulsory part of African Government. In order of ascending vexillilogical interest however and towering head and shoulders about the other more common or garden dictators of the time were three individuals whose very names can still cause pain and anguish (and surprising devotion) amongst the citizens of their lands, namely Idi Amin Dada; Jean Bedel Bokassa and Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.
Amin Bokassa Mobutu
All three of these ‘gentlemen’ developed a fascination for the trappings of power. Throughout their time in power they showered medals, decorations, honours, titles, and flags upon themselves. In fact it was said of Mobutu that every time he want to war his country lost, but he was promoted, rising in rank from a mere Colonel in 1965 when he staged his first Coup, to that of a (if not the) Marshal of Zaire in 1983.
Idi Amin, the President of Uganda managed to combine the jocular with the psychopathic in ways unseen maybe since the time of the Caligula. Recently brought to life so chillingly in an Oscar winning performance by Forrest Whittaker in the film, The Last King of
2 Scotland , he was famous for appearing like a glistening Christmas tree in military uniforms bedecked with medals and decorations of dubious provenance 1. His award to himself of the Victoria Cross and the CBE. 2 must have caused Spink & Co a real headache. After a series of negotiations it appears a "Victorious Cross" medal was made, with a few subtle differences from an original Victoria Cross. For example the wording ‘for valour’ was replaced with "For Supreme Valour " and the crown lion replaced with a bust of the president himself .3
In 1977, after breaking diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom Radio Uganda solemnly read out the whole of his new title: "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular. " 4 .
It is therefore somewhat surprising that someone who spent so much time and energy on his prestige took, it appears so little thought to flags. As president of Uganda he was entitled to flag the presidential standard, adopted on 26th September 1963, in preparation for Uganda’s transition into a republic on the first anniversary of her independence, 9th October 1963. Whilst the design still appears in a number of publications there does appear to be little if any evidence of its actual use since the time of the first president Edward Mutebi Mutesa II
The flag itself is obviously a derivative of the Ugandan National flag, itself thrown together rather hurriedly using the colours of Milton Obote’s Uganda National Congress Party 5 after his surprise victory in the pre independence elections 6.
1 As a sergeant, Amin had been trained as a parachutist by the Israelis, and wore an Israeli parachutist's wings on his uniform. Howeverit is now known he failed his tests but was given the wings as a momento.
2 Conqueror of the British Empire
3 A full description of the medal can be found at: http://www.iol.ie/~coinsandmedals/Foreign.htm
4 See Obituary of Amin Patrick Keatley Monday August 18, 2003 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1020657,00.html
5 The Colours of the UNC were later changed to black red and blue following its merger with the Uganda People’s Congress to form the Ugandan Peoples Congress party, see: http://www.upcparty.net/constitution/index.htm
6 The Ugandan Democratic Party won the most seats, but Obote negotiated a surprise alliance with the Bugandan Royalist party Kabaka Yekka . Which would see him as prime minister and the Bugandan King as president.
3
The previous blue green and yellow designed flag being in the ‘wrong party colours’. Obote was alleged to have said on seeing the design ‘I’ll be buggered if I’m saluting that!’.
Maybe it was only at the end that Amin embraced the joys of vexillology, the Chinese Xinhua News agency reporting that as he fled Kampala he took with him the original drawings of the National Flag, emblem and coat of arms 7
Jean Bedel Bokassa went one step further than Amin, realizing that the only way up from ‘President for Life’ was to be declared Emperor of a newly established Central African Empire. The new imperial show of vain-glory outshone even the antics of Amin, culminating on 4th December 1977 in a lavish Napoleonic style coronation 8 in the national stadium which cost the impoverished country a quarter of its GDP, over $20m. The pomp and circumstance 9 included a 32-lb. coronation robe covered with 785,000 pearls and 1,220,000 crystal beads and what was joking referred to as the longest train in Central Africa and an
7 Source: the Chinese agency Xinhua (16 January 2005) (in French).
8 For description of event see description from Time Magazine Archives: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945849-1,00.html
9 A video of the coronation ceremony can be found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tat5fTdidRw
4 Imperial crown topped with a 138-carat diamond which alone cost $2m.
Exactly a year before hand on 4 December 1976, a new Constitution was promulgated replacing the Central African Revolution Council with an Imperial Government. And the Life President was proclaimed as Emperor Bokassa I. Symbols were obvious on his mind as the opening articles of the new constitution read:
Art. 1. "... The emblem of Emperor Bokassa the First is the Eagle inside a Sun…..”
Art. 3. "The emblem of the Central African Empire is the flag made of 4-horizontal strips (blue-white-green-yellow) crossed at right angles on its half by a same sized strip in red and in the inside-upper hoist there is a yellow five pointed star."
As Bokassa spent the days before his great jamboree holed up in the now newly Imperial Palace he watched footage of Queen Elizabeth II‘s coronation and it seems, no detail was overlooked, to enhance the Imperial majesty of the New Emperor.
As president Bokassa had inherited a presidential standard, which following French colonial tradition of in reality being the National flag with a heavily fringed border. The New Emperor looked to his hero and fellow military commander turner royal, Napoleon Bonaparte for inspiration. Bokassa’s new Imperial Standard was to be green, Napoleon’s favourite colour, bedecked by an imperial eagle and the sun from the taken from the arms of the state all described in article one of the imperial constitution.
Likewise there appeared to be a wide use of the imperial monogram ‘B’ modelled no doubt on Napoleon’s use of the letter N. It can be
5 clearly seen as a background decoration in the film 10 of the coronation, and in an even more elaborate form combined with an eagle as the head rest of his chair at the banquet following the coronation
This however was not the Emperor’s first encounter into the world of Vexillography during 1976. Earlier in the summer in an attempt to bolster much needed economic aid, Bokassa flirted briefly with Islam as a sop towards a new open purse, in the guise of Libya’s Colonel Gadaffi. Indeed during a visit to Central Africa by the Colonel on 17th October 1976 Bokassa and his cabinet very publicly converted to Islam, Bokassa adopting the Islamic name of Salah el Din Ahmed. And to mimic Libya, he created a 31-member Central African Revolution Council with himself modestly named as For-Life-President of the Republic, For-Life-President of the MESAN (the sole political party), President of the Revolution Council and Supreme Chief of Central African Army. 11 He further went on to announce that in future the National flag would feature a crescent next to the star.
SUGGESTED FLAGS FOR THE STILLBORN ISLAMIC STATE OF CENTRAL AFRICAN
After Gadaffi departed on 20th October, senior government figures undertook to design a new national flag 12 , reflecting both their new faith and their new paymaster’s recently adopted plain green national flag. Some unconfirmed media sources even reported this new flag as having been definitively adopted 13 . However it seems that once Ghadafi’s money was safely in the bank (presumably in Switzerland!) this dalliance with Islam stopped and Bokassa returned to his grander schemes….. it was a mere 6 weeks later that the Empire was proclaimed.
10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq4btS3GK2k
11 1976-year Journal Officiel de la Republique Centrafricaine as researched by Juan Fandos FOTW
12 A green field, yellow crescent and star in lower fly, yellow over white canton.
13 Le Soir 9 th December 1976 and Horizont (East Berlin) No 45 (1976) p 21
6
When it came to flags however the leader of the pack was without doubt Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo from the time of his bloodless coup in 1965 to his overthrow in 1996. Most famous for his leopard skin hats and thick rimmed glasses.
Under his rule the country underwent an ‘Africanisation’ changing its name from Congo, to Zaire (the local name for the Congo River). Western dress and names were banned in penalty of hefty fines or imprisonment. Culminating in Mobutu himself changing his name in 1972 to Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga translated as "The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake".
In 1971 a new national flag was very much part of this ‘Africanisation’. The existing flag, although only adopted in 1963 was in its design a reflection or development of the original Congo Free State
1877- 1960 1960 – 1963 1963-1971
National Flags of Congo 1877 -1971
created as part of the Scramble for Africa in the 1870s. When the great powers could not decide who should get the Congo basin, and so they compromised on a theoretically independence state ruled by the inoffensive King of the Belgians. Of course what later transpired was to make the Free State a by-word for cruelty and mismanagement. The original 1877 flag was reputedly designed by the explorer H.M. Stanley, with the explanation of its symbolism as the light of civilization (i.e., the star) shining in the darkness of Africa.
7 The new flag of the new Zaire carried on this theme but Africanized it, using a burning torch held by a black arm in place of the star And the by then famous pan African colours of red yellow green and black. It may well have been that Mobutu was rarely seen in anything as ‘unafrican’ as a peaked cap and gold braid, but when it came to personal flags, it appears that he had one for every occasion. Three are known to have existed.
The archives of the Flag Institute reveal a set of drawings produced by the famous flag artist Lucien Phillipe, following his sighting of a series of photographs from a Belgian flag manufacturer’s stores. Three designs specifically to represent for Mobuto himself in various capacities. Each was manufactures in two sizes, a flagpole sized 1.35m x 1.6m and car flags sized 20cm x 30cm gold fringing.
The most famous, or at least most frequently illustrated is comprising a red field containing the national arms and gold out lined images of a battleship, a French AMX-13 tank and Mirage Jet. Whilst this is often described as the presidential flag of the republic of Zaire it is in truth better described as the flag of the Commander in Chief of the Zairean Armed Forces.
The personal flag of the president himself was another red flag but this time embroidered with a naturally coloured leopard. After all what else could sum up the mighty warrior and his trademark hat?
8
And finally following his promotion to Marshal of Zaire in 1983 a new rank flag was created. No doubt for those annoying social occasions when he wanted people to realize he wasn’t just any old Commander in Chief but a Field Marshal as well. It is needless to say that in the end all three men were removed from office, to great rejoicing of their citizens, Amin and Bokassa in 1979 and Mobutu in 1997. And at that time all the vexillilogical developments they had so painstaking worked at were consigned to the dustbin of history JTPH ______
Bibliography & Reference The Flag Bulletin XVII:2 FOTW Website Archives of the William Crampton Library Flags across the World and through the Ages. W Smith The Flag Institute Bulletin 001
New Flag Discovered
Presidential Standard of Rwanda
‘Exhaustive’ examination of the internet has shown that President Paul Kagame is in the habit of using a presidential standard. The design appears to be a white flag with the state arms in colour in the centre. No date is know for its introduction.
His website is fascinating from a vexillogical perspective, wherever Paul goes, flags are sure to follow:
For example:
Tanzania Presidential Standard Zanzibar Presidential Standard Ethiopian National Flag
9 Flags in the News
A round up of amusing, informative or interesting flag related news stories that have hit the headlines from around the world over the last quarter. Hit the links to read the report:
Australia: Flag fever grips Australia http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/970173
Australia: Fly your Aussie Flag http://www.news.com.au:80/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21095817-5001021,00.html
Bulgaria: Bulgaria, EU Flags Raised at Festive Ceremony http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=74807
Cayman Islands: MLA calls for more Cayman flag waving http://www.caymannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000092/009207.htm
Fiji: Sukanaivalu wants every school to have flag raising ceremonies http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_35703.shtml
Hungary: Right-wing party adopts historical Hungarian flag now linked to WWII pro-Nazi regime http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/11/europe/EU_GEN_Hungary_Arpad_Stripes.php
Israel: Palestinian flags at PM's residence for first time http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3343770,00.html
Kosovo: Almost independent, Kosovo seeks flag, anthem http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200848.html
Kosovo : leader wants independence now http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/998229.stm
Kosovo: The New Flag of Kosovo http://www.huliq.com/9736/kosovas-new-flag
New Zealand: Request to fly Maori flag on harbour bridge denied http://www.stuff.co.nz/3946091a11.html
New Zealand : New Hope for Maori Flag http://www.thewest.com.au:80/default.aspx?MenuID=29&ContentID=20752
New Zealand: Unite Union Flies Maori Flag in Queen Street http://www.scoop.co.nz:80/stories/PO0702/S00064.htm
10 New Zealand: Images: The Maori Flag Flies On Waitangi Day http://www.scoop.co.nz:80/stories/PO0702/S00080.htm
Palestine: Hamas and Fatah feud over flag and blasphemy http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467732720&pagename=JPost%2FJPArtic le%2FShowFull
Romania: Bulgaria to Join Romania in Hoisting EU Flag http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=74769
Russia: Krasnoyarsk Territory may change emblem and flag
http://english.newslab.ru:80/news/211237
Sealand: World's tiniest country seeks new owners to fly the flag http://www.timesonline.co.uk:80/article/0,,2-2536497,00.html
UK: Leader's bid to fly the flag for Britain http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1933090&SectionID=84 5
USA: Vietnamese seeking flag affirmation http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/200481
USA: Stars and Strife: Flag Rule Splits Town http://www.nytimes.com:80/2006/12/18/us/18english.html?ex=1167109200&en=50fbe9 826cf1fdb1&ei=5070&emc=eta1
and finally…….
Flag concern over new Southern Cross stars http://www.stuff.co.nz:80/stuff/dailynews/3954255a10.html
SITES OF VEXILLOGICAL INTEREST – HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERNET
CARIBBEAN METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION images of flag http://www.caricom.org/featured_photogallery.jsp
Bosnia: Official text of court Ruling banning Arms of constitute republics (in Bosnian) http://www.ccbh.ba/bos/press/index.php?pid=1365&sta=3&pkat=125
11 Bosnia: Pictures of Arms being removed from state offices as a result of new laws (in Bosnian) http://www.bljesak.info/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=41151
Website of Byelorussian Opposition in exile giving information on historic symbols of Belarus http://www.belarusguide.com/as/history/pahonia.html
A discussion on what should be included on a flag of independent Kosovo (in French) http://balkans.courriers.info/article7654.html
KUMEYAAY SOVEREIGNTY DEPARTMENT http://www.kumeyaay.info:80/sovereignty/
Ruthenians in Serbia (in Serbo-Croatian!) http://www.ruthenpress.info/simvoli.htm
Myanmar National Flag and Emblem http://www.myanmars.net/myanmar/myanmar-flag-emblem.htm
Ukraine: Editorial on 15 th Anniversary of adoption with outline history http://en.for-ua.com/blog/2007/01/29/164058.html
A collection of flag images of former independent states http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_formerly_independent_states
Putting a face on flags: Biographies of Flag Institute personalities
Number 3: The Chief Vexillologist: Graham Bartram FFI
Graham Bartram is a wearer of many vexillogical hats, being the Chief Vexillologist of the Flag Institute, Secretary-General for Congresses of FIAV (Federation internationale des associations vexilloloigiques) and the webmaster of the World Flag Database.
Scottish by birth, Graham’s interest in flags developed from a childhood spent in Accra, Ghana. Probably best known for his book British Flags and Emblems , he is also a principal advisor to the Royal Household and HM Government on flag design and protocol.
12 Flag Institute Events:
THE SUMMER MEETING OF THE FLAG INSTITUTE
The Summer Meeting is being held in London at the Naval Club, 38 Hill Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5NS (020 7493 7672). The Club is located near to Piccadilly, Grosvenor and Berkeley Squares. The meeting will be in the Cunliffe-Owen Room on the 2nd floor (lift available). Coffee will be served from 10:00am with the meeting starting at 10:30am. There will be a charge of £5.00 to cover morning coffee, a sandwich lunch and afternoon tea.
There will be talks on variety of subjects, including ‘Selling flags on Ebay’, ‘The use of internet auction sites as a vexillilogical research tool’; ‘The future for New Zealand’s flag’ The manufacture of military colours. There will also be an opportunity for members to show items from their own collections. After the meeting there will be an informal dinner at the nearby Holiday Inn Hotel costing about £20 plus wine.
There will be a Council Meeting on the Friday evening, also at the Naval Club, starting at 7:30pm. This will be held in the Sargeant Room.
To register for the meeting fill in the form on the website .
ACCOMODATION The Naval Club offers a variety of accommodation, much of which has been refurbished recently. The room rates, including breakfast, are: Room type Fri Night Sat or Sun Night Special weekend rate Single w/shower £100.00 £80.00 £135.00 Single w/basin £75.00 £64.00 £110.00 New single w/basin £95.00 £80.00 £130.00 Superior single £110.00 £92.00 £145.00 Large twin £150.00 £124.00 £200.00
To book a room at the Naval Club (only) call John Sønderskov, the Club’s Functions Manager, on 020 7493 7672, referring to the Flag Institute.
Of course being in central London there are many other hotels nearby: The Ibis London Euston (020 7388 7777) - from £75 per night, room only. The Premier Travel Inn Euston (0870 238 3301) - from £75 per night, room only. The Premier Travel Inn King’s Cross St Pancras (0870 990 6414) - from £75 per night, room only.
13 Advance notice of Dates for your diary
11 th October 2007 7:30pm The 2 nd Annual Perrin Lecture: ‘The history of the Royal Banner’ – Naval Club, London
24 th November AGM, Banbury Museum
New Council Members
It was with great sadness that the last AGM heard that both Simon Bennett, our Treasurer, and Doug Southern, our Membership Secretary, did not wish to stand for the council again. Recent developments had made it difficult for either of them to devote the time and energy to their roles which they believed was required. The Institute is sadden by this but understands, and would like to thank publicly both Simon and Doug for the sterling and meticulous work that they have done for the Institute, and we wish them well in the future.
The AGM passed a resolution authorizing the council to take such actions as were necessary to organize the institute in the light of the situation. Hence an element of ‘reshuffle’ and reorganization has taken place:
Mike Kearsley has agreed to take over the role of Membership Secretary, concentrating on recruitment and marketing. John Ford has agreed to join the Council, taking over Mike’s role as Secretary. John Hall has agreed to take over the Treasurer’s portfolio until a permanent replacement can be found.
Added to which to help with the growing day to-day administration of the Institute. Mrs Lyn Fisher has been employed to be an Administrative Assistant handling membership subscriptions and renewals.
It was also decided so as to simplify matter as much as possible that in future the Institute would use a central postal address for all is correspondence. Hence it has been decided to use the Flag Institute’s London HQ, the Naval Club, as the central mailing address. So please send any membership renewals to:
The Flag Institute, 38 Hill Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5NS.
These arrangements will be monitored for the next year to ensure that they are working satisfactorily, but in the meantime we wish our new Council members and staff all the best in their new roles.
14
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE FLAG INSTITUTE
The Flag Institute’s postal address is: The Flag Institute, 38 Hill Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5NS.
The William Crampton Library’s postal address is: The Flag Institute, Room 16, Hull Business Centre, Guildhall Road, Hull HU1 1HJ
Officers and staff can be contacted via the main postal address or the following email addresses:
President : Malcolm Farrow OBE FFI RN [email protected]
Vice-Presidents: David Lister, Bruce Nicolls FFI, Hugh Witherow [email protected]
Chairman (including enquiries about meetings): John Hall FFI [email protected]
Secretary (minutes and administration): John Ford [email protected]
Chief Vexillologist (flag inquiries): Graham Bartram FFI [email protected]
Membership Secretary (enquiries about membership): Mike Kearsley [email protected]
Treasurer: John Hall FFI [email protected]
Editor of Flagmaster : Michael Faul FFI [email protected]
Librarian (enquiries about the Library’s holdings, donations) and Assistant Editor of Flagmaster : Ian Sumner FFI [email protected]
Webmaster: Colin Dobson [email protected]
Administrator: Lynn Fisher [email protected]
Other members of the Flag Institute Council: Robin Ashburner FFIAV FFI [email protected] Tam Fowler [email protected]
15