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![[Variant]](../misc/fis_vari.gif){kind=small}
1:2
image by Željko Heimer,
30 Nov 2003
The green represents Country's vegetation and land resources. The yellow
represents the country's mineral wealth. The red represents the blood spilt
during the liberation struggle. Black represents the black majority. The
Zimbabwe Bird is the National Emblem of Zimbabwe. The white triangle stands for peace
and the "way forward". The Red Star stands for internationalism (and reflects the
ruling party's socialist credentials).
Željko Heimer, 19 Nov 1995 and Bruce Berry, 20 Nov 1995
A leaflet from the Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, Causeway,
Zimbabwe (Printed by the Government Printer, Harare) in July 1983 gives the
following explanation for the colours and symbols of the Zimbabwean flag:
Page 1 shows the flag (with irregular star!) and page 2 provides a graphical explanation of the
various elements of the flag:
black stripe - for the black majority.
red stripe - blood spilled during the armed struggle.
yellow stripe - the country's mineral wealth.
green stripe - the vegetation and agriculture.
white triangle - peace.
red star - the nation's aspirations.
yellow bird - the national emblem.
Željko Heimer, 02 May 2004
The colours of the flag of Zimbabwe are based on those of the flag of the
ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union
(Patriotic Front ) (ZANU(PF). The party flag has a central panel of
black. This was bordered outwards to the edge by rings of red, yellow and green.
If you look at the order of the stripes on the Zimbabwe flag, you will see that
they follow this same sequence.
The white triangle is for peace. The red star is for socialism. The Zimbabwe
Bird is the national emblem.
Michael Faul, 24 Apr 2008
Great website! I am Zimbabwean and always wanted to know who designed our flag.
Mahendra Keshav, 23 Apr 2008
The Flag Bulletin (XX:1) states that the design of the new Zimbabwe flag
"was submitted by a government independence celebrations committee headed by Mr
Richard Hove, the Minister of Public Works". According to a letter sent to
the Flag Research Center by Flight Lieutenant Cederic Herbert of the then
Rhodesian Air Force (and a member of the
Rhodesian Heraldry & Genealogy Society), the initial design did not include the
Zimbabwe Bird, and that this "was added [to the design] after
I had pointed out its uniqueness and history". So while Mr Herbert
influenced the final design, it cannot be said that he is the actual designer
has been previously mentioned.
The same Flag Bulletin article reported that on 25 March 1980, the then Prime
Minister-elect (later President), Robert Mugabe saw and approved the final
design which was made public the following
day.
Bruce Berry, 25 Apr 2008
Presidential Order No. 16 of 1980 subsequently enacted as the Flag of
Zimbabwe Act (Act 22/1985) is as follows:
An Act to provide for the design of the Flag of Zimbabwe and for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.
[Date of commencement: 18th April, 1980.]
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Flag of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 10:10].
2 Interpretation
In this Act -
"Flag" means the Flag of Zimbabwe referred to in section three;
"Minister" means the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time to
time, assign the administration of the Act.
3 Design of Flag of Zimbabwe
The Flag of Zimbabwe shall be as depicted and described in the Schedule.
4 Deposit of Flag in National Archives
The Minister shall cause a copy of the Flag to be prepared and deposited in the National Archives established in terms of the
National Archives of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 25:06].
5 Regulations
(1) The President may make such regulations as he considers necessary or
convenient for the purpose of protecting the Flag from any use or
application which, in his opinion, is improper.
(2) Regulations made in terms of subsection (1) may provide regulation, control, restriction or prohibition of -
(a) the importation, manufacture, sale, loan, use, possession, wearing or display of the Flag or any reproduction or likeness thereof;
(b) the application to, or use on, any matter or thing whatsoever of the Flag or any reproduction or likeness thereof.
(3) Regulations made in terms of subsection (1) may provide penalties for any contravention thereof, including the forfeiture of any matter
or thing in respect of which or in connection with which the contravention occurred:
Providing that no such penalty, excluding such forfeiture, shall exceed a fine of two thousand dollars or
imprisonment for a period of two years or both such fine and such imprisonment.
6 Protection of the Flag
Any person who burns, mutilates or otherwise insults the Flag or a flag which resembles or is intended to resemble the Flag or any
reproduction thereof, in circumstances which are calculated or likely to show disrespect, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.
SCHEDULE (Section 3)
FLAG OF ZIMBABWE
[[picture of the flag]]
Description of the Flag:
Vert, on a fess gules, fimbriated by two bars to form a bar sable, issuant from dexter a pile argent fimbriated sable charged with a
Molet of five points gules debruised by a representation of the Great Zimbabwe Bird.
The Zimbabwe National Flag is thus a seven striped flag of equal horizontal stripes of green-yellow-red-
black-red-yellow-green with a black fimbriated white triangle at hoist containing a red five-pointed star and the yellow Great
Zimbabwe bird in proportions or 1:2.
Željko Heimer, 30 Nov 2003
image by Željko Heimer,
30 Nov 2003
Attached to the Act I have received from Christopher Southworth is a coloured drawing of the flag (larger then the one in the actual Schedule), with construction lines dawn into it, but with no figures. I believe that this is not a part of the official document, but somebody's (possibly William Crampton's?) study of the flag. Anyway, from this Chris got the construction details which I have interpreted as follows:
Seven equal horizontal stripes 18 units each in 1:2 flag, i.e. 126 x 252 units.
The white triangle is isosceles with base at hoist and height of 84 units. It is fimbriated outside this toward fly with black stripe
with a width of 3 units. This fimbriation merges with the central black stripe.
The Great Zimbabwe Bird emblem is 40 units long and 46 units high. The distance from hoist to the emblem is 16 units, from top 36 units
(and then from bottom is 44 units). The star is constructed with a center in a point 34 units from hoist
on the horizontal median.
The star is constructed with the help of four imaginary concentric circles (with center in the point described above) with radii of 32,
27.5, 16 and 13 units. If one numbers the points (including the "inner points") with number 1 though 10, where 1 is the topmost point
and proceeding clockwise (well, the orientation is of no matter there since the star is vertically
symmetrical) then the points are on the
radii as follows 1:32, 2:16, 3:32, 4:13, 5:27.5, 6:13, 7:27.5, 8:13, 9:32, 10:16, each being 36 degrees from the other.
While there is the black fimbriation on the bird, there is no black lines outlining the red star.
The most important thing to note here is that the red star is not a regular one, but has rays of various length, as shall be seen from
the construction sheet.
Željko Heimer, 30 Nov 2003
star.gif)
image by Željko Heimer,
30 Nov 2003
The copy of the Zimbabwe Flag Act sent to Željko was taken from the Flag Institute files, but the
colour picture was obtained later. I'm afraid that the scribbles on it are mine
and not William Crampton's, so any errors drawn from them are down to me.
Christopher Southworth, 30 Nov 2003
photo.jpg)
sent by Jaume
Olle, 30 Nov 2003
The photo of the flag in the picture with President Mugabe shows the star and
Bird with different specifications to that in the construction sheet (outlined
above).
Jaume Olle, 30 Nov 2003
Checking the Shipmate flag chart made under the auspices of the Flag Research
Centre, it seems to me that it also has the irregular star. On the other hand, Graham Bartram's
site shows the regular star.
Željko Heimer, 01 Dec 2003
This leads us into the de facto versus de jure nature of flags, flag design
and specifications. This question over the official star design could probably be answered best by a flag manufacturer in Harare.
I do know that at least two, if not three, major US manufacturers use flags with the star design shown in Jaume's photo.
Paige Herring, 02 Dec 2003
I don't think that it can be any secret that I'm firmly on the side of de
jure when it comes to specifying flags, but that aside, I'm afraid that I must disagree quite strongly with Paige over the above suggestion.
No disrespect to flag manufacturers whatsoever, but it seems to me that they quite often rely on the committed and experienced vexillologist to provide
them with information (which is as it should be), rather than the other way around? On the other hand, I would suggest that one question which could
quite properly be asked of the flag manufacturers in Harare is - 'do you have any official information which post-dates that in our possession', but
I would also suggest that this is a question which is far better directed to the Government department concerned?
Again with no disrespect intended to either flag manufacturers (or indeed to Paige), but I would think that the
majority of equally reputable British flag manufacturers also show the flag of
Zimbabwe with an even star (I am
only certain of one), but this still makes it incorrect according to the only
official information we have.
Christopher Southworth, 03 Dec 2003
I have a Zimbabwe flag made in the 1980s by William Smith & Gourock, a Harare flag maker which supplied flags to the
government. The star on that flag is the more standard shape (as used on US flags), not the broad star shown in Željko's
schematic.
Devereaux Cannon, 03 Dec 2003
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics
(Flags and Anthems Manual, London, 2012 [bib-lna.html])
provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each National Olympic
Committee was sent an image of their flag, including the PMS shades, by the
London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) for their approval.
Once this was obtained, the LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for
further approval. So, while these specifications may not be the official,
government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the National Olympic
Committee believed their flag to be.
For Zimbabwe : PMS 355 green, 102 yellow, 032 red and black. The vertical flag
is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner,
10 Oct 2012
zbird.gif)
image by
Martin Grieve, 03 June 2005
The Great Zimbabwe Bird is the national emblem of Zimbabwe. It is found on the country's coat of arms, banknotes and coins. It is used by the national sports teams and is part of numerous badges and logos of various institutions and organisations. As Martin points out, the design of the Bird is not always exactly the same as seen from the flag specifications, the version on the currency and on the coat of arms etc. An example of a variation in the design is that used as the fin flash for the Air Force of Zimbabwe as shown below.
image by
Željko Heimer, 01 Dec 2003
The origin of the emblem are a number of soapstone carvings found at the Great
Zimbabwe Ruins. The ruins are an Iron Age site 27km south-east of
the town of Masvingo in the centre of the country and is the remains of a town
built between 1200 and 1450 AD. The word 'zimbabwe' is derived from the Shona
words dzimba dza mabwe and means "house of stone". Archaeologists and
historians believe that from the 13th to 15th centuries Great Zimbabwe was the
capital of a large area in southern Africa. Throughout the area there are
a number of smaller but similar ruins.
Bruce Berry, 04 June 2005
Great Zimbabwe National monument was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage
List, with the following notice.
The ruins of Great Zimbabwe – the capital of the Queen of Sheba, according to an
age-old legend – are a unique testimony to the Bantu civilization of the Shona
between the 11th and 15th centuries. The city, which covers an area of nearly 80
ha, was an important trading centre and was renowned from the Middle Ages
onwards.
The Great Enclosure, which has the form of an ellipsis, is located to the south
of the hills and dates to the 14th century. It was built of cut granite blocks,
laid in regular courses, and contains a series of daga-hut living quarters, a
community area, and a narrow passage leading to a high conical tower. The bricks
(daga) were made from a mixture of granitic sand and clay. Huts were built
within the stone enclosure walls; inside each community area other walls mark
off each family's area, generally comprising a kitchen, two living huts and a
court.
Ivan Sache, 08 Apr 2017
bird1.jpg)
bird2.jpg)
sent by J. Patrick Fischer, 16 Dec 2005
I was in Zimbabwe in 1998 and was looking in Harare for a national flag. I
found a big flag manufacturer and was lucky to find flags of good quality. As
there has been a long discussion on what the Zimbabwean bird looks like, here is
a photo of my Zimbabwean flag. I added a stone copy of the sculptures which were
the origin of this national symbol.
J. Patrick Fischer, 16 Dec 2005
image by
Željko Heimer, 18 Dec 2005
Thanks for the photos, the original stone bird does look interesting
while the photo of the flag enables me to redraw the bird and the star.
According to my assessment from the photo and using the overall size
of the flag as 126 x 252 as we have in our previous construction sheets
for comparison, the star is inscribed in a circle with diameter
about 60 units and its center slightly moved upwards (3 units). The
bird dimensions are approximately 27x36 units, center of this square being about 3
units toward the fly from the center of the circle.
Željko Heimer, 18 Dec 2005
I must confess to never having seen a Zimbabwean national flag with
writing on it. Seems it was a once off for that particular ceremony.
Bruce Berry, 21 Aug 2002
![[CoA of Zimbabwe]](../images/z/zw-coa.gif)
image sent by Dov Gutterman, 26 Mar 1999; adopted:
21 September 1981
The green shield represents the fertility of our soil while the blue
and white wavy lines symbolise the water which brings prosperity. The representation
of Great Zimbabwe stands for the historical heritage of the nation. The
rifle and hoe represent the transition from war to peace. The wreath is
formed of twisted strips of gold and green silk, and represents the mining
and agricultural enterprise which protects our national economy. This supports
the crest in which the star is an ancient symbol of hope for the future,
tinctured red to remind us of the suffering of all our peoples and the
need to avoid any recurrence of that suffering. The star bears the
Great
Zimbabwe Bird which has become our distinctive national emblem. The kudu
in their natural colours display a harmonious blend of black, white and
brown which may be taken to symbolise the unity of purpose of the various
ethnic groups which comprise the people of this country. The earthen mound
bears the plants which give food and clothing to the people and the motto
reminds us of our need to maintain a desire for national unity and the
will to work, in order to preserve the freedom which we enjoy.
Dov Gutterman, 26 Mar 1999
There was no new Coat of Arms adopted during the Zimbabwe Rhodesia period
(June 1979 to Dec 1979) or during interim period between Dec
1979 and Apr 1980 when the country returned to its former status as a British
Colony. The Rhodesian Coat of Arms (found in the centre of the
Rhodesian flag) continued to be used until 12 September
1981 when the new Zimbabwe Arms were adopted. The heraldic description of
the blazon is as follows:
Arms: Vert, a representation of a portion of the Great Zimbabwe proper,
on a chief argent seven pallets wavy Azure. behind the shield are placed
in saltire an agricultural hoe, blade pointed Dexter and an AK 47 automatic
rifle in bend sinister, foresight uppermost, all proper.
Crest: On a wreath Or and Vert a mullet Gules debruised by a representation
of the Great Zimbabwe Bird Or.
Supporters: On either side a kudu proper upon an earthen mound adorned
with stalks of wheat, a cotton boll and a head of maize, all proper.
Motto: Unity, Freedom, Work
Bruce Berry, 29 Mar 1999