Coat of arms and flag of Tanzania: description and meaning of state symbols

Tanzania is an African country in the eastern part of the continent. The state has two capitals, and in its history managed to visit the colony of Germany and Great Britain. What is Tanzania? The flag and the coat of arms of the country are able to fully tell about this.

Coat of Arms of Tanzania

One of the main official symbols of the country reflects its geographical features, and also refers to its history. The coat of arms of the shield is atypical for traditional heraldry. Usually use the French or, for example, the English shield, but in Tanzania it is African. It was these that local warriors defended themselves.

The composition of the shield is divided into four horizontal areas. On the gold background of the uppermost part is a burning torch. He is a symbol of freedom and enlightenment, and the yellow background means the wealth of the earth's interior.

The next box shows the flag of Tanzania. Under it is a red area, indicating fertile soils in the country. In the lower panel of the shield, blue wavy lines are depicted on a white background, representing lakes and seas.

In the center of the shield, over four strips, a spear, a crossed ax and a hoe are depicted. The spear symbolizes the struggle for freedom, the protection of the state, and the tools designate the agriculture that forms the basis of the local economy.

At the foot of the coat of arms is Mount Kilimanjaro. On both sides it is framed by the tusks of an elephant, for which a man and a woman hold. At the feet of a man is a carnation, near a woman - a bush of cotton, symbolizing the equality of the sexes. Between them is a white ribbon with the motto of the country in Swahili: Uhuru na Umoja ("Freedom and Unity").

Tanzania: flag

The national flag of the republic was adopted in 1964. The flag of Tanzania is a rectangular panel, the width and length of which refer to each other as 2: 3. It combines the symbols of Zanzibar and Tanganyika. Previously, the territories were two separate colonies, and now united in one state.

The flag of Tanzania is divided by a black diagonal strip from the upper right to the lower left corner. Passing through all the cloth, it forms two triangles at the other ends of the flag. The triangle closest to the shaft is green, and the one in the lower right corner is blue. On both sides the black diagonal surrounds one yellow strip, much thinner than itself.

The green color on the flag represents the vegetation of the country. Blue symbolizes water wealth, and yellow color indicates the abundance of minerals. Black is the skin color of the local population, it refers to the people of Tanzania.

History of the flag

The flag of Tanzania changed at the same time as the political system in the state. On the territory of the country, in total, about 15 flags were changed (at different times and on different lands). During the existence of the German colony, the flag of German East Africa operated here. It consisted of a red, white and black horizontal stripes depicting a lion in the middle.

After World War I, Tanzania split. The flag of Tanganyika was red with the image of a giraffe in a white circle and a miniature of the British flag at the shaft. From 1962 to 1964, it was painted green with a black stripe in the middle, which was framed by two thin yellow bands.

Zanzibar from 1918 to 1963 existed under the flag of Great Britain. In its center was placed the emblem with a sailing vessel, on the stern of which was a red flag (the flag of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, 1861-1963). Later the flag of the republic of Zanzibar consisted of equal horizontal bands of blue, black and green colors.