Most flags are boring. Usually it’s just 3 random colors thrown together – and they don’t even have the decency to put a big Maple leaf on top. On the other hand, some are more unique. Two national flags feature a dragon, for example. One has a double headed eagle, and this one isn’t even a rectangle. A flag is meant to represent something about it’s country. So something crazy must be going on in Mozambique, seeing as their flag features an AK-47. The trouble is, once you have an official flag, it’s very difficult to change it. So here are some interesting nations who changed their flag.
South Africa
One of the more striking flags is South Africa’s – but until 1994, it looked like this, which to be fair, was also pretty unique. Inside the old one were 3 different mini flags – those of the UK, and two Afrikaner states that existed in the late 1800s. The first Europeans to settle in South Africa were the Dutch, whose descendants are now known as Afrikaners. As such, the 3 mini flags were chosen as a compromise between them and the British. And this was not just the flag of South Africa. Until 1990, the neighboring country of Namibia was militarily occupied by the South African government. In fact, it wasn’t even known as Namibia yet. No, it had the entirely unique name “South West Africa”. I can’t quite put my finger on why that’s a bad name for a country… I just know that it is.
But anyway, with the fall of South Africa’s apartheid system in the 1990s, they wanted a new flag, so that other ethnic groups could also be represented. What resulted was a flag with 6 colors, merging the pre-existing ones with the colors of pan Africanism. That’s why at the time of it’s introduction, it was the only national flag to have 6 colors.
North Macedonia
Almost the exact inverse of South Africa is North Macedonia, a country most people outside of Europe have never even heard of. A former state of Yugoslavia, it has since been in a diplomatic dispute with Greece. Both nation claim true inheritance to the legacy of Macedonia, the historical region once ruled over by Alexander the Great. So on gaining independence, they chose a flag bearing an ancient Macedonian symbol known as the Vergina Sun. Yes really, it’s name comes from the Greek town Vergina, where in the 1970s a group of royal tombs were excavated. And speaking of Greece, they weren’t happy about it. That symbol is strongly associated with Alexander the Great’s family, and displaying it on their flag was seen by many Greeks are provocative.
So with more urgency than anything they have done in the last thousand years, Greece actually trademarked the symbol, arguing it was theirs and theirs only. In truth, parts of both country were once part of the Macedonian kingdom – but with North Macedonia being a new nation facing poverty and uncertainty, they decided to just let Greece win this one. Macedonia caved, and ultimately changed their flag. In 1995 a new flag was designed, which when you think about it, is very similar… but also very different. It’s like if you told an AI chatbot to recreate the old one in the style of a Soviet mural. Still today they have that weird Soviet mural as their national flag, and to be honest, it’s one of my favorites, even if it was born from an entire country being bullied.
Portugal
Since 1911, this has been the Portuguese flag. Between then and 1834, Portugal had been a constitutional monarchy similar to the UK. But around the turn of the century people were growing uneasy with the status quo. Portugal’s economy was stagnant and twice she declared bankruptcy. The situation kept getting worse, until 1908 when the king and his heir were assassinated by two republican revolutionaries. Then two years later, the entire monarchy was overthrown in favor of a republic – and as per usual, a new flag was drawn up. The previous flag had just been the flag used by Portuguese monarchs, white and blue, to represent Portugal’s naval history, and the national coat of arms in center.
Much was changed in 1911. The actual proportion between the two colors for one. The crown was also removed, and added was Armillary sphere, a symbol associated with Brazil. This was a deliberate hint towards a time when Portugal was a world power, as the republicans claimed the monarchy was holding back the nation’s true potential. Speaking of which, the big change was the colors themselves. Red and green were the colors of Portugal’s republican party, and since they were in charge, they just ran with it. To be honest I prefer the old colors. Red and green isn’t a great combination. That’s why Freddy Krueger wears a red and green sweater. Director Wes Craven actually researched what color combo is most unsettling to the human eye. So yeah, Portugal should probably go back to white and blue.
Afghanistan
Some countries have changed their flag a lot more than others – And as with most things, Afghanistan is number one. In just a 102 year time span, they did it 30 times. That’s how chaotic Afghan history is. Basically it’s just a constant shift between Islamic emirates, kingdoms, dictatorships and short lived republics. There’s a reason they call Afghanistan the graveyard of empires, and their weirdly extensive collection of former flags proves this.
USA
The United States have also changed their flag a lot. The idea is they have one star per American state. So when there were only 20 states, the flag had just 20 stars. Since 1960 it has been unchanged, with Hawaii, the 50th state, being admitted in that year. 50 is a good number, and if any more American territories are ever admitted, it would just be weird. But there is a solution. If Puerto Rico were to join, for example, they could just get ride of one of the older ones. There are two states called Dakota. I’ve never understood why. There’s also a state called Rhode island – most of which is on the mainland. Any of those 3 could easily be gotten rid of.