Madagascar Flag

What is the Madagascar flag? The Madagascar flag consists of three equal sized stripes, one vertical and two horizontal. The vertical stripe is white, and sits on the left side of the flag. The two horizontal stripes are red and green; the red stripe is over top of the green stripe.

The flag of Madagascar is symbolic of Madagascar’s history, want for independence, and traditional classes. Red and white were used in the colors of Merina Kingdom. Queen Ranavalova III used these colors in her flag. She was the last Merina monarch before the French takeover. The colors also symbolize the Malagasy people of South East Asia, as well as represent the Indonesian flag. The green represents the Hova people, a prominent class of peasant commoners, who played a large part in helping to win the independence movement. Another way to interpret the flag Madagascar is this way. The red stripe symbolizes sovereignty. The white stripe symbolizes purity. The green stripe symbolizes hope.

Madagascar’s flag was enacted on October 14, 1958 while it was preparing a referendum on its status in the French community. Madagascar claimed independence from France on June 26, 1960 two years after it had adopted the flag. The Madagascar flag is used both nationally and civilly for its citizens.

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. The Africans and Indonesians arrived on the island some where around 2000 years ago. The Muslims came to the island in the ninth century. By the 1880’s the Merina owned nearly the entire island. In 1896, the French won against the Merina and the island became known as Malagasy. From 1946 to 1948 France defeated a rebellion killing around eighty thousand individuals. In 1960 Malagasy received independence from France. In 1972 the military ousted President Philibert Tsiranana’s rule. In 1975 Malagasy became Madagascar and President Didier Ratsiraka was elected president. In 1993, elections were held seventeen years after the previous elections, and Ratsiraka lost, but he came back to win in 1997. In 2000, storms and floods ruined Madagascar. In 2001, violence came about in the elections when Marc Ravalomanana defeated Ratsiraka.

Individuals can find Madagascar flag info, picture of Madagascar flag, Madagascar flag background, and Madagascar flag sticker on several different websites available on the internet.