Flag of Eswatini

What the flag of Eswatini looks like

The flag of Eswatini is divided into five horizontal bands. A wide red band runs through the middle and is flanked by thin yellow stripes, which are in turn bordered by a blue band at the top and another at the bottom. The proportions are 3:2.

On the red band sits the emblem: a large Nguni shield laid horizontally on the red band, in black and white. It is reinforced by a staff from which hang tassels (injobo) of widowbird and lourie feathers, and two spears (assegais) lie above it. The shield is modelled on an ox-hide combat shield of a traditional Swazi regiment.

You can see the flag as a small icon in the Eswatini flag emoji, and download print-ready files from the flag download page.

Eswatini flag meaning and symbolism

The meanings most often given for the Eswatini flag are:

• Blue stands for peace and stability.
• Yellow represents the resources of the country.
• Red recalls the battles of the past.
• The black and white shield is meant to show that black and white people live together in peaceful coexistence.
• The shield and spears symbolise protection from the country's enemies.

Sources phrase these meanings slightly differently. The shield is based on the combat shield of a traditional Swazi regiment.

History of the Swaziland and Eswatini flag

The roots of the design go back to the Second World War. In 1941 King Sobhuza II presented a military flag to the Swazi Pioneer Corps, a unit of Swazi men who served with British forces. The national flag is based on that military flag, which was meant to remind the men of the nation's military traditions.

Swaziland was a British protectorate. The flag was first hoisted on 25 April 1967 and registered by the College of Arms in London on 30 October 1967. The country became independent on 6 September 1968, and the flag was officially adopted on 6 October 1968, a month after independence.

In April 2018 King Mswati III announced that the country would use its Swazi-language name, Eswatini, meaning land of the Swazis. The change was made in the 50th year of independence and was widely reported as a way to drop a colonial-era name and avoid confusion with Switzerland. The flag stayed the same. That is why people searching for the Swaziland flag and the Eswatini flag find the same design. The old flag is not a different version; only the country name changed.

Where the flag is used

The flag flies over government buildings, schools and at official events across the kingdom, including at Lobamba, the legislative and royal capital, and in Mbabane, the administrative capital. It is also raised at international events where Eswatini competes. For other African flags, see flags of Africa. Eswatini shares its borders with only two countries, Mozambique and South Africa.