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Ovambo (Namibia)

by Mark Sensen

Explanation of Ovambo's flag

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Explanation of Ovambo's flag

Ovambo was the first of the "Homelands" in South West Africa to acquire its own symbols of sovereignty. A mace for the Legislative Council, arms and flag were subsequently formally adopted.
The design of the flag of Ovambo is set out in section 2 of the Ovambo Flag Act, 1973 which reads as follows:
"The Ovambo Flag shall be a flag consisting of three horizontal stripes of equal width from top to bottom of blue, white and olive-green, on which there shall appear, in the centre of the white stripe, seven vertical olive-green staves of equal measurement symmetrically arranged.
The width of the Ovambo flag shall be equal to two-thirds of its length. The width of each vertical stave shall be equal to one-twentieth of the length of the flag.
The distance between the vertical stave mutually and between the vertical staves and the blue and olive-green stripes shall be equal to half the width of the stave".
The blue in the flag is said the represent the infinity of the sky, the white stands for peace and the green for agriculture. There are seven Ovambo tribes: the Kwanyma, Ndonga, Kwambi, Ngandjera, Mbalantu, Kwaluudi and Kolonkathi-Eunda - hence the seven staves in the flag.
Ovambo was re-incorporated into Namibia at independence on 21 March 1990 and as such this flag is no longer in use.
Bruce Berry, 25 November 1998