Flag Challenge 139 - Voting Thread

FLAG CHALLENGE № 139: Ajabu Alama (A Wonderful Symbol)

Create a flag for an ATL sovereign/independent country of an OTL or (at least slightly) ATL version of one of the many Bantu nations of subsaharan Africa. The country's flag can come from both a pre-colonial or post-colonial period.

A few notes:
- the ATL country can be somewhat based on an OTL one (Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, etc.), but has to have a different name and different borders
- OTL South Africa's infamous "bantustans" don't count as an example, it has to be a proper independent country of its own
- avoid the pan-African tricolours if you can, they're boring and would be too parallelistic/anachronistic in most pre-20th century timelines
- please no ASB/fictional basis (e.g. Marvel Comics' Wakanda), keep it historical

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: Monday February 4th, at midnight GMT
Voting Opens: Friday February 5th
Voting Closes: Friday February 12th

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Entry no. 1 said:

The Kingdom Kingdom of Rozvi* came within a hair span of collapse in the mid-1800s. Luckly, strong leadership by their Changamire and economic alliances with the Dutch Boer Republics and British Empires for gold, copper, and cattle gave the kingdom some breathing space. Finding such great similarities between the christian religions and their own worship of Mwari (God), the Changamire Xho hired several preachers of the Anglican Church to set up schools. While not fully embracing the Anglican faith, the worship of Mwari became more structured because of its influence. A final war with Portugal in 1879 captured the southern portion of Mozambique**. As the Boer Republics felt more and more between a rock and a hard place, due to Rozvi to their north and British South Africa, they began to treat their indigenous populations even worse than OTL. Rovzi would accept many refugees fleeing the the slavery and mistreatment at the hands of the Boer Republics. While outright war has not occurred between Rozvi and the three Boer Republics, border skirmishes were a common occurrence until the Great War of 1931, when the Boer Republics and the Kingdom of Rozvi found themselves allied with the United Kingdom and France in their war with the Russian and Ottoman Empires.

Flag: The flag is a field of Royal red satin. Upon the field is a golden Sanga cross of satin which is formed by the horns of a sanga bull and vertical bar. The cross piece has an emblem with the word Mwari, the Kalanga-Rozvi word for God.

*In OTL this area would be occupied by Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique.
** Many claim the British South Africa Company had a major hand in helping the conquest along, for easier access to Rozvi metals and goods.

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Entry no. 2 said:

The Watumto ethnicity, (combination of the Swahili worlds Watu and mto meaning, river and people) are an ethnicity from modern day Tanzania that live along the Rufiji River, which is a staple and identity of their culture. They mainly live in the Pwani and Morogoro regions of Tanzania, but as mentioned before they can be found anywhere where the Rufiji river flows.

The Watumto through out history have stuck to themselves, but their have been several great political entities from this ethnivity. Mainly the Rufiji Empire spanning the entire Rufiji River and the surrounding area, and the Pwani Sultanate. Who controlled all of the modern day Pwani, Morogoro and Lindi regions.

The Watumto are a very cultured and religious people, with a deep connection to the Rufiji (and other) rivers. Water and spirituality dominate the Watumto lives. Most have embraced Islam, with a small Christian minority. There is still some who follow the old faith, called Kufuatia Mungu (God's Following). Which is comprised of Monothiestic worship and river veneration, (or thanking as the people call it, since the Watumto would praise God for giving them pure water to survive).

The flag is a combination of modern and traditional design, comprising of a wavy tricolour of yellow, green and blue. Symbolizing the sky, land and the water/river. The yellow, green and blue also stand for the heights that the Watumto can achieve, heights as high as the sky. The sturdiness and resilience of the people, like the earth. And the adaptability of the people to any situation, like water.

The symbol present in the flag, called an Ili Tambiko (Order Totem) is the first unifying symbol of the Watuwto, used by the Rufiji Empire under
Mfalme (king) Tendaji, who constructed his towns totem or monument in every conquered or assimilated settlements. It symbolized that there was orderipresent in the land and that everyone was protected or safe. Similar to the Pillar of Ashoka that was used by the Mauryan monarch, Ashoka.

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Entry no. 3 said:

The POD here is that the High Commission Territories of British Empire were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910. This led to widespread discontentment in Tswana-speaking people and continuous low-level conflict in the area. As a result, the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana was set up similarly as in OTL, but including also the inhabited southern areas of OTL Bechuanaland Protectorate (but not including most of the Kalahari Desert).

In 1990, with the demise of the apartheid regime fast approaching, the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana was allowed to hold a referendum of independence. The referendum was handily won by the pro-independence camp and the Republic of Ba-Tswana (Lefatshe la Ba-Tswana) was established.

The Republic of Ba-Tswana holds the approximate territories of OTL North-West Province of South Africa and OTL Southern, South-East and Kgatleng Districts of Botswana. It is landlocked and enclaved by South Africa, much like OTL Lesotho. It claims a large part of the Kalahari Desert that borders it's territories from the north, but those claims are not recognized by any other country.

The flag of Ba-Tswana partly reflects those claims. Upper three-fourths of the flag are purple, symbolizing the twilight before sunrise over the Kalahari. Lower one-fourth is dark yellow, symbolizing the sand of Kalahari. In the right-hand third of the flag stands a symbol of new moon, an important symbol of rebirth in Tswana mythology.

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