Flag of Eswatini

The flag of Eswatini was adopted on 6 October 1968 after Eswatini gained its independence from the United Kingdom one month before. The design by King Sobhuza II features a black and white shield called the Nguni shield, with a staff and two spears, on a field of blue, yellow, and red horizontal bands.

The flag is rectangular with length and breadth in a ratio of 3:2 respectively. The red stands for past battles, the blue for peace and stability, and the yellow for the resources of Eswatini. The central focus of the flag is a Nguni shield and two spears, symbolising protection from the country's enemies. Its colour is meant to show that white and black people live in peaceful coexistence in Eswatini. The flag has five horizontal stripes — two blue stripes at the top and bottom while the center stripe is red, and two thin yellow stripes border the red stripe. On the red stripe is an ox hide combat shield from the traditional Swazi Emabutfo Regiment, laid horizontally. The shield is reinforced by a staff from which hangs injobo tassels — bunches of feathers of the widowbird and the lourie, which are only used by the king – and two assegais above it. In 2011, some versions of the flag began using black for the colour of the tassels to match the widowbird's natural colour. The flag has a variant with lighter shades described by the government's visual identity manual and regularly used on the government's website and other social medias. Sometimes, a variant with black tassels and…