The Kenyanflag is a horizontal tricolour with in the center an emblem. The used colors in the flag are red, green, black, white. The proportion of the Kenyan flag is 2:3. The Flag of Kenya was adopted in 1963.
The flag of Kenya (Swahili: Bendera ya Kenya) is a tricolour of black, red, and green with two white edges imposed with a red, white and black Maasai shield and two crossed spears. The flag is based on that of Kenya African National Union and was officially adopted on 12 December 1963 after Kenya‘s independence.
History
The Kenyan flag is based on the black over red over green flag of Kenya African National Union (KANU), the political party that led the fight for freedom and independence of Kenya. Upon independence, the white fimbriation, symbolising peace and unity, and the shield were added. The meaning of the colours of the flag of Kenya match closely to those of the Pan-African flag adopted by the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League in 1920.
The 2010 revised edition of the Constitution of Kenya includes specifications of the Kenyan flag. Second schedule, Article 9
Symbolism
The Kenyan flag includes symbols of unity, peace and defense of the country. The colour black represents the people of the Republic of Kenya, red for the blood shed during the fight for independence, and green for the country’s landscape and natural wealth. The white fimbriation was added later to symbolize peace and honesty. The black, red, and white traditional Maasai shield and two spears symbolise the defense of all the things mentioned above. Many of both colours and symbolic values are shared with the flag of South Sudan.
Its colours have been specified by the National Archives.
| Black | Red | Green | |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Standard Colours | — | Post office red 0-006 |
0-10 |
The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant to the United States. The Pan-African organization enjoyed its greatest strength in the 1920s, and was influential prior to Garvey’s deportation to Jamaica in 1927. After that its prestige and influence declined, but it had a strong influence on African-American history and development. The UNIA was said to be “unquestionably, the most influential anticolonial organization in Jamaica prior to 1938.” (Honor Ford-Smith)
The organization was founded to work for the advancement of people of African ancestry around the world. Its motto is “One God! One Aim! One Destiny!” and its slogan is “Africa for the Africans, at home and abroad!” The broad mission of the UNIA-ACL led to the establishment of numerous auxiliary components, among them the African Legion (a paramilitary group), the African Black Cross Nurses, plus businesses such as the Black Star Steamship Line and the Negro Factories Corporation.
