![[Barotseland flag]](../images/z/zm_ba.gif)
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by Dirk Schönberger, 7 Mar 2001
See also:
The flag of the Barotse, or
Lozi, who inhabit western Zambia is described in Minahan's "Nations Without
States" as being red with a broad
white diagonal stripe running from upper hoist to lower fly. The line drawing
shows the diagonal stripe as evenly centered, so that its mid-line intersects
the corners at both ends.
Ned Smith, 17 Feb 2001
Crampton's Grote Geïllustreerde
Vlaggengids, 1990, comments that the flag of the Chief of Barotseland is red with a white
elephant.
Jarig Bakker, 23 Dec 2001
It is interesting to see that Barotseland has a current flag, as well
as one dating back a century. I wonder if the Lotse realised that they
had adopted a device closely resembling the diver's flag! In the history
of Barotseland I thought I ought to correct one misspelling, and underline another point not fully brought out in your
chronology. The Sotho-speaking people who conquered them were the Kololo
or Bakololo ("ba-" is a plural-forming prefix). (This appears on your page
as Kalolo.) They were previously known by another name, but adopted the
name Kololo following a certain battle during the Difaqane (this is the
South Sotho name; in isiNguni it is called the Mfecane) - this was the
period of inter-tribal warfare in South Africa sparked off by the Zulu King Shaka's conquests,
which devastated the areas later occupied by the Afrikaner Voortrekkers. The name
Kololo appears to be the given name of a woman whose fate was closely tied
to the battle in question. Following the battle, the Kololo headed north,
eventually reaching the vicinity of the Victoria Falls. (The Falls were
not given their present name until the arrival of the Scottish missionary and
explorer, David Livingstone. The Kololo
called the Falls Mosi oa Tunya - the smoke that thunders! [The "oa" is pronounced 'wa", consistent with normal Sotho
spelling]). What is
unique about the Kololo conquest is that it is the only conquest north
of the present-day borders of South Africa that was carried out by a Sotho-speaking
group. Other Mfecane conquests were carried out in (to give the current
names of the countries) southern Mozambique, Zimbabwe, central and northern
Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi, but these were all the work of Nguni groupings.
Secondly, while the Lotse royal house regained control over the nation
following the death of the Kololo king, one major consequence of the conquest
that it could not undo was the adoption of a Sotho language (forced on
them under Kololo rule). To this day the Lotse people speak a form of Sesotho.
The tribal name is written in Zambia as Barotse, but the language was also recorded across the German border in Caprivi by German missionaries,
resulting in the spelling Lozi. (Since this is a German spelling, the Z
stands for the sound TS.). I do not know for certain why there is a distinction
between the letter R in the first spelling and L in the second, but I would imagine this
is one linguistic characteristic left over from the original Rotse/Lotse
language. This characteristic is remarked upon by South Africans as occurring
among both Zambians and Malawians: an inability to pronounce consistently
the sounds R and L as used in European languages. Like the Japanese, the
Bantu-speaking peoples of these regions use these sounds in particular
positions in the word, and to European ears they seem to be used inconsistently.
The name Malawi (given to the country) is also
found as an ethnic group's name: Maravi. Not knowing much about the sounds
in Malawian languages, I can't fully explain the differences, but I can
say that the W in Malawi (as pointed out on the page for that country,
the W carries a circumflex accent) sounds something like a V.
Finally, the Barotse king has an admiral's
uniform that is worn during an important annual ceremony. Once a year the
Zambezi rises and floods the grazing lands most used by the Barotse. The
people take to boats and convey their household goods to high-lying land
in a ceremony over which the king presides in his naval uniform.
Mike Oettle, 21 Dec 2001
According to
http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/3999551/20120402/barotseland-proclama-independenc\ia-zambia.html
Barotseland proclaimed its independence on 27 March 2012 and is to secede
from Zambia. On the page is an image of the flag of Barotseland. More
information can be found here.
Jaume Ollé, 13 April 2012
![[Barotseland 1890 flag]](../images/z/zm_b1890.gif)
image
by Chris Kretowicz, 7 Apr 2001The flag of Barotseland (from Minahan's book), indicated by Ned Smith above and drawin by Dirk Schönberger is most likely the flag of the contemporary Barotse Patriotic Front (BPF). Barotseland did have a simple, yet beautiful, flag granted at the end of XIXth century. I'm sending the image of that flag.
Chronology:
XIX Century - Kingdom of Lozi
1838 - Conquest by Kalolo (SeSotho from present-day Lesotho)
1864 - Lozi regained their independence
1890-1900 - Lewanika, Lozi Paramount Chief, signed treaties with
British South Africa Company seeking protection. (This
flag originated at this time)
1911 - Lozi Kingdom became officially a province of the Protectorate
of Northern Rhodesia with considerable autonomy.
1960s - Paramount Chief (Likunga) - Sir Mwanamina III Lewanika negotiated
accession of Barotseland to the new nation of Zambia and was assured by
Dr. Kenneth Kaunda of the preservation of the Barotseland autonomy after
Zambia's independence
1964 - Shortly after its birth, Zambia start reneging on the Barotse
Agreement causing growing oppostion to the inclusion of Barotseland into
Zambia.
1999 - Barotse Patriotic Front leader, Imasiku Mutangelwa, openly
supports rebellion of Lozi ethnic kinfolk against Namibian government in
the Caprivi Strip insinuating desire to unite all Lozi (MaLozi) people
in a separate state of Barotseland.
Chris Kretowicz, 7 Apr 2001
On reading this Barotse chronology, I saw a reference to the "Kalolo" being from present-day Lesotho. This is misleading, as present-day Lesotho takes its shape and settlement pattern from the so-called Basuto Wars fought with the Oranje Vrij Staat (Orange Free State). Within the present territory of Lesotho, only the left bank of the Caledon River was Sotho territory before the Difaqane. The mountainous regions of the present-day kingdom were Bushman territory, ignored by Sotho-speakers. The Sotho-speaking territory covered all but the south-western corner of what became the Orange Free State (the current Free State Province in South Africa). I believe it is still not certainly determined where the Kololo came from within that region, but it's safe to say that they came from the Free State, not Lesotho. Sotho-speaking people occupied stone-built villages in the central Free State from about AD 1000 until the time of the Difaqane, when the communities that lived in them were either massacred or forced to flee. The ruins of these villages have been uncovered in the second half of the 20th century.
There is a reference to the Kololo people as being SeSotho. This is
wrong on two points:
Firstly, in Sotho orthography, the ethnic name is not given a capital
letter following a prefix (in isiNguni, the ethnic name is always capped
[as in KwaZulu, or amaXhosa], but the prefix often is not).
Secondly, the word Sesotho refers to language and culture, not to people.
The people are called Basotho (or in
Botswana and South Africa's
North
West Province, Batswana). An individual Sotho is called a Mosotho. Two
prefixes are used to indicate a place or country: "le-" and "bo-". The
first prefix is used in the name Lesotho (the kingdom). The second appears
not only in Botswana, but also in Bosotho (an alternate name for Sekhukhuniland,
in the North Sotho country of the former
Lebowa homeland
of South Africa).
Arising from this discussion on prefixes, it seems that Malozi is a
misuse of a prefix, since there is probably confusion between Balotse (the
people, or more than one individual) and Molotse (an individual).
Mike Oettle, 21 Dec 2001
It is worth noting that the red flag with the white diagonal stripe is the
old flag of Barotseland (i.e. up to 1964).
John Duncan McKeekin, 02 Apr 2011
![[Lozi (?) flag]](../images/z/zm_lozi.jpg)
scan by Jarig Bakker, 23 Dec 2001On this
webpage is a small photograph of a big canoe with a triangular flag in front.
The flag is too small to identify what is on it, but it is associated with the
ceremony, named Ku-omboka, and the site has this description:
"The Ku-ombokav -
The name means "to get out of the water onto dry ground". Every year
towards the end of the rainy season as the flood plain of the upper Zambezi
valley rises, the Lozi people make a ceremonial move to higher ground.
When the Chief decides that it's time to leave (anytime from February to
May), the drums signal to all the people. They pack their belongings into
canoes and the whole tribe leaves en mass. The chief in his barge with
his family and a troop of traditionally dressed paddlers, in the lead.
It takes about six hours to cover the distance between the dry season capital
Lealui, and the wet season capital Limulunga. There
the successful move is celebrated with traditional singing and dancing.
This ceremony dates back more than 300 years when the Lozi people broke
away from the great Lunda Empire to come and settle in the upper regions
of the Zambezi. The vast plains with abundant fish was ideal for settlement
but the annual floods could not be checked, so every year they move to
higher ground until the rainy season passes."
The Lozi live in what was formerly Barotseland; the Lozi claim descent
from the Mwata Yamvo empire (on the watershed between present day Zambia
and Congo/Zaire. The Lozi rulers claim descent from Ngoni/Nguni rulers from
present day Free State province in South Africa, AKA Makololo.
Jarig Bakker, 23 Dec 2001
Lozi people are not only found in
Zambia,
Botswana and D.R. Congo but
also in Namibia
too. The Caprivian people, living in
Caprivi strip
of Nambia, are a Lozi speaking
people. Indeed, when in 1999 the Caprivian Liberation Army try to take over
Katima Mulilo (main city of Caprivi) the Namibian authorities blamed Zambia
because the Barotseland Patriotic Front, led by Imasiku Mutangelwa, was believed
to support the Caprivi secessionists.
Santiago Tazon, 23 Dec 2001
![[Litunga flag]](../images/z/zm_litun.jpg)
image sent by Heather Chalcraft, 15 Apr 2003
Herewith a picture of the flag currently used by the Litunga (the King
of the Lozi people).
Heather Chalcraft, 15 Apr 2003
The Royal Standard of H.R.H. The Litunga of Barotseland is the Elephant Flag
with the narrow golden border.
John Duncan McKeekin, 02 Apr 2011
