flag of Madagascar

The design of the flag is described in Title I, Article 4 of the Constitution of Madagascar, 2010:{{sfn|Constitution of Madagascar|2010|loc=Title I, Article 4}}

{{blockquote|[Madagascar's] national emblem is the tricolour flag of white, red, and green, composed of three rectangular bands of equal dimensions: the first vertical of white on the side of the pole, the other two horizontal, the superior red and the inferior green.}}

The colours of the flag originally had no meaning.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}} Upon the adoption of the flag on 21 October 1958, Barinia Tsara of the Bureau of the Constituent National Assembly gave the following significance to its colours: "White is purity; red is sovereignty. As for green, gentlemen, it is hope".{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}}{{sfn|Madagascar Photography Museum|2021}} The meanings of the colours have since changed, with more complex meanings being attributed to them.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}}

The office of the Malagasy president describes the significance of the flag's colours as such: red represents national unity, green represents hope, and white represents freedom, security, and cleanliness.{{sfn|Government of Madagascar}} Additionally, the office connects the colours to different elements of Madagascar's geography and society. Red was a symbol of the country's historical monarchies and is the colour of the clay bricks used to construct most Malagasy houses. Nearly all of Madagascar is covered in lush greenery, such as the Ravenala of the coastal hinterlands and the forests of the central highlands. White is the colour of the clothing traditionally worn by Malagasy women and of rice, a staple food of the Malagasy.{{sfn|Government of Madagascar}}

File:Flag of Madagascar (construction sheet).svg

In 1958, the colonial broadcaster Radio Tananarive issued a call for designs for a national flag, in preparation for Madagascar's impending independence. A technical commission of Malagasy delegates from across the country was formed to select the final design.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}} The commission met on 15 October, the day after the Malagasy Republic was proclaimed, to make the decision. The submissions were narrowed down to five proposals deemed most relevant to Madagascar, which were then presented by hostesses on a podium in front of the delegates. The second design by Andrianome Ranaivosoa, an agent of the Malagasy National Geographical Institute, was ultimately chosen by the delegates.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}} According to Malagasy historian Tsiory Randriamanantena, the delegates believed that the design was aesthetically pleasing and that the colours would be easily recognisable and memorable for the Malagasy people.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}} The national flag of Madagascar was officially adopted on 21 October, one week after the proclamation of the Malagasy Republic.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}}{{sfn|Smith|2001}} It was raised for the first time on the same day, at a public ceremony held on Liberation Avenue (renamed {{ill|Independence Avenue (Antananarivo)|lt=Independence Avenue|fr|Avenue de l'Indépendance (Antananarivo)}} upon Madagascar's independence from France on 26 June 1960).{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}} Despite multiple changes in government and constitution, the national flag has remained unaltered since.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}}

The flag initially received significant criticism for its choice of colours. Some critics argued that it could not be a symbol of national unity because it incorporated red and white, the royal colours of the Merina Kingdom, whose rulers came from the Merina ethnic majority. Meanwhile, the country's political opposition criticised the use of red and green, which were the colours of the Social Democratic Party of Madagascar, the ruling party at the time.{{sfn|Tétaud|2020}}

Red and white have historically been the predominant flag colours in Madagascar.{{sfn|Smith|2001}} The two bloodlines within the Sakalava royal family, which ruled the western Kingdom of Menabé (Menabé meaning "great red"), were represented by red and white.{{sfn|Smith|2001}}{{sfn|Philippe|1975|p=47}} The flag of the Antankarana Kingdom was a white field charged with a red star and crescent, a reference to the Antankarana people's Islamic heritage.{{sfn|Philippe|1975|p=50}} Andrianampoinimerina of Imerina had his son Radama accompanied by two standards whenever he travelled: a white one representing the idol Kelinalaza, and a red one representing the idols Manjakatsiroa and Fantaka.{{sfn|Philippe|1975|p=47}} After succeeding his father, Radama had his kingdom adopt a white-and-red bicolour, a combination of his personal standards.{{sfn|Philippe|1975|p=48}} From then on, it was regular practice for the rulers of Imerina to put their name and title in red lettering on a white or white-and-red flag.{{sfn|Smith|2001}}

{{Gallery

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| Flag of the Antankarana Kingdom.svg | {{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Antankarana Kingdom

| Merina Kingdom flag.svg | {{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Kingdom of Imerina from {{circa|1810}} to 1885

}}

• List of Malagasy flags
• Seal of Madagascar

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite web |title=Constitution of Madagascar |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Madagascar_2010 |translator-last=del Carmen Gress |translator-first=Maria |publisher=Government of Madagascar |website=Constitute Project |date=2012 |orig-date=2010 |access-date=14 August 2024 |ref={{harvid|Constitution of Madagascar|2010}}}}
• {{cite web |title=Déclaration de Barinia Tsara du 21 octobre 1958 |trans-title=Barinia Tsara's 21 October 1958 declaration |url=https://www.facebook.com/MuseeDeLaPhotographieDeMadagascar/posts/le-21-octobre-1958-barinia-tsara-membre-du-bureau-de-lassembl%C3%A9e-nationale-consti/2071377143004699 |work=Madagascar Photography Museum |via=Facebook |language=fr |ref={{harvid|Madagascar Photography Museum|2021}}}}
• {{cite web |title=Les symboles de la République / Ireo famantarana ny Repoblika |trans-title=The Symbols of the Republic |url=https://www.presidence.gov.mg/presidence/les-symboles-de-la-republique.html |publisher=Government of Madagascar |website=Presidency of Madagascar |access-date=14 August 2024 |ref={{harvid|Government of Madagascar}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Philippe |first=Lucien |title=Les anciens drapeaux de Madagascar |trans-title=The Former Flags of Madagascar |url=https://fiav.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ICV06-06-IJsselmeer-Philippe-Anciens-drapeaux-de-Madagascar-p46-54.pdf |location=IJsselmeer |publisher=International Federation of Vexillological Associations |date=1975 |language=fr}}
• {{cite web |last=Smith |first=Whitney |author-link=Whitney Smith |title=Flag of Madagascar |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Madagascar |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |date=16 February 2001 |language=en}}
• {{cite news |last=Tétaud |first=Sarah |title=Madagascar: les débuts mouvementés du drapeau national |trans-title=Madagascar: The Turbulent Beginnings of the National Flag |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20200622-madagascar-histoire-drapeau-origines-mouvement%C3%A9es |access-date=14 August 2024 |work=Radio France Internationale |date=22 June 2020 |language=fr}}

{{refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Flags of Madagascar}}
• {{FOTW|id=mg_index|title=Madagascar}}

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