Lesotho Flag - Kingdom of (Former Flag)

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked nation entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa and was formerly known as the British Protectorate of Basutoland. Lesotho roughly translates into "the land of the people who speak Sesotho.

Lesotho’s first flag was introduced on October 4, 1966 upon full independence from the United Kingdom. It featured a prominent white mokorotlo or Basotho hat. The blue symbolised the sky and rain, white represented peace, green stood for land and red marked the nation’s faith. This flag flew until January 20, 1987 whereby a military coup ousted the Basotho National Party. The replacement flag replaced the Basotho hat with a Basotho shield together with an assegai and knobkierie. Colours and patterns changed as well, to include a triangular white field symbolising peace together with a diagonal blue stripe symbolising rain and a green triangle for prosperity.This flag was replaced on October 4th, 2006 with a new flag to commemorate 40 years of independence.