Like most African countries, the
Mali Flag adopted the Pan-African motif espoused by Ethiopia, probably to promote better unity among its neighbors, a tricolor with three vertical stripes of green near the hoist, gold and red.
It was in 1959 as part of the Mali Federation that the
world flag was conceived, following the French tricolor and similar to the Flag of Ghana, a black human figure known as the "kanaga" was added at the center of the gold band, obviously to break the points of similarity. However when the federation disbanded in 1961, the state of Mali retained the original flag but with the kanaga omitted because of Islamic aniconism (a belief against making pictures of the human figure).
Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa and geographically is mostly desert or semi-desert, one on the leg of the Trans-Saharan caravans that once made prosperous Timbuktu and Gao, the trading centers on the Niger River. Originally the country came under French rule but was granted independence in 1960.
During the 80's, Mali experienced severe economic woes brought by drought and famine that prompted the government to impose deregulation and privatization. The condition forced nomadic herders to flee south and engage in subsistence farming. But once gold mining operations started, Mali has become a major gold exporter and with it comes economic relief.
Mali had been subjected to a series of brutal dictatorship and only a military coup in 1991 stopped the vicious cycle of human rights abuses. Then, democratic processes took shape as the first presidential elections was held in 1992. To date, Mali is emerging as one of the strongest democracies on the continent.
by:
The Flagman
