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Flag of Angola as of 1975. Flag Ratio: 2:3

This flag was proposed in 2003 but has not yet been ratified.

Flag of the former movement and now governing party MPLA

The national flag of Angola came into use at independence on November 11, 1975. It is split horizontally into an upper red half and a lower black half.

Like in some other African countries this flag is a modification of the ruling party's flag. The guerilla movement and later governing party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) used the same design with a golden star in the center. Red stood for socialism and black for Africa. The star was modeled after the red star of the Soviet Union, which sponsored the MPLA.

Later the explanation was made less partywise: The red is for the blood spilt by Angolans during their independence struggles, while the black is for the continent of Africa. The symbol in the middle is of a crossed cog wheel (representing workers and industry) and machete (representing the peasantry) with a red star. It was adopted during a time when Angola had a Marxist government, and it thus supposed to evoke the image of the hammer and sickle found on the flag of the former Soviet Union, a common symbol of Communism. The flag is most recently described and explained in article 162 of the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Angola (Constitution) of August 25, 1992.

The Angola flag has remained controversial. Some see it as an excessively political symbol, pointing out the similarity with the MPLA's party flag. It has also been criticized for representing memories of Angola's bloody and violent past, instead of hope for the future.

In 2003, a new, more "optimistic" flag was proposed, which so far has not been formally adopted. The sun design in the middle is meant to be reminiscent of cave paintings found in Tchitundo-Hulu cave. The flag, while radically different in design and symbolism, maintains the same flag proportions of 2:3. Many Angolans dislike the flag proposal because they feel it has no real meaning, as opposed to the current flag which clearly has historical associations. Others are of the opinion that the proposed flag cannot be seen as uniquely Angolan because it resembles other national flags including the flag of Costa Rica[1].

• Angola at Flags of the World
• http://www.angola.org/referenc/proposed_flag.html