Saturday 14 May 2016

By Albert Derrick


The Mali region has been the seat of extensive empires and kingdoms, notably those of Ghana, Mali, and Gao. The medieval empire of Mali was a powerful state and one of the world's chief gold suppliers.

In January 1959, in Dakar, representatives of the Sudanese Republic, Senegal, Dahomey (now Benin), and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) drafted a constitution of the Federation of Mali (named after the medieval African empire), but only the assemblies of the Sudanese Republic and Senegal ratified it and became members of the federation. Later that year the new Mali Federation asked the French Community to grant it complete sovereignty while permitting it to remain a member of the Community. The Mali Federation became a sovereign state in June 1960.

The original flag of Mali was first raised on April 4, 1959, at the time of the creation of Mali Federation when French Sudan and Senegal joined forces. Mali Federation obtained its independence on June 20, 1960, and shortly thereafter Senegal, due to inherent discord, disaffiliated from the Federation, built a new nation and adopted its own flag.

In 1959, Mali linked its fortunes with Senegal in the Mali Federation. Its constitution, adopted in January 1959, stated that the flag of the federation and its member states was to have equal vertical stripes of green-yellow-red with a black stylized human figure in the center, his arms raised toward heaven.

The black-colored kanaga, in stick-figure, is in the form of a human shape with arms extending upwards towards the sky. The figure is contrary to Muslim beliefs about making human images and was widely condemned. Later, mounting pressures from the Muslim front eventually caused its removal from the flag.

A 'kanaga' symbol was used on the first Mali flag until it was abolished in 1961. The symbol is a black human-like image and it was removed because of pressure from Muslims who do not approve of making images in the human form. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Mali Flag for the future.




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