FLAG OF MAURITIUS: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The flag of Mauritius is the national symbol of this republic located in the Indian Ocean. It is made up of four horizontal stripes of equal size. From top to bottom, the colors are red, blue, yellow, and green. It is the only flag in the world that has four symmetrical stripes. The flag has been in force since the country's independence in 1968.

The island had no symbols when it was discovered by the Arabs or the Portuguese. The first to settle there and use their flags were the Dutch, who later abandoned it. The French Empire conquered this island and monarchical and later revolutionary symbols waved over it. Finally, Mauritius became a British colony and thus maintained three colonial flags.

Flag of Mauritius. (Zscout370).

Mauritius obtained its independence in 1968 and, since then, the flag is in force. Red is the symbol of freedom and independence, blue that of the Indian Ocean, yellow of the light of independence and green, of agriculture and evergreen nature.

History of the flag

The discovery of the island of Mauritius has not been entirely clear. For some, the first to arrive on the island were the Phoenician navigators. The discovery is also attributed to the Austronesians, who could have followed the same route they did to Madagascar.

Others who probably made a presence in Mauritius were the Arabs in the Middle Ages. In fact, the island was named in the Cantino planisphere as Dina Mozare, or East Island, in Arabic.

Portuguese exploration

The Treaty of Tordesillas signed between Spain and Portugal in 1494 was the starting point for the Portuguese colonization in Mauritius, by leaving that African region in the hands of Portugal. However, it was not until the 16th century that the Portuguese took the Mascarene Islands, between 1500 and 1512. The island of Mauritius would have received the name of Cirné.

As it had happened to the Arabs, the island did not serve them of greater interest other than to serve as a stopover for other voyages. For this reason, Mauricio remained uninhabited.

Flag of the Portuguese Empire. (1495-1521). (Guilherme Paula).

Dutch colonization

Mauritius's situation changed with the arrival of the Dutch. Around the end of the 16th century, the Dutch navigators of the Netherlands East India Company arrived in this part of the Indian Ocean. Being in Mauritius, they recognized the value of the island for its climate and geographical position.

Since then, the Europeans' claims to take over the island began. It was the Dutch who named it Mauritius, in honor of Mauritius of Nassau, then the statute of the Netherlands.

They, in turn, were the first to establish settlers, who came from Cape Town, in addition to bringing African slaves. By 1638, a governor and a score of families lived in Mauritius, with a growing population.

The island became a key intermediate point in the slave trade, especially those from Madagascar. It is estimated that by the seventeenth century, there were already about a thousand slaves on the island.

However, the Dutch wiped out the fauna, introducing invasive species and hunting uncontrollably. In addition, the felling of trees made them lose great resources, before which they decided to leave the colony in 1710 to go to Cape Bueva Esperanza.

Flag of the Dutch East India Company

During the Dutch colonization, the flag of the Netherlands East India Company was used. This consisted of the Dutch tricolor, with the initials of the company in the middle.

Flag of the Netherlands East India Company. (Himasaram, from Wikimedia Commons).

French colonization

The French presence in the Indian Ocean came from 1643 on the great island of Madagascar. From 1663 the first French intentions to inhabit the island were shown. However, it was not until 1715 that the French sent a warship to take possession of the island after the Dutch abandonment. The island was renamed Ile de France, and the objective was to have a base for commercial transport.

The administration passed from 1721 to the French East India Company. The island began to be colonized by slaves and settlers who arrived from Reunion, Madagascar and the French metropolitan territory. By 1725, the French also annexed neighboring Rodrigues Island.

The population quickly developed and by the middle of the 17th century the first manifestations of créloe or criollo, an autochthonous language based on French, were known.

The colony began to prosper after the arrival of the Comte de la Bourdonnais as governor, by equipping itself with port fortifications and developing the current capital, Port-Louis. Over time, the island's animal and plant production became profitable, in addition to the slave trade.

Decline of the French colony

By 1760, the island of Rodrigues began to be permanently populated, so it developed its small economy. However, the Seven Years' War put an end to the boom, because it faced France and Great Britain and the French were defeated.

The islands came to be administered from the French Crown and consequently a governor general and an intendant were appointed. The British began to stalk the French possessions with their naval artillery. Gradually, the British were advancing in control of the French colonies in this area.

Until 1792, the flag used in Mauritius was the French one corresponding to the monarchical symbols. France did not properly have a national flag, but royal symbols that consisted of the fleur de lis, white backgrounds and blue tones. One of the flags used was the royal pavilion, full of lily flowers and with the monarch's arms in the center.

Royal standard of the King of France. (Sodacan).

French Revolution and Napoleon's government

However, the reality changed after the triumph of the French Revolution. This had an impact on the ban on the slave trade emanating from the French National Convention in 1793 and the ban on slavery the following year.

However, from the colonial assemblies of the Indian Ocean they refused to apply it. After the decline of the revolutionary movement and the assumption of Bonaparte as consul of France, this was without effect.

The reforms of the French Revolution were controlled by the colonists. At the same time, trade began to breathe again and the French began to see possibilities of increasing colonization on other islands that they already had.

The island's regime was influenced by the arrival of Napoleon, but that did not prevent rivalries with the British from spreading, as in the Caribbean.

Finally, in 1809 British troops occupied the island of Rodrigues and the Seychelles. From there, they took the current Mauritius and Reunion in 1810. The Isle of France was renamed Mauritius.

Finally, in 1814 the Treaty of Paris was signed, by which France definitively lost the Seychelles and the Mascarene Islands, with the exception of Reunion, which they still maintain.

French revolutionary flags

After the French Revolution, the symbols changed permanently. In 1790 the Constituent Assembly approved a national flag of white color, with the red, white and blue tricolor in the canton. The edge of the canton also kept the three colors.

National flag of France. (1790-1794). (Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr).

However, since 1794 the French tricolor was established, which still remains today as the country's national flag.

Flag of France. (1794–1815) (1830–1958). (The original uploader was Skopp at Wikimedia Commons.).

British colonization

The British began the process of colonizing Mauritius in 1810. By maintaining French customs, they also guaranteed the speaking of French and derived Creole.

However, by 1833 English became the only language of the administration. By 1835 the abolition of slavery in the British colonies finally arrived, before which an important commercial business of Mauritius was lost.

Sugar cane once again became the engine of the island's economy. However, the most important change occurred with the immigration of labor from India, brought in by the British.

That changed the ethnic reality of the island, which began to have a greater religious plurality. It is estimated that in 72 years 450,000 Indians arrived in Mauritius, so that 70% of the current population are their descendants.

Crisis of the productive model

Sugarcane began to run out as the only profitable production model in Mauritius around 1865. By 1869, this British colony maintained its first colonial flag. It was the same model that the flags of the British colonies followed, composed of a dark blue cloth, the Union Jack in the canton and a distinctive shield.

In this case, the shield consisted of four barracks, which held a key, some cane plants, a ship and the peak of a mountain. At the bottom, the Latin motto Stella Clavisque maris Indici was added.

Flag of British Mauritius. (1869-1906). (Sodacan).

The other part of the decline was due to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1870, so it was no longer necessary to circumnavigate Africa. All of this caused exports to decline and at the end of the 19th century the colony lost profitability.

Twentieth century

Political changes in the colonies continued to occur at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903, Seychelles separated from the colony of Mauritius. Three years later, a new colonial flag was approved, in which the shield changed.

Although he kept his barracks and motto, he changed his form and from then on he was accompanied by a bird and an antelope in red, holding cane leaves.

Flag of British Mauritius. (1906-1923). (Orange Tuesday).

Different political parties with various purposes began to emerge. The colonial institutions developed gradually, in addition to acquiring more autonomy. The First World War was not so strong in the territory because there was no mandatory draft.

In 1923, the colonial flag underwent its last change. On this occasion, what was mainly done was to remove the white circle around the shield. This flag remained in this way until the independence of Mauritius.

Flag of British Mauritius. (1923-1968). (Orange Tuesday (talk) Orange Tuesday at en.wikipedia).

Independence

The end of the Second World War marked a before and after in African colonial history. The Colonial Office decided to find a way for the colonies to run independently, because spending after the economic blow of the war and the increase in pandemics had increased disproportionately.

Different parties that defended the Indi-Mauritanians won the elections of the colony in 1961 over the Franco-Mauritanians and the Creoles. The colonial status was maintained for many years.

Meanwhile, Mauritius remained an ordinary British colony. However, after the new stabilization of the economy and the development of a local industry, in 1965 the Colonial Office decided to grant independence to Mauritius as of 1968.

Independence was approved after a referendum, in which the independence option was won by a narrow margin. The end of the colonial era was consummated on March 12, 1968 with the signing of the independence act of Mauritius as a new monarchy of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Current flag

Since independence, the current flag was established and has not been changed, even after the founding of the Islamic Republic of Mauritius in 1992. It was designed by the schoolmaster, Gurudutt Moher. The origin of the choice of colors was not entirely clear, but it may have its origin in nature.

Meaning of the flag

The composition of the flag of Mauritius is not common in the vexillological world. Its four horizontal stripes of equal size provide it with unique peculiarities.

The flag of Mauritius has an interpretation associated with empirical meanings, established by decree published in the Government Gazette of Mauritius in 2015. In this interpretation, red would represent, as usual in flags, the fight for freedom and independence.

Also, blue would be the symbol of the Indian Ocean, while yellow would be the light of independence. Finally, green would represent Mauritian agriculture and its green colors that last all year.

Colors can also be understood from a political party point of view. The red one would be Labor, which was led by former Prime Minister Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. Blue should be identified with the Mauritian Party, which ended up being of a social democratic tendency.

Also, the color yellow represented the Independent Forward Block. Green, meanwhile, represented the Muslim Action Committee or Abdool Razack Mohammed.

Another natural meaning

On the other hand, red can be understood as the blood shed by slaves from Madagascar, Senegal, Guinea and East Africa. It is also related to strength or to your truncated dreams, and calls to remember the pain of the past. Blue, meanwhile, can also represent the Mauritian sky, the peace, calm and freshness of the island.

Yellow is identified with the warmth and closeness of the Mauritian people, as well as hospitality. It is a cheerful and dynamic color. Finally, the green is related to the sugar cane that has marked the history of Mauritius, optimism, youth, calm, serenity and success.

References

1. Beachcomber. Resorts & Hotels. (sf). 50th Anniversary Of The Independence The Four Stripes: When Three Continents Meet In A Luxuriant Natural Setting. Beachcomber. Resorts & Hotels. Recovered from magazine.beachcomber-hotels.com.
2. Elix, J. (March 12, 2017): Gurudutt Moher, père du quadricolore. L'Express. Recovered from lexpress.mu.
3. Grant, C. (1801). The History of Mauritius, Or the Isle of France and the Neighboring Islands; from Their First Discovery to the Present Time. Nicol. Recovered from books.google.com.
4. Legal Supplement to the Government Gazette of Mauritius No. 111. (November 7, 2015). The National Flag Act 2015. Recovered from pmo.govmu.org.
5. Republic of Mauritius. (sf). National Flag. Republic of Mauritius. Recovered from govmu.org.
6. Smith. W. (2013). Flag of Mauritius. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Recovered from britannica.com