Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag's canton in 1937 after discovering at the previous year's Olympics that its flag, which consisted of two horizontal red and blue bands, was identical to the civil flag of Haiti.
In SA we were taught that each colour had several meanings. Red represents the country's bloody past while blue represents its hope for a better future. Black & white represent the nation's people. Green and gold represent the land as well as its mineral wealth. Collectively, all colours symbolise the country's rich diversity hence its moniker "The rainbow nation".
Small nitpick: Hawaii became a state in August 1959. But a new star doesn't get officially added to the flag until the following July 4 -- thus its star wasn't added until 1960. (Alaska had already gotten its star in 1959, since it became a state back in January, _well_ before July 4.) Otherwise, nicely done! Always great to see a new video from you!
@@athirkell A 49-star flag was official from July 4 1959 - July 4 1960, though. ...Not that they were ever common, since Hawaii was already pushing for statehood well before August.
@@AaronOfMpls And July 4 1960 was over 62 years ago (almost 62 years and 2 months), which is the point Alex is making, and is what was said in the video.
I really like how you gave the full context to all the examples of flag changes in the video! And now, my contribution to the excellent collection of flag trivia in this comments section: Afghanistan changed its flag last year after the Taliban takeover but what you might not know is that Afghanistan is not the most recent country to change its flag. That would be Honduras, whose new president changed the shade of blue on its flag from dark blue to light blue, earlier this year. Other notable recent flag changes: Mauritania added two red bars to its flag in 2017; Libya changed its all-green flag back to its pre-1969 flag after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011; and Myanmar adopted a new flag marking the end of the military junta in 2010. Venezuela added an eighth star to its flag in 2006, a decision that is still controversial given the added star's symbolism which inflamed tensions with neighboring Guyana. After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Russia's flag briefly used a much lighter shade of blue than is seen today, as well as an aspect ratio of 1:2 rather than 2:3. The current flag was adopted in 1993. Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag's canton in 1937 after discovering at the previous year's Olympics that its flag, a red and blue horizontal bicolor, was identical to the civil flag of Haiti. Haiti's official flag already had the coat of arms in the center.
He also didn't talking about, and there was a good jumping off point for this being his section on the South African flag, the changing of the colours of the Dutch flag. Also the second national flag ever after Denmark's and the first tricolour republican flag(looking at you, France), which would have been interesting facts to include.
Some recent flag changes not mentioned in the video. Rwanda 🇷🇼 changed its flag in 2001 due to the old flag being associated with the genocide in 1994 Libya 🇱🇾 changed from a plain green flag in 2011 after the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi Mauritania 🇲🇷 added two red stripes to their flag in 2017 (although this one is mentioned in his flag video)
Gaddafi wasn’t “assassinated”, he was executed for his countless crimes against the Libyan people just like Mussolini and other tyrants throughout history.
I have to agree. Although one might imagine it’s probably one of the world’s pricier flags to manufacture, given all the dye that would be required. At least the design isn’t too complicated
@@TrickyMario7654 I mean, moral evil aside, can’t agree. The 3 flags are indiscernible from a distance and it would be hard for a regular person to draw or make
@@TrickyMario7654 The little flags placed at the centre of it are very much negligeable (neglectable?) though, so all the appeal of this flag has to do with the Netherlands.
@@quidam_surprise i mean to be fair a lot of flags are based on the dutch flag. But more the history there i guess for south africa due to the lagre boer population. As for flags, all tricolor and red white and blue flags are based on the dutch one.
Surprised you didn’t talk about the newest country to change its flag-Afghanistan. After the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, it changed its flag to a plain white flag with black Arabic text on it.
Actually, Afghanistan is not the most recent country to change its flag. That would be Honduras, whose new president changed the shade of blue on its flag from dark blue to light blue, earlier this year.
The black red and gold flag of Germany is actually also a symbol of Prussia since it represents the colors of the Prussian uniforms during the napoleonic wars.
True, but it wasn’t actually appearance of the banner. It first appeared in a fashion very similar to its modern form by the use of a state in May of 1778, when Heinrich XI, Prince of Reuss-Greiz adopted the banner for his principality of the same name, coinciding with the beginning of his reign
Canada changed its national flag in 1965, replacing the union jack with the maple leaf flag. There was a great deal of controversy at the time; some (mainly conservatives) wanted to keep the old flag to honour the county's British heritage, while others saw it (mainly the francophone population) as a symbol of British conquest and opression. The maple leaf was chosen as it has long been a Canadian national symbol (various varieties of maples growing in parts of the country). The union jack is still present on some provincial flags (Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia in particular).
I love the south African flag it always looked wonderful but now understanding the meaning and strife behind it the mere thought of it brings me chills
Malaysia also has a minor change from it's original flag, back in times when it was called Malaya/Tanah Melayu, it has 11-pointed star and stripes, and then when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the federation and renamed as Malaysia in 1963, it is changed to 14-pointed star and stripes as it known till this day, However, after Singapore expelled in 1965, instead of revise the flag, the central government introduced Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and later Putrajaya making the 3 of them as the new representative of the 14th state
Finland used to have a different flag too. It was red with the finnish lion. But the combination of red and yellow easy to misidefie as a soviet flag during battle etc. So they changed to the well known blue cross. ( also Finland almost had a really cool monarcist flag ) but the same red background yellow lion desing in nowadays used by the finnish navy
@@plebisMaximus just add a lil bit more info the red lion flag was used from 1917-1918. Finland had a design for the kingdom of finland but the grand Duke of Hesse whom would have become the finnish king didn't show up so the finnish gave up on monacrhy and desided that a democratic government would be cool
@@Beary727 the airforce has the well-known straight swastika surrounded by wings. And in the top left corner the emblem of city they are from. And this swastika has nothing to do with nazis as it was adopted as a symbol of the airforce all the way back in 1920.
The Quebec / Canadian flag stories are very interesting since they have evolutions that span over 250 years and one’s history cannot be separated from the other.
Confederacy was extremely diverse. Thousands of blacks fought for the Confederacy like black Confederate sailor David White from CSS Alabama, Cuban Woman Loretta Velasquez dressed as a man to fight for the Confederacy, Cherokee and Choctaw tribes fought for the Confederacy. The last Confederate General to stop fighting was Cherokee General Stand Watie. 10,000 Jews fought for the Confederacy, like Moses Ezekiel. 13,000 Hispanics and 3,000 Mexican-Texans fought for the Confederacy as well, like Santos Benavides. Hundreds of Asians fought for the Confederacy like Charles Chon. Hawaiian Confederate sailors sailed on the CSS Shenandoah.
As a brazilian who doesn't know much about Germany, is it really a fact that nowadays Nazis use the old German flag?? What if they are monarchists? Or just normal nationalists?
If you're banned from using the proper Nazi flag then yes you would to circumvent the law. Its the next closest thing to the nazis, still being a militarist nationalist regieme
@@stefancomtedetoulouse6192 Closest?! Last time I knew 2° Reich and 3° supporters don't agree with each other, just because both are nationalist it doesn't mean anything, the nazists are national socialists and the Weimar republic was on the other side, I agree that the nazis might want a substitute but still can't see why the flag of the old Germany would be the one, and neither why supporters of the old country are automatically considered neo-nazis
@@TheJackx666 my brother truly try to understand instead of doing a kaiserboo sperg. I never said they agreed with each other or were one or the same, all i said was that it was the next closest symbol to the nazis that nazis could use legally because *despite* the differences in ideology the german empire still represents german militarism and nationalism, and the imperial flag is not a banned symbol whereas the swastika is. Because of that fact, nazis do in fact fly the imperial flag as a compromise, not because they actually rep the empire the same way they rep the 3rd reich
@@stefancomtedetoulouse6192 I can't understand because it actually isn't the closest thing to the Nazis that they can use, there can use flags from other countries or even create a flag, just because the two represents nationalistic government it is still too weak of a reason to use the old flag, because it raises too many questions as both don't agree with each other, a symbol is used for the purpose to clarify a message and not to make the message confusing, and even if they are using because it's "close", do you have a source for that?
Some of them are monarchists, fringe as they may be. But yeah, a lot of it is the far right circumventing bans on Nazi symbols. They’re not totally inaccurate in that respect, since the black-white-red banner did have official state as a civil flag from 1933 until 1935, when it’s joint use with the Nazi banner was discontinued, but that’s obviously not what the flag is known for
Interesting timing considering the India intro, as they're going to introduce a new naval ensign on 2 September to remove the Cross of St. George (a remnant from the British colonial days)
If you’re going to criticize the Japanese for still using the rising sun flag then you have to criticize the British for still using the Union Jack which they used to build its empire with and which lasted much longer the the Japanese Empire and also every other European empire that still use the same flag.
I think the issue is the rising sun flag is meant specifically to be a flag of war. So why the hell would they want to fly it at things like sporting events?
Pretty much none of the countries that were colonized by European nations care much about the Europeans still having the same flags. The countries colonized by Japan, on the other hand, heavily criticize Japan for still using the rising sun flag. Its a symbol of how Japan still glorifies their past imperialism in a way that European nations don't. Japan was as bad as the Nazis in WW2, but they still revere that past.
What I like about this video is that he doesn't give his opinions on these controversial topics. He just informs and gives us the facts. The actions speak for themselves.
Not really, the South Africa story was told pretty one sidedly. After the end of apartheid many blacks have committed violent crimes against white as revenge, which was overlooked.
5:39- this is incorrect. Only Black South Africans during Apartheid had to carry passes. Whites, Coloureds, Indians, and "Others" had to carry a state issued ID which did not explicitly say where they could go. However, this document did say the race of the person.
It could be argued that the Irish flag has changed. Allegedly*, the St Patrick's Saltire (white background with red diagonal cross), which is used to represent (Northern) Ireland in the Union Jack, was changed when the Republican movement gained traction in Ireland. In 1848, the Republican movement in Ireland received a tricolour from France. Not to be confused with the Côte d'Ivoire flag, the flag that came to be used to represent the Republic of Ireland uses the colours (from left to right) of green, white and orange. The green represents the historical national colour of Ireland and the Catholic faith, orange represents Protestantism and the white represents the peace between them (or at least that's the intention). *: The use of the St Patrick's Saltire to represent Ireland is disputed, so I worded it cautiously to do due diligence
In regard to the South African flag, you left out the part about South West Africa (today Namibia) that also used the flag and made a likewise transition to a modern, non-colonial design in 1990.
I know on the English wiki for the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth there is no other flag but the one featuring the Vasa family arms, but in the Polish version, it displays the correct flag (or at least a version that historically makes more sense as that Vasas only rules the PLC from 1587 to 1668) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_of_Poland pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rzeczpospolita_Obojga_Narod%C3%B3w
Glad you are back, and great video. Part 2 of this video will be great, especially mentioning others European, Asian, and American Countries who mostly changed the flag. Or talking about most complicated flag in the world, no matter it is sovereign state or not or overseas territories.
I'm glad that Japan didn't change it's flag bcoz the argument is stupid. Korea demanding to change the flag bcoz it's stmbol of operation, in that sense every nation must change their flag bcoz every country has committed some form of atrocities. Also in that sense US should be the first to change it's flag for dropping 2 suns on Japan
Hi there, Lubbe here. I am from South Africa, and I must say, for a rather simplified view of how South Africa came to be you did quite a good job. However, I must point out a few things that you forgot to mention, or mentioned wrong: 1. You forgot about the establishment of the Republic of Natalia in present day KwaZulu-Natal, done by negotiations with the Zulu King Dingaan, though the latter killed the Voortrekker, as the Boers called themselves during the Great Trek, leader Piet Retief, his son and those with him in a snare strung for them. They were beaten to death by knotcanes on a hill nearby, called kwaMatiwane. Then the Zulus, under Dingaan's direct orders, massacred a large number of Voortrekkers before they were repelled by the Voortrekkers. Fighting ensued, and a failed campaign by the Voortrekkers ensued. Then, Andries Pretorius showed up, and became their leader. He helped the Voortrekkers beat the Zulu at the Battle of Bloedrivier. After that, the Voortrekkers took their promised land, and formed the Republic of Natalia. From there everything went as you said. However, just so that people doesn't get confused, I recommend you mentioning that the British installed apartheid-like laws, like the Natives Land Act that you mentioned, using the Union of South Africa Dominion government as their puppets to do so. Only in 1948 would the laws and restrictions on blacks and other races, but especially the blacks be given a name: apartheid. Also, fun fact, the so-called Sharpeville "Massacre", was actually a mistake. See, a short while ago, a few white policemen were violently killed by black protesters and gutted. When the protestors surrounded the police station at Sharpeville, the protestors were more of a violent mob than anything else, and the atmosphere was tense. The police did try at first to peacefully disperse the crowds, only for them to become wilder. The most policemen at the police station that day was there for their first day, and the new recruits were very nervous, and firm strung as the mobs were getting aggressive. One of the policemen tried to arrest the nearest protestor, only for the crowd to get wilder. Then, one of the policemen fired into the air to get things under control. This, however, caused major confusion, as the crowds thought that the police were firing at them, and vice versa. And thus the crowds, using their children which they bring along as human shields, attacked the police, and the policemen, who panicked, opened fire, killing 69 people and wounding several others, like you mentioned. Just to mention this, Mandela wasn't the peace-loving man that he is often portrayed as, but rather a violent socialist, terrorist killer, and the cause of many deaths through bombs and other tactics. The same with the ANC. In fact, they were a very notorious terrorist organization. And just to bust this popular myth, Mandela didn't end Apartheid, his predecessor, P.W. Botha, while he was still Prime Minister of the Republic of South Africa, which you forgot to mention became independent in 1961, still under the Westminster System at this point, held a referendum to end apartheid, which resulted into the official scrapping of the system in 1983, the same year as the referendum, and gave equal rights to all. This is usually covered up, and dismissed as just the year where the Coloureds and Indians gained a seat in parliament, but not the blacks, to which they tend to point and say that it is apartheid. Although all this is true, the reason for giving the Coloureds and the Indians a place in Parliament is because those two were educated, while most blacks were not, and the South African government intended to give a place to them if they are educated, which they started to do. Some newspapers of the era in my possession confirm these changes indirectly. However, when P.W. Botha had to retire from the political scene in 1989 due to poor health, his increasing liberal deputy, the now famous F.W. de Klerk, let Mandela and his fellow terrorists out of their imprisonment on Robben Island in 1990, and fully gave them the reins of power in 1994, effectively causing the once free South Africa to end up in the hands of former terrorists, and fully socialists, turning the once extremely wealthy and powerful nation into the African socialist, hyper corrupt, extraordinarily racist semi-dictator state that is today, aligning itself with China and Russia, keeps getting itself into massive dept, and blames the whites of the country, particularly the Afrikaners, for the folly of the nation, despite the ANC causing it all. And I want to make it clear for all who reads this comment, while I actually quite like the current South African flag, and don't oppose its use at all, I must say, banning the old South African flag, to a point that it is made the very embodiment of apartheid itself, is plainly wrong. While I hate apartheid itself, I am not opposed to the old flag, and consider it to carry major historical significance. It should not be treated that way, and instead treated simply as a flag of a goneby era, like the Americans treat their former colonial flag under the British - while that represents a different era of the USA, it is not hated! Also, if anything, South Africa's people should be mad at the flag of the country that caused the horrific system of apartheid and all its miseries in the first place - the Union Jack of the UK. And that is all I have to say here. Lubbe, out.
There are a few things you wrote that I do want to address. Firstly The ANC was non-violent until the Sharpeville massacre. Nelson Mandela's first televised interview speaks about this and how they cannot keep using non-violence against a regime that used violence to suppress peaceful resistance. Watch through the entirety of the TRC to see what happend on all sides. Even as a "terrorist" MK targeted empty government buildings and such. The communist argument you bring up was a part of the regimes propaganda and a tool they used to suppress support for freedom for all. For example they passed a law where you could detain anyone suspected as a communist for three months without a trail. They would use this to hold anyone that opposed their rule in anyway indefinitely. Imagine being arrested, thrown into prison for three months, released for half an hour and arrested again, no trial, no lawyer, no phonecall. Of course like many other dictatorships during the cold war, they had to take an anti-communist stance to receive backing from Western governments, whether public or not. Hence the country taking part in the Angolan proxy war, causing harm to young South African men as well as Angolans and Namibians. Anyway with the fall of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990s it was obvious that there was no need to back an unpopular regime anymore, thus talks starting in 1992. Even before that most people saw that the regime was going to collapse soon. Despite what you may believe, the Apartheid regime's economy wasn't as good as you think. The only reason it may have appeared that way is if you were part of the very few that received the little benefit that existed at the time. For almost all South Africans, they have better lives know then they had pre-1994, including Whites. Anyhow ever since the Rivonia trail there was threat and plans of violent uprising, but leaders of the revolution like Mandela which you call so violent held off those plans. Nevertheless people where getting angrier and angrier with the regime's suppression, leading up to the state of emergency in the 80s. De Klerk and the goverment made those concessions and repealed laws as their backs was against the wall and the writing was on it. South Africa know is in a better place then it was then. Yeah loadshedding sucks, but a much larger amount of people have access in electricity than had before. We have corruption, but the Apartheid regime had that too. We have crime, but it's less than what it was pre-1994. Anyway in summary SA is in a better place than it was.
WonderWhy, since you're not American, you might not realize this, but saying "the civil war was about states' rights" is often used by racist groups who defend slavery and the confederate states. Yes, it is technically true in that the main cause was states' rights to slavery, but you have to be careful about how you say it. I honestly think that's the source of most of the dislikes on this video.
No lol, that's the other way around, most dislike here are from people who didn't liked the far left propaganda from this video against old flags like the Så and confederate ones or the old German flag. This video is almost europhobic.
Being an Indian, I kinda like the Union Jack flag..I know it might sound a controversial but this is what I feel..British colonization was harsh for us but it was our past and we should acknowledge that without any hesitation..we have adopted their language English as one of our official languages, adopted the Parliamentary system of Government from them, playing Cricket🏏 which was introduced by England, then why do we feel shame in showing British symbol on our flag?? I wish we could have kept the Union Jack on our national flag just like Australia🇦🇺 and New Zealand🇳🇿 have even today
15:26 That’s strange, as in the late 1940s it was West Germany that first declared it was its own country, instead of part of an occupied zone, and East Germany was created as a response.
In the partitioning of Germany the Allied Control Council was formed for all 4 zones to cooperate in establishing common policies. The Soviet Union refused to cooperate and distance itself from the council. Since the Soviet Union exerted strong control over their zone separate from the other zones, the other 3 countries chose to merge their zones into one independent country.
@@Lensmaster1 Ah right, I see. But again, there must be a good reason why the USSR had this attitude. I do know that since the USSR's western era was raged by the Nazi regime, they demanded pretty high war- reperations from Germany. That might be an important side to things
No the way he said it was pretty much right just with a heavy accent. The word is pronounced boor with the "oo" being pronounced like in book. "Bore" is completely wrong but it's a common incorrect way that people who don't speak Afrikaans (or even dutch) say it. Maybe in some some regional dialects of Dutch it is pronounced like that but I have never heard any Afrikaans (also known as the Boers) person pronounce it that way.
FUN FACT: as stated in the video the old (Apartheid) flag of South Africa was based on an old Dutch flag, the "Prinsenvlag". Just as the Apartheid flag, the Prinsenvlag has become controversial. It was repeatedly used by the NSB (Dutch National Socialist Party) in the 30s and 40s. Ever since it has been used by (Far) Right Wing groups. Even when it's flown in a historic context, like Dutch Republic reenactment, it raises some eyebrows.
Funnily enough, the flag of the ANC actually existed long before they did. It was used as the flag of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, an independent country and later federal state of the German Empire, with the flag in use from 1813 until 1897, when the yellow and green colours switched position - en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
8:02 i got on of these flags i got it from me grandpa. He fought in the south afrikan army in the bush war I love so much he is a great grandpa he collects old railway stuff.
bro gave us the whole history of South Africa in a flag video
A flag can carry a lot of history
@@ElderWizardthat is indeed true
@@GasStationBird same
@@michaelbug6867tf u mean "same"
Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag's canton in 1937 after discovering at the previous year's Olympics that its flag, which consisted of two horizontal red and blue bands, was identical to the civil flag of Haiti.
Take a hint Chad and Romania
@@Atilla_the_Fun yeah,they should just act like civilized people and change both flags
And Haiti added their coat of arm
@@giraffestreet Which, I have to say, is one of the fuck ugliest flags I have ever seen. The white square and coat of arms just looks… 🤮
@@giraffestreet They used a .jpg instead of a .png and the flag designer was like frick it i dont get paid enough
a part 2 of this vid would be really cool. i’m sure there are a bunch more countries that also have a history of changing their flags!
Yeah like China for example who changed their flag multiple times within the 20th century, or Afghanistan with the most flag changes in the world
Like my country, N.Macedonia, was forced to change our flag from the Vergina Sun to the current flag in 1995. Or Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1998.
... Bassicaly every country in the world.
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@o k t o b e r vmvnv ,, ,,. ,V. .,vv. V. ,,,,,,,,,Mn,,,,n,,,,.
It's always a good day when WonderWhy uploads
Conorosson7 moment
@@guam_ guam
@@conorsson7599 guam moment (I am guaming)
@@guam_ it's guaming time
Did someone say Guaming time?
In SA we were taught that each colour had several meanings.
Red represents the country's bloody past while blue represents its hope for a better future. Black & white represent the nation's people. Green and gold represent the land as well as its mineral wealth. Collectively, all colours symbolise the country's rich diversity hence its moniker "The rainbow nation".
Yes finally someone else from SA
Ja. That's what I learned so from school.
SA has such a good damn flag
The flag is beautiful but the unity is ugly
Small nitpick: Hawaii became a state in August 1959. But a new star doesn't get officially added to the flag until the following July 4 -- thus its star wasn't added until 1960. (Alaska had already gotten its star in 1959, since it became a state back in January, _well_ before July 4.)
Otherwise, nicely done! Always great to see a new video from you!
@@athirkell A 49-star flag was official from July 4 1959 - July 4 1960, though.
...Not that they were ever common, since Hawaii was already pushing for statehood well before August.
So if Puerto Rico became the 51st State the 51st star wouldn't be added until the next July 4?
@@modmaker7617 exactly
@@modmaker7617 Yep, that's actually an official rule, that the US flag cannot be changed until the 4th of July.
@@AaronOfMpls And July 4 1960 was over 62 years ago (almost 62 years and 2 months), which is the point Alex is making, and is what was said in the video.
I really like how you gave the full context to all the examples of flag changes in the video! And now, my contribution to the excellent collection of flag trivia in this comments section:
Afghanistan changed its flag last year after the Taliban takeover but what you might not know is that Afghanistan is not the most recent country to change its flag. That would be Honduras, whose new president changed the shade of blue on its flag from dark blue to light blue, earlier this year.
Other notable recent flag changes: Mauritania added two red bars to its flag in 2017; Libya changed its all-green flag back to its pre-1969 flag after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011; and Myanmar adopted a new flag marking the end of the military junta in 2010.
Venezuela added an eighth star to its flag in 2006, a decision that is still controversial given the added star's symbolism which inflamed tensions with neighboring Guyana.
After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Russia's flag briefly used a much lighter shade of blue than is seen today, as well as an aspect ratio of 1:2 rather than 2:3. The current flag was adopted in 1993.
Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag's canton in 1937 after discovering at the previous year's Olympics that its flag, a red and blue horizontal bicolor, was identical to the civil flag of Haiti. Haiti's official flag already had the coat of arms in the center.
France also recently changed the shade of it´s tricolour.
Thas alot of stuff to read
He also didn't talking about, and there was a good jumping off point for this being his section on the South African flag, the changing of the colours of the Dutch flag. Also the second national flag ever after Denmark's and the first tricolour republican flag(looking at you, France), which would have been interesting facts to include.
Kinda mad Mauritania changed its flag.
Due to adding the red bars, Jamacia is the only one that doesn't use red, white, or blue. Kinda cringe
Some recent flag changes not mentioned in the video.
Rwanda 🇷🇼 changed its flag in 2001 due to the old flag being associated with the genocide in 1994
Libya 🇱🇾 changed from a plain green flag in 2011 after the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi
Mauritania 🇲🇷 added two red stripes to their flag in 2017 (although this one is mentioned in his flag video)
Libya changing it's flag was a great failure, now I can't draw libya's flag under 30 seconds
Gaddafi wasn’t “assassinated”, he was executed for his countless crimes against the Libyan people just like Mussolini and other tyrants throughout history.
The modern South African flag is so damn beautiful. Extremely unique and instantly recognisable.
I have to agree. Although one might imagine it’s probably one of the world’s pricier flags to manufacture, given all the dye that would be required. At least the design isn’t too complicated
Heck, even the South African Apartheid flag has some atheistic beauty to it. That might just be me, though.
@@TrickyMario7654 I mean, moral evil aside, can’t agree. The 3 flags are indiscernible from a distance and it would be hard for a regular person to draw or make
@@TrickyMario7654
The little flags placed at the centre of it are very much negligeable (neglectable?) though, so all the appeal of this flag has to do with the Netherlands.
@@quidam_surprise i mean to be fair a lot of flags are based on the dutch flag. But more the history there i guess for south africa due to the lagre boer population.
As for flags, all tricolor and red white and blue flags are based on the dutch one.
One of the few channels i actually stop what im doing to watch. Great video btw.
Surprised you didn’t talk about the newest country to change its flag-Afghanistan. After the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, it changed its flag to a plain white flag with black Arabic text on it.
The Taliban isn't a government, legitimizing them by putting them in that category only makes them stronger.
@UlisesHeureaux but i recognize it
Actually, Afghanistan is not the most recent country to change its flag. That would be Honduras, whose new president changed the shade of blue on its flag from dark blue to light blue, earlier this year.
@UlisesHeureaux that's just cope
@Yass BA it does not?
The black red and gold flag of Germany is actually also a symbol of Prussia since it represents the colors of the Prussian uniforms during the napoleonic wars.
True, but it wasn’t actually appearance of the banner. It first appeared in a fashion very similar to its modern form by the use of a state in May of 1778, when Heinrich XI, Prince of Reuss-Greiz adopted the banner for his principality of the same name, coinciding with the beginning of his reign
Always a good day whenever WonderWhy uploads. These videos are always amazing
Ahh, finally, another Wonderwhy video. Been watching this channel from the beginning. Never stop making your content
this man is teaching me ideas that i'd never even think of beforehand
You’re back!
Canada changed its national flag in 1965, replacing the union jack with the maple leaf flag. There was a great deal of controversy at the time; some (mainly conservatives) wanted to keep the old flag to honour the county's British heritage, while others saw it (mainly the francophone population) as a symbol of British conquest and opression. The maple leaf was chosen as it has long been a Canadian national symbol (various varieties of maples growing in parts of the country). The union jack is still present on some provincial flags (Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia in particular).
Your channel is so good that I dropped what I was doing to watch lol
This was fantastic! I would love to see a part two
11:19 "This 33 star abomination" That star made up of stars looks pretty neat actually
I'm longing for your uploads. Glad to see you back again.
I love the south African flag it always looked wonderful but now understanding the meaning and strife behind it the mere thought of it brings me chills
"This 33-star abomination" I laughed so hard XD Great video! Glad you can approach sensitive topics appropriately. :)
It's a very very very cool and insightful video. Looking forward your next video man
It would be criminal to not make many more parts of this and talk about more countries. I would watch them all! Great stuff!
Malaysia also has a minor change from it's original flag, back in times when it was called Malaya/Tanah Melayu, it has 11-pointed star and stripes, and then when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the federation and renamed as Malaysia in 1963, it is changed to 14-pointed star and stripes as it known till this day, However, after Singapore expelled in 1965, instead of revise the flag, the central government introduced Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and later Putrajaya making the 3 of them as the new representative of the 14th state
Whoa, real clever from Malaysia there!
MALAY EH??
Finland used to have a different flag too. It was red with the finnish lion. But the combination of red and yellow easy to misidefie as a soviet flag during battle etc. So they changed to the well known blue cross. ( also Finland almost had a really cool monarcist flag ) but the same red background yellow lion desing in nowadays used by the finnish navy
That's really interesting, I didn't know it was changed that recently.
@@plebisMaximus just add a lil bit more info the red lion flag was used from 1917-1918. Finland had a design for the kingdom of finland but the grand Duke of Hesse whom would have become the finnish king didn't show up so the finnish gave up on monacrhy and desided that a democratic government would be cool
What about the Finnish air force
@@Beary727 the airforce has the well-known straight swastika surrounded by wings. And in the top left corner the emblem of city they are from. And this swastika has nothing to do with nazis as it was adopted as a symbol of the airforce all the way back in 1920.
@@salty6063 ik its just funny
17:56 BLOOD OF THOSE WHO FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM BLOOD OF THOSE WHO FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOOOOOOOMMM!!! (Explosion and laser sounds)
So disappointing to find this comment so far down.
The last part was cringe
The Quebec / Canadian flag stories are very interesting since they have evolutions that span over 250 years and one’s history cannot be separated from the other.
Wonderfully insightful video! As a South African, much respect
I’m surprised you didn’t talk about some recent flag changes like Rwanda, Libya or Afghanistan
To be fair, the new Afghan flag isn't internationally recognized, for some reason.
@@plebisMaximus even so Afghanistan has changed its flag the most out of any country so I’m surprised he didn’t talk about that
I don't think this so called "Afgan govt" led by 'Taliban' will be able to hold the ground for a long time.
It's again going to change...
@@plebisMaximus it's rather that the current (Taliban) government isn't recognized, and the flag follows from it.
Well, the Libyan one isn’t new, not really. It was used by Libya prior to 1969. It’s a re-adoption of an old flag, not the creation of a new one
I was just going to go to sleep. But WonderWhy posted!
The flag of Alabama is even closer to the old Spanish flag with a red St. Andrews cross on a white field.
Visually yea but it was actually based on an old regiment flag of the Civil war
Confederacy was extremely diverse. Thousands of blacks fought for the Confederacy like black Confederate sailor David White from CSS Alabama, Cuban Woman Loretta Velasquez dressed as a man to fight for the Confederacy, Cherokee and Choctaw tribes fought for the Confederacy. The last Confederate General to stop fighting was Cherokee General Stand Watie. 10,000 Jews fought for the Confederacy, like Moses Ezekiel. 13,000 Hispanics and 3,000 Mexican-Texans fought for the Confederacy as well, like Santos Benavides. Hundreds of Asians fought for the Confederacy like Charles Chon. Hawaiian Confederate sailors sailed on the CSS Shenandoah.
It's Ireland's and Scotland's battle flag
As a brazilian who doesn't know much about Germany, is it really a fact that nowadays Nazis use the old German flag?? What if they are monarchists? Or just normal nationalists?
If you're banned from using the proper Nazi flag then yes you would to circumvent the law. Its the next closest thing to the nazis, still being a militarist nationalist regieme
@@stefancomtedetoulouse6192 Closest?! Last time I knew 2° Reich and 3° supporters don't agree with each other, just because both are nationalist it doesn't mean anything, the nazists are national socialists and the Weimar republic was on the other side, I agree that the nazis might want a substitute but still can't see why the flag of the old Germany would be the one, and neither why supporters of the old country are automatically considered neo-nazis
@@TheJackx666 my brother truly try to understand instead of doing a kaiserboo sperg. I never said they agreed with each other or were one or the same, all i said was that it was the next closest symbol to the nazis that nazis could use legally because *despite* the differences in ideology the german empire still represents german militarism and nationalism, and the imperial flag is not a banned symbol whereas the swastika is. Because of that fact, nazis do in fact fly the imperial flag as a compromise, not because they actually rep the empire the same way they rep the 3rd reich
@@stefancomtedetoulouse6192 I can't understand because it actually isn't the closest thing to the Nazis that they can use, there can use flags from other countries or even create a flag, just because the two represents nationalistic government it is still too weak of a reason to use the old flag, because it raises too many questions as both don't agree with each other, a symbol is used for the purpose to clarify a message and not to make the message confusing, and even if they are using because it's "close", do you have a source for that?
Some of them are monarchists, fringe as they may be. But yeah, a lot of it is the far right circumventing bans on Nazi symbols. They’re not totally inaccurate in that respect, since the black-white-red banner did have official state as a civil flag from 1933 until 1935, when it’s joint use with the Nazi banner was discontinued, but that’s obviously not what the flag is known for
Uploaded 3 minutes ago? Guess I'm early. Either way nice to see another upload!
If you make a sequel to this video, I suggest looking into the history of Norway's flag. Changed a lot of times during the 1800's.
Yay! New upload!
Interesting timing considering the India intro, as they're going to introduce a new naval ensign on 2 September to remove the Cross of St. George (a remnant from the British colonial days)
Let's go
I can name one reason off the top of my head: opposing heads of state being salty about the previous government's symbols
You know the videos gonna be amazing when this man posts
If you’re going to criticize the Japanese for still using the rising sun flag then you have to criticize the British for still using the Union Jack which they used to build its empire with and which lasted much longer the the Japanese Empire and also every other European empire that still use the same flag.
I think the issue is the rising sun flag is meant specifically to be a flag of war. So why the hell would they want to fly it at things like sporting events?
Pretty much none of the countries that were colonized by European nations care much about the Europeans still having the same flags. The countries colonized by Japan, on the other hand, heavily criticize Japan for still using the rising sun flag. Its a symbol of how Japan still glorifies their past imperialism in a way that European nations don't. Japan was as bad as the Nazis in WW2, but they still revere that past.
It is a double standard admittedly. I guess that warcrimes and imperialism are okay if you're white as far as flags go.
wow, I thought this will be nothing new and I ended up learning quite a lot. Thanks!
I’m from from South Africa an that part you were talking about was so true, kind of sad…
He's alive!
Uploading this quick is almost the equivalent of daily uploads for other youtubers.
Wake up wonderwhy just uploaded
What I like about this video is that he doesn't give his opinions on these controversial topics. He just informs and gives us the facts. The actions speak for themselves.
Does leave out Mandela was arrested for terror attacks which led to the death of civilians
Not really, the South Africa story was told pretty one sidedly. After the end of apartheid many blacks have committed violent crimes against white as revenge, which was overlooked.
@@videogyar2 Can you provide source
Love this video favourite to date haha
Amazing satisfying editing too
I always forget about this channel, kind of like Lemmino, but I'm always happy to be reminded
5:39- this is incorrect. Only Black South Africans during Apartheid had to carry passes. Whites, Coloureds, Indians, and "Others" had to carry a state issued ID which did not explicitly say where they could go. However, this document did say the race of the person.
Our favorite Scottish teacher is back!!! Glad to see you posting man
You posted again!!!!
Fantastic detail and insight, especially on the South African apartheid. Superb video!
Good to have you back
WonderWhy: Return of the King
(this video may not win 11 oscars)
It could be argued that the Irish flag has changed. Allegedly*, the St Patrick's Saltire (white background with red diagonal cross), which is used to represent (Northern) Ireland in the Union Jack, was changed when the Republican movement gained traction in Ireland. In 1848, the Republican movement in Ireland received a tricolour from France. Not to be confused with the Côte d'Ivoire flag, the flag that came to be used to represent the Republic of Ireland uses the colours (from left to right) of green, white and orange. The green represents the historical national colour of Ireland and the Catholic faith, orange represents Protestantism and the white represents the peace between them (or at least that's the intention).
*: The use of the St Patrick's Saltire to represent Ireland is disputed, so I worded it cautiously to do due diligence
part 2, this was an amazing video
What about Canada? It used to have a flag similar to Bermuda’s 🇧🇲 and adopted this one 🇨🇦 in 1965.
Great vid, man. This needs a second part, a third, a fourth...
Oh cool, a WonderWhy video. See yall again in a year or so
Please, make part two about flags. I wanna more vidoes like this
As a British person i can confirm we aren’t ruthless dictators anymore (the people never were)
In regard to the South African flag, you left out the part about South West Africa (today Namibia) that also used the flag and made a likewise transition to a modern, non-colonial design in 1990.
Very strange case, that one. Going from a German colony to a South African mandate, and then illegally maintained puppet state
Id love to see a part 2 and 3 of this.
THE BLOOD OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM THE BLOOD OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THE FREEEEEDOOOOM!
🎸 riff plays in the background!
I know on the English wiki for the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth there is no other flag but the one featuring the Vasa family arms, but in the Polish version, it displays the correct flag (or at least a version that historically makes more sense as that Vasas only rules the PLC from 1587 to 1668)
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_of_Poland
pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rzeczpospolita_Obojga_Narod%C3%B3w
Japan has changed its flag; the circle used to be a different shade of red and was slightly off-centre
I always enjoy your videos!
Glad you are back, and great video. Part 2 of this video will be great, especially mentioning others European, Asian, and American Countries who mostly changed the flag. Or talking about most complicated flag in the world, no matter it is sovereign state or not or overseas territories.
It’s always a great day when Wonder Why uploads, the grandfather of the genre of animated educational videos
I'm glad that Japan didn't change it's flag bcoz the argument is stupid. Korea demanding to change the flag bcoz it's stmbol of operation, in that sense every nation must change their flag bcoz every country has committed some form of atrocities. Also in that sense US should be the first to change it's flag for dropping 2 suns on Japan
Very interesting. I always appreciate the work you put in these videos. Keep up the good work!
Hi there, Lubbe here. I am from South Africa, and I must say, for a rather simplified view of how South Africa came to be you did quite a good job. However, I must point out a few things that you forgot to mention, or mentioned wrong:
1. You forgot about the establishment of the Republic of Natalia in present day KwaZulu-Natal, done by negotiations with the Zulu King Dingaan, though the latter killed the Voortrekker, as the Boers called themselves during the Great Trek, leader Piet Retief, his son and those with him in a snare strung for them. They were beaten to death by knotcanes on a hill nearby, called kwaMatiwane. Then the Zulus, under Dingaan's direct orders, massacred a large number of Voortrekkers before they were repelled by the Voortrekkers. Fighting ensued, and a failed campaign by the Voortrekkers ensued. Then, Andries Pretorius showed up, and became their leader. He helped the Voortrekkers beat the Zulu at the Battle of Bloedrivier. After that, the Voortrekkers took their promised land, and formed the Republic of Natalia. From there everything went as you said. However, just so that people doesn't get confused, I recommend you mentioning that the British installed apartheid-like laws, like the Natives Land Act that you mentioned, using the Union of South Africa Dominion government as their puppets to do so. Only in 1948 would the laws and restrictions on blacks and other races, but especially the blacks be given a name: apartheid. Also, fun fact, the so-called Sharpeville "Massacre", was actually a mistake. See, a short while ago, a few white policemen were violently killed by black protesters and gutted. When the protestors surrounded the police station at Sharpeville, the protestors were more of a violent mob than anything else, and the atmosphere was tense. The police did try at first to peacefully disperse the crowds, only for them to become wilder. The most policemen at the police station that day was there for their first day, and the new recruits were very nervous, and firm strung as the mobs were getting aggressive. One of the policemen tried to arrest the nearest protestor, only for the crowd to get wilder. Then, one of the policemen fired into the air to get things under control. This, however, caused major confusion, as the crowds thought that the police were firing at them, and vice versa. And thus the crowds, using their children which they bring along as human shields, attacked the police, and the policemen, who panicked, opened fire, killing 69 people and wounding several others, like you mentioned. Just to mention this, Mandela wasn't the peace-loving man that he is often portrayed as, but rather a violent socialist, terrorist killer, and the cause of many deaths through bombs and other tactics. The same with the ANC. In fact, they were a very notorious terrorist organization. And just to bust this popular myth, Mandela didn't end Apartheid, his predecessor, P.W. Botha, while he was still Prime Minister of the Republic of South Africa, which you forgot to mention became independent in 1961, still under the Westminster System at this point, held a referendum to end apartheid, which resulted into the official scrapping of the system in 1983, the same year as the referendum, and gave equal rights to all. This is usually covered up, and dismissed as just the year where the Coloureds and Indians gained a seat in parliament, but not the blacks, to which they tend to point and say that it is apartheid. Although all this is true, the reason for giving the Coloureds and the Indians a place in Parliament is because those two were educated, while most blacks were not, and the South African government intended to give a place to them if they are educated, which they started to do. Some newspapers of the era in my possession confirm these changes indirectly. However, when P.W. Botha had to retire from the political scene in 1989 due to poor health, his increasing liberal deputy, the now famous F.W. de Klerk, let Mandela and his fellow terrorists out of their imprisonment on Robben Island in 1990, and fully gave them the reins of power in 1994, effectively causing the once free South Africa to end up in the hands of former terrorists, and fully socialists, turning the once extremely wealthy and powerful nation into the African socialist, hyper corrupt, extraordinarily racist semi-dictator state that is today, aligning itself with China and Russia, keeps getting itself into massive dept, and blames the whites of the country, particularly the Afrikaners, for the folly of the nation, despite the ANC causing it all. And I want to make it clear for all who reads this comment, while I actually quite like the current South African flag, and don't oppose its use at all, I must say, banning the old South African flag, to a point that it is made the very embodiment of apartheid itself, is plainly wrong. While I hate apartheid itself, I am not opposed to the old flag, and consider it to carry major historical significance. It should not be treated that way, and instead treated simply as a flag of a goneby era, like the Americans treat their former colonial flag under the British - while that represents a different era of the USA, it is not hated! Also, if anything, South Africa's people should be mad at the flag of the country that caused the horrific system of apartheid and all its miseries in the first place - the Union Jack of the UK. And that is all I have to say here. Lubbe, out.
There are a few things you wrote that I do want to address. Firstly The ANC was non-violent until the Sharpeville massacre. Nelson Mandela's first televised interview speaks about this and how they cannot keep using non-violence against a regime that used violence to suppress peaceful resistance. Watch through the entirety of the TRC to see what happend on all sides.
Even as a "terrorist" MK targeted empty government buildings and such.
The communist argument you bring up was a part of the regimes propaganda and a tool they used to suppress support for freedom for all. For example they passed a law where you could detain anyone suspected as a communist for three months without a trail. They would use this to hold anyone that opposed their rule in anyway indefinitely. Imagine being arrested, thrown into prison for three months, released for half an hour and arrested again, no trial, no lawyer, no phonecall.
Of course like many other dictatorships during the cold war, they had to take an anti-communist stance to receive backing from Western governments, whether public or not. Hence the country taking part in the Angolan proxy war, causing harm to young South African men as well as Angolans and Namibians.
Anyway with the fall of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990s it was obvious that there was no need to back an unpopular regime anymore, thus talks starting in 1992.
Even before that most people saw that the regime was going to collapse soon. Despite what you may believe, the Apartheid regime's economy wasn't as good as you think. The only reason it may have appeared that way is if you were part of the very few that received the little benefit that existed at the time. For almost all South Africans, they have better lives know then they had pre-1994, including Whites. Anyhow ever since the Rivonia trail there was threat and plans of violent uprising, but leaders of the revolution like Mandela which you call so violent held off those plans. Nevertheless people where getting angrier and angrier with the regime's suppression, leading up to the state of emergency in the 80s.
De Klerk and the goverment made those concessions and repealed laws as their backs was against the wall and the writing was on it.
South Africa know is in a better place then it was then. Yeah loadshedding sucks, but a much larger amount of people have access in electricity than had before. We have corruption, but the Apartheid regime had that too. We have crime, but it's less than what it was pre-1994.
Anyway in summary SA is in a better place than it was.
WonderWhy, since you're not American, you might not realize this, but saying "the civil war was about states' rights" is often used by racist groups who defend slavery and the confederate states. Yes, it is technically true in that the main cause was states' rights to slavery, but you have to be careful about how you say it. I honestly think that's the source of most of the dislikes on this video.
No lol, that's the other way around, most dislike here are from people who didn't liked the far left propaganda from this video against old flags like the Så and confederate ones or the old German flag.
This video is almost europhobic.
Being an Indian, I kinda like the Union Jack flag..I know it might sound a controversial but this is what I feel..British colonization was harsh for us but it was our past and we should acknowledge that without any hesitation..we have adopted their language English as one of our official languages, adopted the Parliamentary system of Government from them, playing Cricket🏏 which was introduced by England, then why do we feel shame in showing British symbol on our flag?? I wish we could have kept the Union Jack on our national flag just like Australia🇦🇺 and New Zealand🇳🇿 have even today
WonderWhy is still alive!
Enjoy the annual upload guys
Bros not gonna talk about the all the scary things that happened between 1990-1993
The American civil war was about slavery not about state rights.
I come from Germany and 15:51 has absolutely nothing to do with the old flag.
An excellent video.
19:28 well. They did change the flag in 1999 some were the shade of red in the flag.
the change was extremely minor and unoticable
@@ninteenthyeah. But still a change.
15:26 That’s strange, as in the late 1940s it was West Germany that first declared it was its own country, instead of part of an occupied zone, and East Germany was created as a response.
In the partitioning of Germany the Allied Control Council was formed for all 4 zones to cooperate in establishing common policies. The Soviet Union refused to cooperate and distance itself from the council. Since the Soviet Union exerted strong control over their zone separate from the other zones, the other 3 countries chose to merge their zones into one independent country.
@@Lensmaster1 Ah right, I see. But again, there must be a good reason why the USSR had this attitude. I do know that since the USSR's western era was raged by the Nazi regime, they demanded pretty high war- reperations from Germany. That might be an important side to things
Always day good when WhyWonder downloads
Babe wake up, new WonderWhy video just dropped
'boer' is pronounced something like bore - not burr. It's the Dutch word for farmer. In 'Boer War', the words pretty much rhyme.
No the way he said it was pretty much right just with a heavy accent. The word is pronounced boor with the "oo" being pronounced like in book. "Bore" is completely wrong but it's a common incorrect way that people who don't speak Afrikaans (or even dutch) say it. Maybe in some some regional dialects of Dutch it is pronounced like that but I have never heard any Afrikaans (also known as the Boers) person pronounce it that way.
Love your vids man keep it up!
Also; the pass book given to native South Africans was called a dompas, which literally means 'dumb pass'...
Awesome video.
13:32"the northern states joined Prussia while the southern states joined Austria"
Hanover in northwest Germany: *Sweats Profusely*
Ah yes, the "Burrs" of South Africa.
I cant believe this channel is back from the dead
Wow your voice is so nice and scottish and now I think I’ll join the discord link in description
i think the star-less u.s. flag with the english flag in the top left was originally flown on prospect hill, somerville, ma.
That was the flag of British East India Company.
Wonder if Libya is featured here. If not, that's something to look forward in a part 2 video
Thanks for the sensitivity in explaining the history of the South African flag and why it was changed.
FUN FACT: as stated in the video the old (Apartheid) flag of South Africa was based on an old Dutch flag, the "Prinsenvlag".
Just as the Apartheid flag, the Prinsenvlag has become controversial. It was repeatedly used by the NSB (Dutch National Socialist Party) in the 30s and 40s. Ever since it has been used by (Far) Right Wing groups.
Even when it's flown in a historic context, like Dutch Republic reenactment, it raises some eyebrows.
Great video
Funnily enough, the flag of the ANC actually existed long before they did.
It was used as the flag of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, an independent country and later federal state of the German Empire, with the flag in use from 1813 until 1897, when the yellow and green colours switched position - en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
8:02 i got on of these flags i got it from me grandpa.
He fought in the south afrikan army in the bush war
I love so much he is a great grandpa he collects old railway stuff.