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Flags of Namibia

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Flags of Namibia

Namibia's colonial history includes one of the 20th century's first documented genocides: the German colonial administration's 1904–08 campaign against the Herero and Nama peoples, in which tens of thousands died in massacres, forced marches into the desert, and concentration camps. German rule ended in 1915, but Namibia did not become independent until 1990 — three-quarters of a century later, after decades of South African administration, including direct apartheid-era rule, and a long armed liberation struggle.

Scope of this page: the lands of present-day Namibia, from Herero, Nama, and Ovambo societies through German and South African rule to the modern republic. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.

Namibia's own border, four rulers — and one carve-out

Namibia's own real border, traced whole, with one internal carve-out: Ovamboland, the far-north home of the Ondonga and other Aawambo kingdoms, which stayed largely outside direct German control while the rest of the territory was administered as German South-West Africa. Press play, or drag the slider, to watch who held it, era to era.

German rule never actually reached the far north. Unlike Nigeria's briefly separate Northern and Southern protectorates, German and South African rule mostly governed the territory as one unit — but not entirely: the Aawambo kingdoms of Ovamboland, including the long-reigning Ondonga kingdom, remained largely outside direct German administration through the whole 1884–1915 colonial period. The border below only solidifies for the span the two pieces were genuinely governed apart.
1990–present
ANGOLAZAMBIABOTSWANASOUTH AFRICA NAMIBIA OVAMBOLAND
Republic of Namibia (independent)

Real traced coastline and border; the Ovamboland carve-out in the far north is schematic and approximate, not a surveyed boundary — see the rule box above for why it's shown.

How we know this. 4 of 4 eras on this page carry an evidence panel (3 attested, 1 placeholder image). Only the ones marked attested are confirmed by the sources named under them; where sources disagree or a claim could not be confirmed, the panel says so.
blue-red-green diagonal with a gold sun, current flag since 1990
1990 – present

Republic of Namibia (independent)

Republic, independentSam NujomaSecular (no state religion)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: return of SWAPO exiles (1989–90)

Who & why: after a UN-supervised transition and elections won by SWAPO (the South West Africa People's Organisation, which had led the armed liberation struggle since the 1960s), Namibia becomes independent on 21 March 1990 under founding president Sam Nujoma — the last African territory to gain independence from colonial and settler rule (excluding Eritrea's later 1993 separation from Ethiopia).

What it represents: blue for the sky, the Atlantic Ocean and rain, red for the people and their heroism, green for vegetation and agriculture, white for peace and unity, and the gold sun for life and energy, as the chairman of the national symbols committee described the flag on 2 February 1990 (Flags of the World, citing Archives News 1990); the flag was adopted on 21 March 1990 at independence. One source quoted by Flags of the World says the colours were taken from the SWAPO flag of 1971; the sources read do not say it was designed to break from the German and South African flags.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia's infobox: adopted 21 March 1990. FOTW (Namibian flag 1990 - ): on 21 March 1990 South West Africa gained independence as the Republic of Namibia and adopted a new flag chosen by a committee; the symbolism given by the chairman of the National Symbols Sub-committee on 2 February 1990 (citing F. G. Brownell, Archives News 1990) is red for the people and their heroism, white for peace and unity, green for vegetation and agriculture, blue for the sky, the Atlantic Ocean and rain, and the gold sun for life and energy; one source says the colours came from the SWAPO flag adopted in 1971.

Not established: Neither source says the design 'deliberately breaks' from the German and South African flags; FOTW's note that the colours came from the SWAPO flag (adopted 1971) is a single attribution to a 1990 flag book.

Paint guide
Proportions2:3.
LayoutDiagonal split, blue upper-hoist and green lower-fly, white-bordered red diagonal band, gold sun in the upper hoist.
Blue#003580
Red#D21034
Green#009543
Gold#FFCE00
South Africa's own orange-white-blue flag, flown administratively over the territory
1915 – 1990

South West Africa (South African mandate, then occupation)

Colony/occupation (contested)Louis BothaNo official state religion (Dutch Reformed Church influential)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: South African settlers (apartheid land allocation)Emigration: SWAPO exiles fleeing occupation (1966–90)

Who & why: South African forces occupy German South-West Africa in 1915 during the First World War, and South Africa is granted a League of Nations mandate over the territory in 1920. Rather than preparing it for self-government, South Africa administers it as a de facto fifth province, extending its own apartheid laws there after 1948. The United Nations formally revokes South Africa's mandate in 1966, but South Africa refuses to withdraw, continuing what the UN and International Court of Justice both deem an illegal occupation through a long, bitterly fought SWAPO-led liberation war (the Namibian War of Independence, 1966–1990) before finally agreeing to a UN-supervised transition to independence.

What it represents: the flag flown over the territory was South Africa's: Flags of the World says the South African Red Ensign was flown under the mandate until 31 May 1928, when the South African national flag (orange, white and blue stripes with three small flags in the centre) was adopted. Wikipedia's captions also list a South West Africa flag for 1915-1919, a merchant flag for 1915-1928, bantustan flags and the SWAPO flag; the plain orange-white-blue flag drawn here is a simplification, and a distinct territorial flag was not found in the sources read.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia's captions: a South West Africa flag for 1915-1919 (identification uncertain), a merchant flag 1915-1928, South African-derived flags for South West Africa 1928-1990, bantustan flags and the SWAPO flag at the UN 1976-1990. FOTW (Flag History of Namibia): South African troops took German South West Africa on 9 July 1915; under the mandate the South African Red Ensign was flown in the territory until 31 May 1928, when the South African national flag (orange, white and blue stripes with flaglets in the centre) was adopted; FOTW also lists the bantustan flags.

Not established: FOTW's account stops at the 1928 adoption; the flag shown on the page is the plain orange-white-blue without the flaglets, a simplification, and the SA Red Ensign (1915-28) is not what the page shows for the whole span.

Paint guide
Proportions2:3.
LayoutHorizontal tricolor, orange-white-blue (South Africa's 1928–1994 national flag).
Orange#FF6B00
White#FFFFFF
Blue#002395
the German imperial colonial ensign flown over South-West Africa
1884 – 1915

German South-West Africa

Colony (genocide)Otto von BismarckLutheran Christianity (imperial state church, no colonial establishment)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: German settlers (from 1884)Emigration: Herero survivors fleeing to Bechuanaland (1904–08)
Ruling house:House of MahareroHouse of WitbooiOndonga Kingdom

Who & why: Germany declares a protectorate over the territory in 1884. When the Herero and later the Nama rise up against German land seizures and abuses in 1904, colonial commander Lothar von Trotha issues an explicit extermination order; German forces drive Herero communities into the Omaheke desert to die of thirst and starvation, and survivors of both peoples are confined in concentration camps marked by forced labor, starvation, and high death rates. Estimates commonly cited suggest that roughly 65,000 of an estimated 80,000 Herero and around 10,000 of 20,000 Nama died between 1904 and 1908 — widely recognized today as the 20th century's first genocide, a fact this atlas states plainly given how well documented it is. Germany formally acknowledged the genocide in 2021.

What it represents: Wikipedia says the Reich Colonial Office flag was used in German South-West Africa from 24 April 1884 to 9 July 1915 and shows an undated proposed colonial flag, without describing either. The black-white-red civil ensign shown is not confirmed by the sources read.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia: the Reich Colonial Office flag was used in German South-West Africa from 24 April 1884 to 9 July 1915, with an undated proposed colonial flag shown. FOTW (Flag History of Namibia): German colonies had no distinctive flags or arms of their own; the Imperial German arms and flags were used throughout the empire, including German South West Africa; colonial flags designed in 1912-14 (the German tricolour with a blue shield bearing a silver ox's head and a diamond for South West Africa) were never taken into use because of the war; German forces surrendered on 9 July 1915.

Not established: The exact imperial flag flown (the black-white-red civil ensign drawn on the page vs. the Reich Colonial Office flag Wikipedia names) is not described by either source.

Paint guide
Proportions3:5.
LayoutHorizontal tricolor, black-white-red.
Black#000000
White#FFFFFF
Red#C8102E
NO FLAG DOCUMENTED
placeholder maroon field — Herero, Nama, and Ovambo societies, no flag survives
pre-1884

Herero, Nama, Ovambo, and San societies

Pre-colonial societiesNo single ruler documentedIndigenous belief systems (no unified state religion)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: Oorlam migration from the Cape (1820s–40s)
Ruling house:House of MahareroHouse of WitbooiOndonga Kingdom

Who & why: before German colonization, the territory is home to the pastoralist Herero, the Nama (Khoikhoi-descended pastoralists), the agricultural Ovambo peoples of the north, and San hunter-gatherer communities, organized in clan- and chieftaincy-based structures rather than a single centralized state.

What it represents: no securely documented flag survives from this pre-colonial era for any of these peoples; shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Placeholder imagehow we know this

This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — Herero, Nama, and Ovambo societies, no flag survives».

Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.

Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Pre-colonial societies — no centralized crown
Colony (genocide) — German rule marked by the 1904–08 Herero and Nama genocide
Colony/occupation (contested) — South African rule, later ruled illegal by the UN
Republic, independent — sovereign statehood
Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start
State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for Namibia lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

Search Record Atlas for Namibia →

More of the atlas

This page is one lineage in a larger set. See the region-wide hub and the other countries here:

Flags Atlas indexSearch every country and hub Central & Southern Africa hubFourteen countries, Congo basin to the Cape
Compiled from Wikipedia, Flags of the World (fotw.info / crwflags.com), and Britannica. Colors are close historical approximations for painting reference; pre-19th-century swatches are informed reconstructions, not official specifications.