eSwatini

Umbuso wakaNgwane (Kingdom of Swaziland)

Last modified: 2025-05-24 by bruce berry
Keywords: swaziland | eswatini | elephant | ngwane |
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• Name change
• Flag description
• Colour specifications
• Coat of Arms

• eSwatini - national index

Name change

During celebrations to mark the 50th celebrations of independence and his 50th birthday, King Mswati III announced that he was officially renaming the country the "Kingdom of eSwatini".  The new name means "land of the Swazi".  The King had already used the new name when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in 2017 and at the opening of the country's parliament in 2014. 
Bruce Berry, 19 April 2018

Flag description and specifications

2011 flag

image by Ralph Kelly, 21 Apr 2019

The flag is rectangular, and its colours are red, blue and yellow. Each of these colours has a specific meaning, namely:
Red stands for the battles of the past
Blue stands for peace and stability
Yellow stands for the natural resources the country possesses.

The flag also has a picture of a shield and spear. These two symbols stand for protection of the country from enemies. The shield is black and white to show that black and white people live together peacefully in eSwatini (Swaziland).
Source: this website.

The flag was officially hoisted on 30 October 1967.  It is based on the flag, granted by King Sobhuza II to the Emasotsha Regiment in 1941.  This flag, amended slightly, was hoisted on 25 April 1967 when the British Union flag used during the colonial period was hauled down. The blood red color is the symbol of past struggles; yellow points at prosperity by the richness in minerals; blue is the colour of peace.
Source: Pedersen, "Moussault's Lexicon van vlaggen en wapens", 1980 [ped80].

The flag hoisted for the first time on 25 April 1967 on the occasion of the pledge of the oath by King Sobhuza II. After its registration with the College of Arms in London on 30 October 1967, it was was adopted in a slightly different form.   The flag is based on the flag granted by the King to the Swazi Pioneer Corps during the Second World War in 1941. The Swazi ox hide-shield belongs to the Emasotsha Regiment.
Source: Rabbow, "DTV-lexikon politischer Symbole", 1970 [rab70].
Jarig Bakker, 02 Mar 2001

According to an official (undated) Government leaflet entitled "The Swaziland Flag", the significance of the flag is as follows:
"The Swaziland flag, based on the royal standard woven nearly 30 years ago, has now been registered at The College of Arms in London.  The Garter of Arms and The Windsor Herald Registrar submitted, on 30 Oct 1967, a final exact design which received the approval of HM King Sobhuza II.

The flag's specifications are briefly as follows:
a) A rectangle with sides in the proportion 3 to 2.
b) Five horizontal bars in the proportion, vertically, of 3 mid-blue, 1 yellow, 8 crimson, 1 yellow and 3 mid-blue.
c) On the wide crimson bar, a black and white Swazi shield of the Emasotsha regiment, in a sideways position, as when carried walking.  The black portion of the shield is towards the hoist (flagpole) and the decoration injobo-feathers of the lisakabuli (widow bird) and ligwalagwala (lourie bird) hangs from the upper portion of the black.  This particular injobo is used only by the King.
d) Behind the shield are two spears (tikhali) and a staff (umgobo) with tassels (also royal tinjobo). The spears point towards the fly, away from the flagpole, and are above the stick.  All three of these accoutrements lie horizontally.  They are in their natural colours.
e) The colours are in accordance with those laid down by the British Admiralty and their numbers on the Admiralty Chart are as follows:
    Black        T811
    White        T819
    Crimson    T816
    Yellow      T820
    Blue          T813

On the flag, crimson stands for battles of the past, yellow represents the wealth of the resources the country possesses, and the blue signifies peace".
Bruce Berry, 17 Apr 2003

National Flag. -SW/--- 2:3
The construction details for the stripes are given as 3+1+8+1+3. Colours are approximated to darker shades than illustrated above.  Pantone approximations are given in Album as:
    blue     293c
    yellow 116
    red      201c
Željko Heimer, 01 Feb 2003

I only have a partial text of Act No. 36 of 1968 which established the flag. It does confirm the stripes as 3 mid-blue, 1 yellow, 8 crimson, 1 yellow, 3 mid-blue.  These were originally regulated according to the now redundant British Admiralty System as:  Black T11, White T819, Crimson T816, Yellow T820 and Blue R813.

According to the official model I have on file, the Pantone colours given in the Album are too dark (and the ones illustrated on FOTW too light). 

Civil use of the flag:  The text I have makes no reference whatever to civil use of the flag (or otherwise).
Christopher Southworth, 01 Feb 2003

I was able to find the full legal text, along with the original drawing, at https://eswatinilii.org/akn/sz/act/1968/36/eng@1998-12-01/source.pdf

This 2011 article http://www.times.co.sz/feed/news/62052-stop-flying-unofficial-national-flags-warns-govt.txt doesn't state that the public can use the flag anytime. Only "national institutions and schools and those particular places that have express authority to fly it" and I could not find anything on when the public can use it, if at all.
Zachary Harden, 28 Nov 2024

In the manual the graphic on pages 19 and 21 shows the feathers as blue, but page 20 states "In 2011, the colour of the tassels were changed to black to match the widow bird's natural colour." This is similar to the statements made above. So while this graphic manual shows the blue feathers, actual flags used by the military and the Ministry of Home Affairs show black.
Zachary Harden, 29 Nov 2024

This manual was published on October 30th (just one month ago), and the picture was probably taken earlier or the flag was not changed yet, because it was still in stock. A different flag is seen in several places, for example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OXHZPe-x8 from 9:07. It is not the Armed Forces flag, because that consists of brown, yellow and brown horizontal stripes with the Armed Forces badge in the middle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OXHZPe-x8 from 8:38). Maybe the flag of the Commander-in-chief? (who is the King, but he also uses the Royal standard).
Zoltan Horvath, 29 Nov 2024

Colour Specifications

The Government website has a National Symbols page with small illustrations: https://www.gov.sz/index.php/about-us-sp-15933109/our-flag
Zoltan Horvath, 30 May 2024

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual, London, 2012 [bib-lna.html]) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each National Olympic Committee was sent an image of their flag, including the PMS shades, by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) for their approval. Once this was obtained, the LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specifications may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the National Olympic Committee believed their flag to be.

For Swaziland: PMS 638 blue, 102 yellow, 199 pink, 430 grey, 491 brown and black. The vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 Oct 2012

Other sources for colors:

The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 109 (yellow), PMS Warm Red, PMS 300 (blue), and PMS Black.

The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 293c, CMYK 100-60-0-0
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
Red: Pantone 201c, CMYK 0-100-65-30

Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [g9b12] gives Pantone colors: PMS 638 (blue), PMS 102 (yellow), PMS 199 (pink), PMS 430 (grey), PMS 491 (brown) and PMS Black.
The new flag is illustrated with light blue stripes and with grey tassels.

The Album des Pavillons 2023 specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems.
Blue: Pantone 293c, CMYK 94-73-0-0, RGB 0-71-182
Brown: Pantone 201c, CMYK 25-99-68-23, RGB 158-27-52
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-19-93-0, RGB 255-206-0
Pre-2011 flag is illustrated with blue, brownish red stripes, with blue tassels.

Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 199C (red), PMS 638C (blue), PMS 102C (yellow), PMS White, PMS Black, PMS 430C (grey), and PMS 491C (brown).
The new flag is illustrated with light blue stripes and with black tassels.

Wikipedia gives color values from British Admiralty System as: Black T11, White T819, Crimson T816, Yellow T820 and Blue R813 or T813.
It also provides a new flag illustration with light blue stripes and with black tassels.

Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Black: Hex: #000000, RGB 0-0-0, CMYK 0-0-0-100, Pantone Black, RAL 9005
Grey: Hex: # 333333, RGB 51-51-51, CMYK 69-63-62-58, Pantone N/A, RAL 7021
Blue: Hex: # 3E5EB9, RGB 62-94-185, CMYK 77-0-3-0, Pantone 638C, RAL 5012
White: Hex: # FFF FFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Yellow: Hex: # FFD900, RGB 255-217-0, CMYK 0-5-100-0, Pantone 109C, RAL 2007
Red: Hex: # B10C0C, RGB 177-12-12, CMYK 0-100-79-0, Pantone 199C, RAL 3020

Zoltan Horvath, 30 May 2024

It seems that eSwatini has just standardized its flag and coat of arms.
On 30 October, 2024, it was announced that the country's Corporate Branding Manual had been issued:
https://www.parliament.gov.sz
https://www.insidebiz.co.sz/ministry-of-ict

The Corporate Branding Manual can be seen here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_JwLrkPb_zREFfb1mCZG9nQlfwxaEWj/view

This document defines the flag colors in Pantone and CMYK systems as follows (page 21):
Blue: Pantone 542 C, CMYK: 51-16-0-0;
Yellow: Pantone 803 C, CMYK: 0-9-100-0;
Red: Pantone 157 C, CMYK 0-88-85-0
and Black and White

It means that eSwatini has been using a new flag, different from that one reported in 2011, when the blue became lighter and the tassels became black. This flag has blue tassels, and based on this construction sheet, the brown bulb is also removed from lower rod.
Zoltan Horvath, 29 Nov 2024

Coat of Arms

The National Arms
The two supporters are the symbols of power for the King (lion) and the Queen-mother (elephant). The shield is a typical Nguni shield used in the country. The weapons on the shield are typical local weapons. The colour of the shield is derived from the King's own regiment. Siyinqaba means: We are the fortress "We are a tower of strength".
Ralf Hartemink, 14 Jan 2002

The Corporate Branding Manual can be seen here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_JwLrkPb_zREFfb1mCZG9nQlfwxaEWj/view. The Coat of arms is displayed on the cover page, its details and symbolism can be read on page 16, colors defined on page 24. There is no significant change from previously reported emblem.