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Zanzibar (TZ)

Flag flown over Zanzibar before 1963

by Mark Sensen

In historical times, the island of Zanzibar, famous for its trade in spices and slaves, was part of the Sultanate of Oman, as was much of the East African coast. Oman flew a plain red flag. This continued in use after the Sultan Sayyid transferred his seat of government to Zanzibar in 1840. In 1884 Bismark claimed protectorate status over Zanzibar and its mainland satellite Witu, but the Germans weren't that interested in either and transferred their suzerainty to Britain in 1890. This was part of the (in)famous 'Scramble for Africa' - in return for limiting their aspirations in East Africa, the Germans gained Heligoland, the North Sea island which the British had held since Napoleonic times (and which had its own flags, but that's another story).
by Stuart Notholt, 1996-06-29

Protectorate and Sultanate of Zanzibar (10 December 1963 - 12 January 1964)

by Mark Sensen, 1997-01-04 On 10 December 1963, the Zanzibar Protectorate was granted independence as the Sultanate of Zanzibar by the British. The flag adopted was red with a green disc upon which were two yellow cloves. (Possibly because the flag was short-lived, variations exist on the design of the cloves.) The Sultanate, and its flag, didn't last long. On 17 January 1964 there was a violent Marxist/Africanist coup which resulted in the deaths or explusion of an estimated one in five of the Arab population.
by Stuart Notholt, 1996-06-29

Peoples Republic of Zanzibar (17 January 1964 - circa 30 June 1964)

by Mark Sensen, 1997-06-03

by Rob Raeside, 1997-06-03

Following the 17 January 1964 coup which deposed the Sultan, the revolutionary group purporting to represent the island's negro majority proclaimed a Peoples' Republic. This immediately made an offer of union with the Marxist-leaning government of Tanganyika. Two flags emerged during the early part of this period - the horizontally striped black-yellow-blue flag appears to have been short lived, and was replaced with the blue-black-green triband with a white stripe in the hoist. As happened in neighbouring Tanganyika, this latter flag was based on the emblem of the ruling party; in Zanzibar's case the Afro-Shirazi party. The party had a flag of blue over black over green with a yellow hoe in the centre. The national flag omitted the hoe and had a white stripe at the hoist. (NB the flag above is drawn from a written description, so accuracy is not guaranteed).
by Stuart Notholt, 1996-06-29

Zanzibar, after 1964

After Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika on 12 January 1965 to form Tanzania the current Tanzanian flag was adopted (30 June 1964). The Zanzibari flag presumably ceased to be used, although it is possible unofficial usage continued on the island.
by Stuart Notholt, 1996-06-29