Last modified: 2001-10-19 by zeljko heimer
Keywords: burundi | star: 6 points (fimbriated) | stars: triangle | stars: 3 | sabena | ethnic groups | motto | hutu | tutsi | twa |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
![[Flag of Burundi]](../images/b/bi.gif)
![[National Flag]](../misc/oooxxx.gif)
3:5
The flag was adopted
in 1967.
Stuart Notholt, 12 Mar 1996
The ratio of the flag was changed 27-9-82 to 3:5
when was published the official regulation.
[Earlier de facto proportions 2:3. Ed.]
Jaume Ollé, 05 Sep 1998
The three stars in the centre of the flag officially refer to the three words
in the national motto “Unité, Travail, Progrès” (French for
“Unity, Work, Progress”).
The three stars are also said to represent the three ethnic groups who live
in Burundi: the Hutu, Tutsi and the Twa. Burundi has a similar ethnic mix
to Rwanda and has similar problems.
The Twa are a pigmy race.
The red in the flag stands for the independence struggle, the green for hope
and the white for peace.
Stuart Notholt, 12 Mar 1996
W. Smith [smi80] also
suggests the possibility of the Burundian flag
being based on the old Sabena
flag, but he also says that there is no proof of that.
Zeljko Heimer, 02 Aug 1996
According to W. Smith, [smi80]
civilians have the right to use this flag only on holidays.
Otherwise the flag is used as a state flag and military flag on
land. President of the Republic has right to use a flag on buildings.
Zeljko Heimer, 13 Mar 1996
![[Flag of Burundi]](../images/b/bi_pay00.gif)
Colour approximations given in [pay00] are:
Red: Pantone 186c - CMYK (%) C 0 - M 90 - Y 80 - K 5
Green: Pantone 361c - CMYK (%) C 80 - M 0 - Y 90 - K 0
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2001
Regarding the dimensions, I was a bit speculating about the possible
measures. As judging from the Album 2000 image, the measures could be
easily something like this (3:5 width to length ratio is known):
white disk diameter: 3/5 of hoist
side of the equilateral trangle connecting centers of the stars: 1/4
of hoist
width of white saltire: 1/8 of hoist
diameter of the circle around each of the stars: 1/8 of hoist
Would that sound reasonable?
One should note that the green in BI flag is considerably lighter
then green shades used in near by shown flags (in Album 2000) of Burkina and
Bulgaria. The use of the lighter FOWT green (otherwise quite rarely
used in FOTW images), as in Ivan's gif is rightly chosen.
Zeljko Heimer, 9 April 1996
| From constitution (in French) Extract from http://www.burundi.gov.bi/const2.htm | English translation with notes by Ivan Sache 17 September 2000 |
|
Article 8. Le drapeau du Burundi est tricolore : vert, blanc et rouge. Il a la forme d'un rectangle partagé par un sautoir, comportant en son centre un disque blanc frappé de trois étoiles rouges à six branches qui forment un triangle équilatéral fictif inscrit dans un cercle fictif ayant le même centre que le disque et dont la base est parallèle à la longueur du drapeau. La loi précise les dimensions et les autres détails du drapeau. |
Article 8. The flag of Burundi has three colours [note that "tricolore" means "with three colours", sensu stricto, but usually "with three stripes of different colours", influenced by the French Tricolore, which is obviously not case here] : green, white and red. It has a rectangular shape and is divided by a saltire, including in the middle a white disc charged with three six-point stars. [I cut the very long, a la Marcel Proust, original sentence in three, for the sake of clarity]. The stars form a fictive equilateral triangle inscribed in a fictive circle. The circle has the same centre as the disc. The triangle basis is parallel to the length of the flag. The law states the dimensions and the other details of the flag [I suppose the colours of the "quarters" and the stars, as well as the width of the saltire and the size of the stars.] |
|
Article 9. La Devise du Burundi est : Unité, Travail, Progrès. L'emblème de la République est un écu frappé de la tête du lion ainsi que de trois lances, le tout entouré de la devise nationale. L'hymne national est Burundi Bwacu. Le sceau de la République est déterminé par la loi. |
Article 9. [National] motto of Burundi is: Unity, Work, Progress. [Note that we use in French the same word "devise" both for motto and currency.] The emblem of the Republic is a shield charged with the lion head and three spears, the whole being surrounded by the national motto. National anthem is Burundi Bwacu. The seal of the Republic is fixed by law. |
|
Article 10. La langue nationale est le Kirundi. Les langues officielles sont le Kirundi et les autres langues déterminées par la loi. |
Article 10. The national language is Kirundi. The official languages are Kirundi and the other languages fixed by the law [as far as I am aware, it is only French]. |
![[Air Force Rundel of Burundi]](../images/b/bi^round.gif)
Green-white-red roundel.
Encyclopaedia Universalis Yearbook 1998 says that 100% of the total
contingent of the Armed Forces (18,500 men) served in the Land Army in 1996.
Due to the troubled situation in the Great Lakes region, it might me
difficult to get a more updated information.
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2001
|