Lesotho Royal flags

Last modified: 2002-04-12 by jarig bakker
Keywords: lesotho |
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• Royal Lesotho flag
• Lesotho Royal Standard 1966-1987
• Lesotho Royal Standard 1966-1987, wrong version

• Lesotho

Royal Lesotho flag

By the time Crampton's 1989 "Complete Guide to Flags" was published, Lesotho's national flag had changed to the current model, and the royal standard followed suite. Crampton also gives further detail on the Arms:
"Royal standard. As national [flag], but with the whole arms in colour in the canton." ... "Behind the shield are its spine and a spear and knobkerrie (a stick used as a club by tribesmen)."
Santiago Dotor, 24 Feb 2000

Royal Standard. 2:3
Flag similar to the national flag, to which the emblem is replaced with the coat of arms.
Source: Album 2000.
Zeljko Heimer, 7 Apr 2002

IIRC we have seen an actual sample of a Lesotho Royal Standard at the ICV at York. The coa was decidedly different from what we usually see in the books and what we see in Santiago's/Zeljko's gif. The outlines were the same, but the colours were quite different. I have to find the relevant slide for more definitive info, though.
Marcus Schmöger, 7 Apr 2002

Lesotho Royal Standard 1966-1987

Bruce Berry stated: "The Royal Standard is similar to the [1966-1987] National Flag, but has the Arms in the centre, with the hat [that's the white device on the former flag] above. These [Arms] are an African shield of traditional shape, in yellow, charged with a brown crocodile. The shield is supported by two brown ponies, and stands on a representation of Thaba Bosiu, the Mountain of Night, the stronghold of King Moshoeshoe I, with the motto Khotso, Pula, Nala in red letters on a gold scroll. This means 'Peace, Rain, Plenty' [in Tswana language]."
Source: Barraclough and Crampton's 1981 "Flags of the World", pp. 151 and 152.
Santiago Dotor, 24 Feb 2000

Lesotho Royal Standard 1966-1987, wrong version

Smith's Flags Through the Ages and Across the World (1975) shows the "Royal flag" as very similar to the 1966-1987 national flag, but with a much larger hat device and the Arms *on*, not below, it. Smith however uses the FIAV symbol for a "reconstructed flag (design based on written sources only)", so he might not be in this instance fully reliable. About the Arms it says:

"The original coat of arms design drafted prior to independence bore a representation on its shield of Moshoeshoe I. Heraldic experts in South Africa advised that this was improper. Instead, the personal symbol of the king and his dynasty, a crocodile, was substituted. Immediately below the shield is a representation of Thaba Bosiu (Mountain of Night) where Moshoeshoe I first rallied his nation in the new homeland and where in 1870 he was buried." Source: Smith 1975, see above, page 251.

Smith in "Flags and Arms across the World", 1985 proves that that was certainly a mistake, for the royal flag is here shown as described by Crampton 1981 (see above), with the hat device being approximately 9/40ths as high as the flag, and the Arms below it about 4/11ths.
Santiago Dotor, 24 Feb 2000