Lesotho: Basutoland protectorate flags

Last modified: 2002-06-21 by jarig bakker
Keywords: lesotho | basutoland |
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• High Commissioner of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland
• Resident Commissioner of Basutoland
• Basutoland badge 1951-1966

• Lesotho

High Commissioner of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland

Prior to independence on 4 October 1966, Lesotho was the British Crown Colony of Basutoland.
The Crown Colony of Basutoland was administered through the Office of the High Commissioner in South Africa which was created by Letters Patent in 1878. The High Commissioner was charged with the conduct of British relations with the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State, as well as with "those native states and tribes outside the colonies of the Cape and Natal, including Swaziland" (which was administered by the Government of the South African Republic under the Convention of 1894). The High Commissioner was also Governor of Basutoland (now Lesotho) and supervised the affairs of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland.

The High Commissioner flew a British Union Flag charged in the centre, on a white roundel, with the letters S.A.H.C. in black above which was a Tudor Crown, all within a green garland of laurel. This flag which was taken into use in 1907, is similar in design to that of the Western Pacific High Commissioner.
This flag was used until 1931 after which the posts of Governor-General and High Commissioner were separated. The Governor-General of South Africa would henceforth fly a royal blue flag bearing the Royal Crest with two scrolls inscribed "Union of South Africa" and "Unie van Suid-Afrika" respectively. The High Commissioner, based in South Africa, was represented by a Resident Commissioner in each of the High Commission Territorities (Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland). Of these, only the Resident Commissioner for Basutoland, which was a Crown Colony, had a personal flag. The other two territories were British Protectorates and thus their inhabitants were merely "protected persons".
Bruce Berry, 19 Feb 1998

Resident Commissioner of Basutoland

The flag of the High Commissoner for Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland was a similiar design to that used previously by the South African High Commissoner, being a British Union Flag charged in the centre, on a white roundel, with the letters H.C. in black, above which was an Imperial Crown, all within a green garland of laurel.

The flag of the Resident Commissioner in Basutoland was the British Union Flag charged in the centre, on a white roundel, with the shield of the arms granted to the Colony of Basutoland by Royal Warrant on 20 March 1951, namely: "Vert, a crocodile proper and in chief a fleece between two garbs Or" within a green garland of laurel.
Bruce Berry, 19 Feb 1998

This is the flag in use after 20 March 1951 when the arms were granted. Image according to Flag of All Nations 1955.
Perhaps the shield in a white circle was used unofficially in the blue ensign because the image is shown in some plates according to "Banderas".
Jaume Ollé, 8 June 1997

Flag, Br Resident Commissioner Basutoland at EBay. For image click here.
The flag of the British Resident Commissioner in Basutoland was the Union Flag with the shield of the arms granted to the Colony by Royal Warrant on 20 March 1951, namely: "Vert, a crocodile proper and in chief a fleece between two garbs Or" within a garland.  This flag became obsolete in 1966 when the territory became the Kingdom of Lesotho (within the Commonwealth). The flag measures approximately 6' x 3' (1.8 x 0.9 m). This replica was made ca. 1995.
Bill Garrison, 18 Jun 2002

Basutoland badge 1951-1966