Mozambican colonial flags

Last modified: 2002-10-26 by jarig bakker
Keywords: mozambique | colonial flag | kionga triangle |
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• Colonial flag
• Colonial Flag - variant
• Colonists flag
• Companies in Mozambique
• Kionga triangle
• Old Mozambique Military Command banner of arms

• Mozambique
• Flags from a map of 1576
• Portiguese colonial flags
• Portuguese company flags

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Colonial Flag

The Portuguese colonies were regarded as integral parts of Portugal and did not have flags of their own. However, there were flags for the Portuguese governors and governors general of the overseas provinces. There was a project to give the Portugese colonies/overseas provinces distinctive flags, but these were never adopted. The pattern for theseflags was: Portugese flag with in the lower fly the shield of the coat of arms of the territory, as shown above. These coats of arms were already in existence, and the shields of all consisted of two sub-shields, dexter representing the motherland, sinister the territory, and the base the oceans between them. The sub-shield of Mozambique was silver with seven green arrows pointing downwards, tied together with a red ribbon.
Mark Sensen, 30 July 1996

It's interesting that the colonial flags of Mozambique relate only to the Overseas Province of Mozambique, not to the previous dispensation under the Kingdom of Portugal and the first three decades of the Portuguese Republic where what we today call Mozambique was a grouping of separate colonies, labelled for convenience Portuguese East Africa.
These colonies were, from south to north, Lourenço Marques, Inhambane, Manhica e Sofala (administered by the Companhia de Moçambique), Quelimane and Tete (these last two were initially separate, then combined as Zambezia), Moçambique and Niassa (Niassa administered by the Companhia de Niassa).
All of them issued stamps (the chartered companies issued stamps for the two under company administration), but I haven't yet seen any indication of flags.
Mike Oettle, 20 Dec 2001

Colonists flag

Currently kept in the personal collection of prof. Withney Smith, a "colonial" Mozambican flag was made and hoisted in July 1974 by fleeing Portuguese colonists in Lourenço Marques (current Maputo), consisting of a Portuguese 2:3 background of 2V 3R charged with the colonial greater arms: a round point shield (7:8) tierced in mantel, dexter silver, five blue eschuteons arranged in cross, each charged with five silver bezants saltire (old portuguese arms), sinister silver, seven green arrows pointing down tied with a red tie, point silver, four waves of green (portuguese traditional heraldic sea). The shield rests on a large golden armillary sphere (in this flag 1/2 of the hoist, as in the portuguese national flag) in an "art nouveau" perspectiveless style, crowned with a 5 tower golden castle wall, with a blue armillary sphere on each tower and one silver shield charged with an Order of Christ cross on each of the four crenel gaps between the towers. Under all this a white scroll where the usual black sans serif inscription "PROVÍN. PORTUGUESA DE MOÇAMBIQUE" (before 1951: "COLÓNIA PORTUGUESA DE MOÇAMBIQUE") was substituted to a plain "MOÇAMBIQUE".
Antonio Martins, 21 Sep 1997

Flags on a 1576 map

mz-1576n - Placed in northern Mozambique. The flag is square, yellowbordered in red, with five blue bezants disposed in saltire in the yellowsquare. This is evidentely a portuguese flag, but one I never saw before.

mz-1576s - Placed in southern Mozambique. Another square flag, yellowbordered in blue, with a red templar cross in the yellow square. Another Portuguese flag unknown to me.
Jorge Candeias, 15 Aug 1999

Companies in Mozambique

This is correct concerning the Niassa Company, which handed its territory (north of the River Lurio) back to the Portuguese Government on 27 October 1929. However, the Mozambique Company continued until the Second World War, handing its territory (between the Save and Zambezi rivers) back in January 1942. Unfortunately I also lack information on flag use, although there might just be something I can glean (not in full colour, unfortunately) from my Mozambique Company stamps. I'll have another look. I have no information on the Zambezi Company, as this company did not issue its own stamps - Portugal issued stamps for the colonies of Quelimane and Tete, and later merged them as Zambezia.
Mike Oettle, 4 Jan 2002

About the end of these companies: yes -- I do not know exactly, but I've heard that it is also related to the 1918 issue of the newly portuguese ruled territory of the so called "Triangle of Rovuma", transfered from German East Africa to Portuguese (Mozambique) after World War I.
António Martins, 31 May 1997

Kionga triangle

At first I couldn't find it, because the Stielers Handatlas of 1912 had the Rovuma tiver as northern border of Mozambique. In Andrees Handatlas of 1910 the Rovuma triangle is clearly visible, named "Kionga", a district known as the Kionga Triangle, northeast Mozambique, south of the Rovuma river, 1.000 km². Kionga town had (1910) 4.000 inhabitants; formerly a part of German East Africa; occupied in 1916 by Portuguese troops, transferred to Portugal 1919. I suppose only national flags of Germany and Portugal were used in those days (although special postage stamps were issued in 1916).
Jarig Bakker, 22 Oct 2002

Old Mozambique Military Command banner of arms