Botswana Flags – Botswana Flag, Bunting & Hand Flags

The Botswana flag: rain, zebra stripes and harmony

The flag of Botswana is a light blue field with a horizontal black band through the middle, bordered above and below by thin white stripes. The blue stands for water and rain, so precious in a dry country that both the currency and the national motto are Pula, meaning rain, while the black and white bands represent harmony between the peoples of the country and echo the stripes of the zebra, the national animal. It was adopted on 30 September 1966, when the Bechuanaland Protectorate became independent Botswana, and was deliberately different from the ruling party’s flag, an unusual choice among African flags of the time. Using none of the pan-African colours, it is instantly recognisable among the flags of southern Africa. Our Botswana flag is printed in the pale sky blue of the official design with crisp white edging to the black band.

Botswana Day, Olympic gold and the Zebras

Botswana Day on 30 September and the day after are public holidays, with Sir Seretse Khama Day on 1 July and President’s Day in July the other big flag days. In August 2024 sprinter Letsile Tebogo won the 200 metres in Paris, Botswana’s first Olympic gold medal, and the men’s 4x400m relay team took silver, building on Nijel Amos’s 800m silver in London in 2012; the football team are known as the Zebras. Botswana’s story is tied to Britain through Sir Seretse Khama, the first president, who married Ruth Williams, a London office worker, in 1948, a marriage told in the film A United Kingdom. Batswana students and healthcare workers in Britain and the high commission in London fly the flag on 30 September, and safari travellers back from the Okavango Delta bring one home.

Sizes, grades and fittings

The Botswana flag is stocked in two grades: Flagtex, a printed woven polyester for indoor displays and shorter spells outdoors, in 3ft x 2ft, 5ft x 3ft and 8ft x 5ft with brass eyelets, and DuraFlag, a heavier knitted polyester with double-stitched hems for a Botswana flag that stays up all year, in 3ft x 2ft, 5ft x 3ft and 8ft x 5ft with clips plus a 20x12in on rope and toggle. Fly the 5ft x 3ft from a pole or a sports club, put the 3ft x 2ft in a window or a halls of residence room, use the 8ft x 5ft as a backdrop or on a tall mast and fix the 20x12in to a car.

Botswana bunting

Botswana bunting is a string of rectangular pennants showing the light blue field and the white-edged black band, sold in 3m and 9m lengths. A 3m run brightens a doorway, a classroom or a stall; a 9m run decorates a hall, a garden or a marquee for Botswana Day. Each Botswana pennant is printed on both faces and the polyester shrugs off a shower.

Hand flags and table flags

Botswana hand flags on wooden sticks come in 9x6in and 18x12in for athletics meetings, Botswana Day and school assemblies. The Botswana table flag is a 6x4in flag on a base for a desk, a safari company office or a dinner table, and the large wooden Botswana table flag at 18x12in suits a high commission reception or a conference table. South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho flags are under world flags.

Botswana flag FAQs

Popular in this collection

• Botswana Flag (20x12in to 8x5ft, Flagtex or DuraFlag)from £6.99
• Botswana Bunting (3m or 9m)from £9.98
• Botswana Hand Flags (9x6in, 18x12in)from £5.99
• Botswana Table Flag 6x4in with Basefrom £1.98
• Botswana Large Wooden Table Flagfrom £3.98