Malawi Flags – Malawian Rising Sun Flag, Bunting & Hand Flags

The Malawi flag: a rising sun over black, red and green

Malawi’s flag is a horizontal triband of black, red and green with a red rising sun of 31 rays half-showing in the centre of the black stripe. It was adopted on 6 July 1964, when the former Nyasaland Protectorate became independent, and the colours come from the Malawi Congress Party and the pan-African palette: black for the people of Africa, red for the blood of those who died for freedom, including John Chilembwe in his 1915 rising, and green for the evergreen land. The rising sun is the dawn of hope and freedom for the whole continent, and its 31 rays mark Malawi as the 31st African state to gain independence. In 2010 the government replaced it with a red, black and green flag carrying a full white sun in the centre, to show that the country had developed; the change was unpopular and the 1964 flag was restored by Parliament in May 2012. We stock both, with the Malawi 2010–2012 flag as a 5ft x 3ft for collectors and our current Malawi flag printed with the sun sitting on the line of the red stripe as it should.

Independence Day, the Queens and Scotland’s partnership

Independence Day on 6 July is the national day, with Kamuzu Day on 14 May and John Chilembwe Day on 15 January as the other flag occasions. Netball gives the flag its biggest British audience: the Malawi Queens are regulars at the Netball World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, played in Liverpool in 2019 and in Birmingham in 2022, and several of their players have played club netball in Britain. In football the Flames reached the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 in 2021. The ties with Britain are unusually deep: David Livingstone reached Lake Malawi in 1859, the Church of Scotland founded missions at Blantyre and Livingstonia, and the Scotland Malawi Partnership links hundreds of schools, churches, councils and universities, so the flag goes up for twinning visits, fundraising runs and school partnership weeks from Inverness to Cornwall as much as for the Malawian community in Leicester, Luton, Manchester and London.

Sizes, grades and fittings

Pick the 5ft x 3ft for a church hall, a flagpole or a school stage; the 3ft x 2ft for a classroom window or a fundraising stall; the 8ft x 5ft for a sports hall backdrop or a tall mast; and the 20x12in for a car or a hand pole. Flagtex, the printed woven polyester, is the indoor and short-term outdoor grade, while DuraFlag, the knitted heavyweight with double-stitched hems, is built to fly for a season. Both have a sewn header and brass eyelets, and DuraFlag can be ordered with clips or rope and toggle. The 2010–2012 flag comes as a 5ft x 3ft with eyelets.

Malawi bunting

Malawi bunting links rectangular black, red and green pennants, each with the rising sun, along a tape in 3m and 9m lengths. A 3m run suits a classroom display for a partnership week or a cake stall; a 9m run decorates a church hall, a netball court or a marquee for 6 July. Both sides of every pennant are printed and the polyester takes a spot of rain.

Hand flags and table flags

Malawi hand flags on wooden sticks come in 9x6in and 18x12in for netball tournaments, school welcomes and Independence Day services. The Malawi table flag is a 6x4in flag on a base for a desk or a charity office, the large wooden table flag at 18x12in suits a reception or a top table, and a 2010–2012 table flag completes a collection. Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Kenya are under world flags.

Malawi flag FAQs

Popular in this collection

• Malawi Flag (20x12in to 8x5ft, Flagtex or DuraFlag)from £6.99
• Malawi Bunting (3m or 9m)from £9.98
• Malawi Hand Flags (9x6in, 18x12in)from £5.99
• Malawi 2010–2012 Flag 5x3ftfrom £7.99
• Malawi Table Flag 6x4in with Basefrom £1.98