Today, the flag of the Republic of Malawi flies, celebrating the trip I took to this south east African nation last month. Malawi shares its name with the Chewa word for flames and is linked to the Maravi people from whom the Chewa language originated.
The flag of Malawi was adopted on the same day Malawi gained independence from the British empire on July 6, 1964. The Malawi flag has a black band on top, with a red rising sun superimposed upon it. This feature is also present in the nation’s coat of arms, and represents the dawn of hope and freedom for the continent of Africa. The black represents the indigenous people of the continent. Below that is the red stripe representing the blood of the independence struggle. At the bottom is the green stripe representing nature.
On July 29, 2010, President President Bingo wa Mutharika altered the design of the flag. The red and black stripes were reversed and the sunrise was replace with a full sun, centered over the entire flag, colored white. This change was controversial and two years later, on May 28, 2012, parliament voted to revert to the 1964 flag.
Also flying today is the flag of South Africa, which I transited through on my way to Malawi.
On a personal note, my trip to Malawi was my first visit to Africa and I look forward to going back to both the nation and the continent. Arriving in Africa, I now have visited all seven continents! Here are the dates of my first visit to each continent, in chronological order.
| Continent | Date |
| North America | 1978 |
| Asia | 1991 |
| Europe | 1994 |
| South America | 2005 |
| Antarctica | 2005 |
| Australia | 2020 |
| Africa | 2025 |
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