Flag of Lesotho
e British protectorate of Basutoland was established in 1868 to preserve the mountain kingdom of Basotho from being absorbed by South Africa. The Basotho (Southern Sotho) therefore flew the Union Jack and had little need for a national flag of their own. Decades later a national flag was designed for hoisting on Independence Day, Oct. 4, 1966, when the nation became known as the Kingdom of Lesotho. The prime minister, Chief Leabua Jonathan, wanted to use the flag of his own ruling Basotho National Party, which had four equal horizontal stripes from top to bottom of blue, white, red, and green. Other parties objected, and instead the national flag displayed green, red, and blue vertically with a white silhouette version of a typical Sotho straw hat.