 ALL MALAGASY CULTURE IN 3 COLORS AND A FLAG |
There are two references, which do not agree with each other, about this difficult topic,
| 1. Smith (1975) |
"Many Malagasy are descended from settlers who originally came from South-East Asia, suggesting that its red and white flags (see Indonesia) influenced similar red and white flags flown by the Hova empire in 19th century Madagascar. Those Hova flags were the basis for the tricolor adopted shortly after Madagascar became the Malagasy Republic. Green was added for the coastal people. Historically, red is associated with the Volamena and the white with the Volafotsi, princely families founded by King Andriandahifotsi (1610-1685). His personal emblem was a red bull and the name of the kingdom was Menabe, "Great Red".
| | 2. DK Ultimate Pocket (1997) |
"The red and white are said to symbolize the earlier Merina Kingdom, whose flags were all red and white, with the addition of the green for the Hova, the former peasant class."
Both sources agree on the red and the white, but there is discrepancy about the origin of the green. Encyclopaedia Universalis (CD-ROM edition, 1998) solves it, the DK Ultimate Pocket version being the correct one. The history of Madagascar is very complex. In fact, the Merina Kingdom (founded in 1787 by unifying several small princely states of the island), had a very strict social hierarchy, based on three main classes: the "andriana" (nobility), the "hova" (free commoners, mostly peasants), and the "andevo" (black slaves). |
