Nigerians can recognize their national colours even when woken up from a deep slumber but do they really know much about it's origin?
The Nigerian national flag
So you want to know how flags came into being, when the Nigerian flag was first officially used and what other things a flag could be used for? Then read this:
1. The Nigerian national flag is an adaptation of the winning entry from Taiwo Akinkunmi in a competition held in 1959. The original submission had a red radiating sun badge in the center triptych of one white vertical with a green vertical on each side. After the badge was removed by the judges, the flag has remained unchanged.
2. The designer of the national flag was Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, he was a twenty-three-year-old student of Norwich Technical College in England, where he was studying electrical engineering.
3. When he saw an advertisement in a newspaper that submissions were being accepted for the design of a new National flag entered the competition and his design was selected as the best in the year 1958.
4. The flag with adaptations was first officially used on October 1, 1960, Nigeria’s Independence Day.
5. Like many countries of the world apart from Nepal (whose shape is two overlapping triangles) , the Nigerian flag is rectangular in shape.
Did you know that Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for other decorative purposes? Well, yes, it is!
Also, the study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin word vexillum, meaning flag or banner.