የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ አላማችን አረንጓዴ፣ ቢጫና ቀይ ቀለማት እንደ ዱሮው ሁሉ የልምላሜ የተስፋና ለነፃነት የሚከፈል መስዋዕትነት ምልክቶቻችን ናቸው ።
ኢትዮጵያ ዘመን ተሻጋሪ የሰንደቅ አላማ ታሪክ ካላቸው ሃገራት መካከል አንዷ ናት ፤ የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ አላማ እስከ 1890ዎቹ ሁለተኛ አጋማሽ ድረስ በቀለማትም አንድ ወጥ አልነበረም ፤ አረንጓዴ፣ ቢጫና ቀይ ቀለማት ያሉት ሰንደቅ አላማ ቀለማት ወጥነት ባለው በተያያዙ አራት ማእዘናት በጥቅም ላይ የዋሉት በ1890ዎቹ መጨረሻ ነው ፤ በሃገራችን ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ለሰንደቅ አላማ ልዩ ትርጓሜና ስርፀት የተሰጠው በ1898 እንደሆነ ይነገራል ፤ ቢጫ የብርሃን፣ ቀይ የመስዋዕትነትና አረን
ጓዴ የተስፋ ምልክት ተደርጐ ይወሰዳል፡፡ ከዚህ በኋላ ሰንደቅ አላማችን አንድ ጊዜ መንፈሳዊ ሌላ ጊዜ ፖለቲካዊ ትርጓሜ እየታከለበት ዘመን ተሻግሯል ፤ እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሰንደቅ አላማችን ስም በጐም ሆነ መጥፎ ተግባራት በተፈፀሙባቸው ዘመነ መንግስታት ጭምር ለሰንደቅ አላማችን ያለን ፍቅርና ክብር እጅግ ጥልቅ ነው ፤ ጥንታውያን ጀግኖች ወላጆቻችን ሰንደቅ አላማችንን ይዘው አስደናቂ ትግልና ውጊያ በማካሄድ ከባዕዳውያን ቀጥተኛ ተፅዕኖ ነፃ የሆነች ሃገር አስረክበውናል ፤ በአንዲት ባንዲራቸው ጥላ ስር በመሆን ወራሪውን ሃይል በእግዚአብሔር ረዳትነትና እና በታማኝ አርበኞች ጀግንነት ከቀኝ ግዛት ነጻ የሆነች ሀገር አቆይተውልናል ፡፡
The Mysterious Origin of the Flag of Ethiopia
n this section, we shall attempt to reveal the mysterious origin and interpretation of the Ethiopian flag which has been passed down as folk lore through oral history. The Ethiopians call their flag Sendek Alama, which literally means “Sceptre Motto ” or “Sceptre Symbol” or “National Flag”. The Ethiopians also use the bastardized name Bandira (Italian=Bandiera), unaware that it is of Italian derivative for banner or flag. We believe that the Ethiopian flag of Green Yellow and Red is the oldest flag in the world and are presenting the wonderful and majestic story here.The earliest flag used by humankind is probably the colors of the rainbow (Keste Damena or Bow of the Cloud), basically the Green Yellow and Red. Today Bolivian Indians still use the colors to celebrate some of their festivals but in Ethiopia it is still the emblem of the country. Throughout the year, it is seen in the rains of the monsoon seasons or in one of the many waterfalls (Fwafwate) during the dry season, as a reminder that God made to man never to destroy the earth with water. The right photo above show the rainbow after a shower in Yayi Ethiopia. The left photo is the perpetual rainbow at the Blue Nile falls (Tis Isat or Smoke of Fire). Because the flag has an ancient roots, many interpretations exists as to what the colors signifies such as Faith Hope and Charity or Father Son and Holy Spirit or Wealth Blood and Fertile Land and other present era terms. Ethiopians however believe it was given to them by God and its sanctity is beheld.(Photo from Pankhurst, Ethiopia)
The image of the flag with the Lion of Judah (Moa Anbessa) is from a flag that was used at the Jubilee Palace and is the official correct symbol. Certain individuals use the British or Persian lion but the Lion of Ethiopia is unique and is as depicted here and on the currency of the country. Some individuals specifically tourists and pseudo-scholars, provide wrong information that are picked up very fast by the lay person just because it was written by a European. One such example is Herbert Vivian, a British traveler who was in Ethiopia in 1901 and who describes the flag of Ethiopia in his book Abyssinia as White Red White horizontal strips when he first saw it near Somadu and Gildessa close to Harar. There is even a black and white photograph of the flag. Vivian is a controversial traveler due to his rather inaccurate descriptions of Ethiopia. Wylde however describes in a book called Modern Abyssinia (1900)
The Ethiopian Flag as depicted on Wylde’s book
the Ethiopian flag as top yellow middle red and lower green Pendants (triangle shaped). This type of flag was used by Emperor Menelik in Addis Abeba. The three pendants were later united into the traditional Green Yellow Red horizontal strips of the Ethiopian flag as we know it today. Sometimes in the early part of 1900’s the three colors were united to signify the unity of Ethiopia and as part of Menilik’s desire to modernize Ethiopia. Emperor Menilik watching TNT (dinamit) explode near Bishoftu lake. Notice the 3 pendant flags
Sometimes different regions of Ethiopia use flags whose origin is uncertain. Sometimes the origin can be traced to the times of the Portuguese. The 1844 image here (from Highlands of Ethiopia) displays a pendant flag with a cross. The place was called The Mother of Grace and was located in Shoa during the rule of Negus Sahle Sellassie of Shoa. Harris does not clearly describe the place but it is an Amba in Shoa that Gragn is believed to have at one time camped nearby. This flag probably has nothing in common with the National Ethiopian flag. Cartographers produced hundreds of maps known as the Prester John Maps. These were maps of Ethiopia and Abyssinia covering the Baher Negash Province (Eritrea)to the Great Rift Valley Lakes of East Africa. The legend shown here on a 1660 map was based on Ortelius’ map of 1573. This Blaeu Prester John famous map depicts the colors of the Ethiopian flag on the Ethiopian figures. Even today the flag is worn on Shammas and Ethiopian National clothings. The image of a man and a Woman with two Ethiopian kids holding an Ethiopian Tila (parasol) reinforces the concept that the Ethiopian flag is not a Johnny-come-lately phenomenon. The podium or shield also displays the Green yellow and Red is proof of the existence of the Ethiopian flag in the 1600’s and before. This map was certified as original color from 1600’s and was not a recent addition. The country is also identified as Ethiopia and Abyssinia on this 400years old map. Queen Victoria lived in what British historians term The Victorian Age. One of their strangest African war was the war to release their diplomatic and missionary subjects that Atse (Emperor) Tewodros chained on the Meqdela Amba palace grounds. The bragging Irish soldiers were happy to be awarded the Meqdela Medalion which shows an Ethiopian cross embedded with the image of the queen and hanging from an Ethiopian flag. The yellow horizontal strip looks more like white in this image from a book by William Simpson’s Diary of a Journey to Abyssinia, 1868. Source:- ETHIO-ENEMAMAR HISTORY
