Who designed the national flag?

 

 

Ibingira (RIP) said he designed the flag

Permit me to correct serious misrepresentations and falsehoods concerning our National flag. A one Paul Mukasa poses as the designer of the National flag and is even so honoured publicly by some foreign envoys here. Students and teachers in secondary schools learn or teach conflicting ‘facts’ on the subject.

So these are the facts about the National flag. On March 6, 1962, a design for a National flag was adopted by a national committee, set up by the Democratic Party (DP) government of 1961/62, under the chairmanship of Prof. Senteza Kajubi (now vice-chancellor of Nkumba University).

Although the approving committee had Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and DP membership, the flag design was later rejected by the Milton Obote government on technical advice from the colonial office. The flag manufactures, messrs Porter Bros, said that two of the three colours chosen were unsatisfactory. The pale green “had a very high fastness rating” and, “in the hot sun of Uganda, the colour would disappear quickly. The second colour, a very bright shade of ultramarine blue “could not be matched exactly”.

We therefore had to start afresh. Meanwhile, governments changed and UPC/KY took over power with less than five months to independence on October 9, 1962, when the Uganda flag had to replace the Union Jack. Tanganyika (now Tanzania), had advised us that from their experience, we needed about five months from receipt of an order to make the flag. The Uganda government therefore had a very tight schedule to meet.

On Tuesday May 8 the UPC/KY cabinet met at Entebbe and decided to appoint a Cabinet committee to come up with proposals about the flag. Members were myself (then minister of Justice) as committee chairman with ministers Dr. E.B.S Lumu (health), Adoko Nekyon (information and broadcasting) and C.J. Obwangor the regional administrator.

Since I was an artist, the committee requested that I make a selection. I prepared three different flags, using powder paint mixed with water on an art sketch book. The committee short-listed two of the designs which we submitted to the cabinet for final selection.

On a May 16,1962, a full cabinet met again at Entebbe and selected the present Uganda Flag which had been one of the two short-listed.

I defended the colours I had chosen. I had been advised to choose a simple design, which was not costly and was easy to produce. I used as a guide, all the then flags around the world. The crested crane was already a symbol used by the colonial government and being a lovely bird, it was suitable to put it in the centre of the flag. The artistic advisor Prof Todd, of the school of Fine Art at Makerere University, who had advised DP and UPC/KY governments on the National Flag endorsed the flag, which was then sent overseas for production.

I was responsible for this flag from the beginning to end but I truly never heard of, let alone saw Paul Mukasa.

Grace Ibingira (RIP)