Has the Sun Risen?

By Kate Newhouse

We have been working with the Malawi unit some more, selecting subjects that we can turn into lesson plans. Kirsten and I selected a lesson that had to do with the Malawian national anthem and their national flag. Here is when we learned from our co-learners the meaning and controversies about their flag, which we found really interesting.
There is a debate about which flag should be used; the old flag, or the new one. Both flags have the same 3 stripes. Black on the top, red in the middle and green on the bottom. The colors represent the same things too. Black represents the dark times that Malawi has been through. Red represents the blood that was shed and green represents their agriculture and land. The only difference between the two flags is the sun. In the old flag the sun is red and “half risen” to represent that Malawi is slowly rising, but on the new one there is a white sun in the middle of the flag to represent that Malawi has risen.
I think the debate was whether or not Malawi has risen. Obviously this is a controversial issue. Depending who you are and where you are from changes your stance on this.
I think patriotism is an interesting subject here in Malawi. In North America we are very patriotic and are proud of where we come from. Here some people are still proud for many reasons of where they come from, but some are not so proud and feel as though Africa is still set in the past. I think both flags represent where Africa is. To me Africa is still rising as they still have a long way to go until they are out of the severe conditions they are in, but saying that, they have also improved quite a bit since that flag was made

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