In the mid-fifties, following World War II, a flag was created to represent the people of Kenya. At the centre of the flag were a shield and arrow – signifying defence and hope for a new Kenya. At the time, the Kenya African Union (KAU) represented the people. By the dawn of the sixties, there had been changes to the KAU flag. For starters, there was the addition of green to the existing colours – black and red. Green stood for our agricultural abundance. The three colours that made the Kenya African National Union (KANU) flag were laid horizontally to finalize its design.
By June of 1960 another political party broke free from KANU – maintaining a similar flag only with a slight adjustment. Red was replaced with white; symbolising peace and unity. This was the flag of the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU).
By May of 1963 we had our first government and one of their aims was to curate a Kenyan flag. The process involved adhering to the British Standard Specifications for the flag’s dimensions. Nearing the day of independence, white was the colour chosen to symbolise peace and unity, and thus it was used as the fimbriation colour. On 12 December 1963, Kenya’s newly adopted flag was hoisted. It consisted of all four colours: black, red, green and white – with a Maasai shield at the centre.
