PM Modi's first stop is Mozambique --- A country with an interesting flag

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to embark on his second tour of Africa on July 7 (Thursday) when he will visit four countries. His first stop will be Mozambique and it will be followed by visits to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.

Modi will be the first Indian PM to visit Mozambique since Indira Gandhi went there in August 1982.

He will hold bilateral talks with Mozamican President Filipe Nyusi after arriving in the country and energy and food security are likely to figure in the discussion. The two sides will also sign a memorandum of understanding on import of pulses from Mozambique to India and another on civil aviation. Modi is also expected to meet around 20,000 Indians living in the African country. He will then leave for South Africa.

Mozambique, the country in South-East Africa measuring 8.01 million square kilometres and with a population of 24.6 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world but rich in natural resources.

Mozamibique is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the north-west, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the south-west. It is separated from Madagascar to the east by the Mozambique Channel. The capital of Mozambique is Maputo.

The African country has an interesting national flag. Adopted on May 1, 1983, the colourful flag of Mozambique features an image of an AK-47 with a bayonet attached to its barrel. It is one of the two flags in the world which has a firearm on it (the other is Guatemala).

The yellow colour on the flag symbolises Mozambique's rich minerals, the red represents the independence movement, the black stands for the continent of Africa and green stands for the riches of the nation's land. The narrow white strips, on the other hand, stand for peace. The rifle symbolises defence and vigilance, the open book for the importance of education while the hoe represents agriculture. The yellow star signified Marxism and internationalism.

The flag is based on that of the Mozamique Liberation Front (FRELIMO)---the country's leading political party. The FRELIMO flag's colours were rearranged after the country's independence (June 25, 1975) to give shape to the national flag. In 1983, it was altered with the colours rearranged in horizontal forms (at the time of independence, they were horizontal).

In 2005, a competition was held to design a new flag for the African nation. Over 118 entries were received and also a flag was selected but the current flag continues to remain till date. The Opposition wanted to remove the image of the rifle from the flag in the spirit of reconciliation in the country after a bitter civil war but the parliament rejected it.