Flag of Botswana

What the flag looks like

A light blue field crossed horizontally through the middle by a black band edged with thin white stripes.

What it means

Blue represents water and rain, echoing the national motto 'Pula'; the black and white bands stand for racial harmony and recall the zebra, the national animal.

How to remember it

Botswana paints a single white-edged black zebra stripe across a pale blue sky; the blue is 'pula', rain.

Fun facts

• Botswana's currency, the pula, is named after the Setswana word for rain, which is also the national motto.
• Botswana is home to the world's largest population of African elephants, estimated at around 130,000.

Botswana at a glance

Capital

Gaborone

Region

Southern Africa

Population

2.5 million

Area

582,000 km²

Languages

English, Tswana

Currency

Botswana pula (P)

Flag adopted

1966

Flags often confused with Botswana

• Estonia: Botswana and Estonia both use blue, black and white stripes. Botswana is light blue with a thin black band in the middle; Estonia has three equal stripes, blue, black and white.