Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate The Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The Crown colony, which included the area surrounding Freetown, was established in 1808. The protectorate was established in 1896 and included the interior of what is today known as Sierra Leone. Freetown served as the capital of British West Africa from 1821 until 1874. The motto of the colony and protectorate was "Auspice Britannia liber" (Latin for "Free under the protection of Britain"). This motto was included
Sierra Leone only source of income for many communities in a country still recovering from over a decade of civil war. In June 2005, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International agreed to support a conservation-sustainable development project in the Gola Forest in south eastern Sierra Leone, an important surviving fragment of rainforest in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. The current system of the Government of Sierra Leone is based on the 1991 Sierra Leone Constitution. Sierra Leone has a dominant unitary central government and