Flag of Zanzibar Flag of Zanzibar The flag of Zanzibar was adopted on 9 January 2005. It is a horizontal tricolour of blue, black, and green with the national flag of Tanzania in the canton. Zanzibar was a part of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, which flew a plain red flag, beginning in 1698. Majid bin Said declared an independent Sultanate of Zanzibar on 2 November 1856 but did not adopt a new flag. The red flag remained in use during the British protectorate period. When Zanzibar gained independence from the United Kingdom on 10 December 1963, a green disk with two
Zanzibar Revolution years. Despite the merger with Tanganyika, Zanzibar retained a Revolutionary Council and House of Representatives which was, until 1992, run on a one-party system and has power over domestic matters. The domestic government is led by the President of Zanzibar, Karume being the first holder of this office. This government used the success of the revolution to implement reforms across the island. Many of these involved the removal of power from Arabs. The Zanzibar civil service, for example, became an almost entirely African organisation, and land was redistributed from Arabs to Africans. The revolutionary government also instituted social reforms such