Berber flag on Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, which were formerly inhabited by the Guanches, an ancient Berber people. The flag is composed of blue, green, and yellow horizontal bands of the same height, and a Tifinagh letter "yaz" or "aza". Each colour corresponds to an aspect of Tamazgha, the territory inhabited by Berbers in North Africa: The "yaz" (ⵣ) symbolizes the "free man", which is the meaning of the Berber word "amazigh", the Berbers' own name for themselves (endonym). It is in red, the colour of life, and also the colour of resistance. The Berber flag thus symbolizes the entire
Proto-Berber language A.D. Blench (2018) notes that Berber is considerably different from other Afroasiatic branches, but modern-day Berber languages displays low internal diversity. The presence of Punic borrowings in Proto-Berber points to the diversification of modern Berber language varieties subsequent to the fall of Carthage in 146 B.C.; only Zenaga lacks Punic loanwords. Additionally, Latin loanwords in Proto-Berber point to the breakup of Proto-Berber between 0-200 A.D. During this time period, Roman innovations including the ox-plough, camel, and orchard management were adopted by Berber communities along the "limes", or borders of the Roman Empire. This resulted in a new trading culture involving