Last modified: 2022-10-22 by bruce berry
Keywords: somali | ethiopia | somalia | somaliland | ogaden |
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Image by Jason
Saber, 20 Feb 2021
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The state is often called simply Somalia, not to be confused with the neighbouring country of same name.
According to the Ethiopian Parliament
website,
"the State of Somalia has a very large
area size ranking second to Oromiya. At present the state comprises 9
administrative zones and 49 woredas. Being very large means it has an estimated
area of about 250,000 square kilometers. ... the State of Somali [sic!]
is located in the eastern and south eastern part of Ethiopia. The State has
common boundaries with Afar and the Republic of
Djibouti in the north,
Kenya in the south, the State of Oromiya in the west, and
Somalia in the
east and in the South. The capital is Jijiga" .
This means that Somali State includes the whole of Eastern Ethiopia, including
partially or completely the old provinces of Harerge, Bale, Sidamo and
eventually portions of neighboring provinces such as Welo, Shewa or Arsi.
Again, the new capital is a relatively small center (this seems to be a
pattern), this time quite off-centered. Jijiga is located in the north of
the old state, half-way between the old capital of Harerge and the Somalia
border (50-60 km from both).
Ethnically, this is another state with large homogeneity. It's
population of 3,439,860 (September 1997) comprises Somalis (95.6%), Oromo (2.25%), Amhara
(0.69%), Somalians (0.63%) and Guragie (0.14%)".
Jorge Candeias, 19 Dec 1999
Lawmakers in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali regional state have voted to restore a
flag that was changed by the erstwhile president Abdi Mohamoud Omar a.k.a. Abdi
Illey.
Harun Maruf, a Somali journalist with the Voice of America (VOA) reports that
the parliament in the regional capital Jijiga restored a flag that contains the
symbolic blue triangle with a white star.
Before now, the Abdi Illey regime had replaced the blue triangle and white star
with a yellow triangle with a camel. Legislators also voted to officially refer
to the region as Somali Regional State (SRS) as
against the Ethiopia – Somali regional state.
The regional president Mustafa Omer wrote on Twitter: “There is no contradiction
between our Somali nationality and Ethiopian citizenship.
We proudly uphold symbols of Somalinimo without abnegating our national
responsibility. We are Somali Regional State (SRS): no
prefix, no suffix. The original flag returns.”
Plans to return to the original flag and the name with the “Ethiopia” prefix was
reported in August 2018 but today’s parliamentary ratification (07 September
2018) makes it official.
Jason Saber and Jaume Ollé, 20 Feb 2021
Image by Sorin Cosoveanu, 19 Jan 2011
Image by Jens Pattke, 18 Oct 2009The former flag of Somali National Regional State (Dowlada Deegaanka Somalida)
of Ethiopia is shown here. You can
also see it on a photo here
and further down on the same page
here.
Valentin Poposki, 01 Mar 2009
I don't know the date of adoption of the new flag but it was probably after October 2008
when the previous president of the State, Abdulahi Hassan, was dismissed and the
new administration of Daud Mohammed Ali (Daa'uud Maxamed Cali) was installed.
You can see the new president with the new flag on
YouTube.
Somali Regional State is beset with the insurgency of
Ogaden National Liberation Front and scores of economic problems.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 02 Mar 2009
There is also a version with a brown camel from this
source.
Jens Pattke, 18 Oct 2009
Wikipedia shows a
flag with a yellow triangle defaced with a white camel in the centre, instead of
the blue triangle with white star, as being the flag for the Somali Region in
Ethiopia. Does anyone have any information to confirm this and when the flag may
have changed?
Sorin Cosoveanu, 19 Jan 2011
Image by Jason
Saber, 20 Feb 2021
The previous flag was a green-white-dark red horizontal tricolour with a light blue
triangle at the hoist charged by a white star. Jaume posted a very close
image, but it isn't quite as the image at the Ethiopian parliament site
because apparently the star is supposed to be rotated so that it points to
the fly. Jaume also says that "[the flag of the] Somali state seems to be
based in the Western Somalia Liberation Front flag adopted when were merged
WSLF and SALF (flag is a mixture of both)". FOTW is all but clear as to
what movement predated what, but to me it seems pretty clear that this flag
is an evolution of the *Somalia-Abo Liberation Front*, not the Western
Somalia Liberation Front. Also, I can't help noticing the great
similarities between this flag and the flag of Somaliland, as we all know a
self-proclaimed state in the old British Somalia (just a green-white-red tricolour with star and
shahada). It could even be a sort of "conciliation
flag" between the two Somalias, due to the white star on blue at the hoist.
Jorge Candeias, 19 December 1999
Image by Jaume Ollé 14 Jan 1997.
Image by Jaume Ollé 14 Jan 1997.
Green and red vertically divided flag with white star was reported in use by Somali movements in 1975.
In 1982 a variation of black in place of green was reported.
Jaume Ollé, 14 Jan 1997
Image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 04 Dec 2010The Ogaden is the name of a territory comprising the south-eastern
portion of Somali Regional State. The region borders
Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia.
An insurgency has been waged by the separatist Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF) which seeks to establish greater autonomy
for the Ogaden region. The insurgency began in 1995 and ended in 2010.
According to Ogaden Forum there is a new flag for the Ogaden Region since 03
January 2010, as well as for the ONLF.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 04 Dec 2010
Concerning the Ethiopian regional state of Somali, it's worth mentioning
(although no special flags were used for it) that the Ogaden was
administered, following the defeat of Italian forces in East Africa, as part
of the British occupation of Somali territories, separate from Ethiopia.
Although the postal administration differentiated between the Somaliland
Protectorate and the rest of the region (Ethiopian Ogaden and former Italian
Somalia), the entire Somali region was under a single administration until
Somalia was handed back to Italian control.
In the 1960s, newly independent Somalia tried to take the Ogaden, but
was repulsed by Ethiopian forces.
Mike Oettle, 02 January 2002
