Late 19th-century movement in French poetry, which inspired a similar trend in French painting. The Symbolist poets used words for their symbolic rather than concrete meaning. Leading exponents were Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Arthur Rimbaud.
Black, red, and green are known as the ‘black liberation’ colours, recalling Jamaican black activist Marcus Garvey. Taken from the arms of Nyasaland, the sun indicates the dawning of a new era. Effective date: 6 July 1964.