Talk:Flag of Mozambique

Kalashnikov

It includes the image of an AK-47 and is the only national flag in the world to feature such a modern rifle.

This seems like a strange thing to say, do any flags feature rifles other than Mozambique's, modern or antiquated? --NEMT 00:55, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

No other current national flags contain any sort of a firearm, as can be verified at the gallery of sovereign-state flags. Several do have more old-fashioned types of weapons on them, which is perhaps what the "modern" was meaning to get at? Those older weapons are a trident (flag of Barbados) and a sword (flag of Saudi Arabia and flag of Sri Lanka). --Delirium 16:15, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Not true. For instance Image:Flag of Guatemala.svg features a rifle. I think it was I who changed to the current sentence after the old one had incorrectly stated that it was the only flag featurnig a firearm. /Lokal Profil 17:43, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

New Flag section title

the second section in the article was titled, "New Flag?"-- which i thought was very odd. I changed it to, "2005 New Flag Proposal". change back if you want, but... Skiendog (talk) 23:14, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

Just two flags with firearms amongst UN?

The first sentence states, that Mozambique and Guatemala are the only two states amongst UN members, that feature firearm in their flag, though Haiti includes two howitzers and six bayoneted rifle-like silhouettes in theirs (and in coat of arms). Haiti is a member of the UN since 24 October 1945, therefore this statement is not correct. Voodookoop (talk) 12:52, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

AK-47 or AKM?

Western press often use "AK-47" to refer to any kind of AK pattern firearm. Typically they are actually describing an AKM. Can someone cite the Mozambique constitution or flag act or whatever, to show that it is definitely and specifically an AK-47? 203.7.155.119 (talk) 18:09, 22 September 2017 (UTC)

The constitution of Mozambique only states that it is a "gun"; it never specifies what model. 1.618033 golden^{sqᴉɹʇuoɔ} 00:10, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

Just three flags with firearms amongst UN?

In the first sentence it states that Mozambique, Guatemala and Haiti are the only UN members with firearms in their flag, this is not true given that Bolivian flag features two cannns and four rifles in its national emblem Sarkel (talk) 19:55, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Flag of Mozambique/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Yue (talk · contribs) 06:13, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: Cambalachero (talk · contribs) 17:08, 23 August 2024 (UTC)

Images

• File:Flag of Mozambique.svg Y
• File:Flag of Mozambique (1974–1975).svg Y
• File:Flag of Mozambique (1975–1983).svg Y
• File:Flag of Mozambique (1983).svg Y
• File:Dia de Portugal Festival in San Jose (June 11, 2022) - 83.jpg Y

Infobox and lead

• You should briefly describe the meaning of the colors and images

Design and symbolism

• The reference should be at the end of the quotation
• Link AK-47
• The contrasting definitions of the contents of the flag, by the Constitution and by the CIA Factbook, should probably have a reference that talks about it, not the Factbook itself.
• The section lacks information about the specific design of the flag. Each element of the flag must have a specific size, and the colors must have a precise value, not just generic color names.

Historical flags

• Link FRELIMO. Is that an acronym or an actual name?
• "American vexillologist Whitney Smith suggests that the design may have been inspired by the flag of Tanganyika, where FRELIMO had been operating in exile" That would make sense, but what about the people from the FRELIMO? Nobody explained or clarified the reasons for the design?
• "...while the red star represented internationalism". In most circumstances the read star represents communism, socialism or marxism. And regardless of what Chissamo might say, I have checked and right after independence the FRELIMO shifted to Marxism–Leninism; they can't pretend there's a red star there by chance. The sentence is referenced to a constitution, which would be a primary source; I suspect that if you search a bit you will find many also saying it. The article should still mention internationalism, but with attribution.
• What about the civil war? Did RENAMO use the flag, or did they use another one?

Proposals to change the flag

• The image is just the flag, during a festival. How is it illustrative of discussions to change the flag? If the RENAMO proposed an actual image of a flag, that may be better.
• Again, place the reference at the end of the quotation.

Missing stuff

• This may be a good start, but for an article about a national flag there is way too much information that is not included yet. What about the rules over use, display, and disposal? What about homages to it, such as monuments, national days, or anthems? What about specific physical historical flags? What about other countries with similar and related flags? Cambalachero (talk) 17:08, 23 August 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

This review is transcluded from Talk:Flag of Mozambique/GA2. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Yue (talk · contribs) 08:29, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: Jordano53 (talk · contribs) 16:00, 22 December 2024 (UTC)

Pre-review

Prior to an in-depth review, I will analyze the article for any criteria for immediate failure.

1. It is a long way from meeting any one of the six good article criteria
• Seems to be close in all criteria!
2. It contains copyright violations
• Passes Earwig, no copyvios.
3. It has, or needs, cleanup banners that are unquestionably still valid. These include {{cleanup}}, {{POV}}, {{unreferenced}} or large numbers of {{citation needed}}, {{clarify}}, or similar tags (See also {{QF}})
• No such tags are present on the article, and they needn't be added upon first read.
4. It is not stable due to edit warring on the page
• No history of edit warring, neither recently nor in the history of the article.
5. It has issues noted in a previous GA review that still have not been adequately addressed, as determined by a reviewer who has not previously reviewed the article
• Past review failed and the article has been updated substantially since then. As far as I can see, nearly every issue listed in the GAN was addressed.

Awesome sauce! This isn't an immediate fail.

Review

1. Well-written:
   1. the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct; and
   I believe the prose to be genuinely well-written, though there remains a few clarity issues:
   • "in the center of which there shall be a star"
     • Does this mean it doesn't necessarily have to be a five-pointed star? You may also need to include a "usually understood" disclaimer for that as well, although to be honest that Constitutional description leaves a lot to be assumed by people. Really interesting.
   • "The flag of Mozambique is one of two national flags that feature a firearm, the other being the flag of Guatemala."
     • On the Flag of Guatemala page, it says there are 4 flags with firearms (as it includes Flag of Haiti and the Flag of Bolivia). The Factbook reference that you cited does support your claim, however, the Haitian and Bolivian flag most definitely feature cannons, which is a type of firearm.
   • "However, these shades differ from those used on the flag displayed on the Mozambican government's website."
     • What shades do they use? Also, the reference here seems to be dead, at least at the time of review.
   • "green and gold represent the riches of the soil"
     • Technically, green represents soil and gold represents subsoil, which I think would explain the CIA's interpretation of gold as "minerals" a bit better.
   • "Constitution of Mozambique" and "Constitution of the People's Republic of Mozambique"
     • The average reader may not know the difference between the Republic and People's Republic (At least, I didn't). Maybe a link to People's Republic in order to clarify?
   2. it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.
   I don't see glaring MOS issues.
2. Verifiable with no original research:
   1. it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline;
   Yup! Sources and short citations separated, all is well here.
   2. reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose);
   Every statement is well cited in-line. I performed spot-checks for a number of citations in the article-all matched up with the passage.
   3. it contains no original research; and
   None present.
   4. it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.
   Minor issues with close paraphrasing:
   • "Red represents anti-colonial resistance and the defence of national sovereignty; green and gold represent the riches of the country's soil; black represents the African continent, and white represents peace and the justness of the Mozambican people's struggle. The star represents the international solidarity of the Mozambican people, while the book, hoe, and gun symbolise education, production, and defence, respectively."
     • This symbolism section uses direct language from the Mozambique Constitution, namely the "riches of the soil," the "international solidarity," and the "justness of the struggle" bits. A rephrase should be implemented, especially because a lot of those words sound promotional in tone.
3. Broad in its coverage:
   1. it addresses the main aspects of the topic; and
   The article covers the history, design, and usage of the flag, which are the key aspects in an encyclopedic article.
   2. it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).
   The article does not stray into unnecessary detail.
4. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.
Remains objective, does not promote an agenda.
5. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.
As noted above, stable article with no edit warring.
6. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
   1. media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content; and
   No non-free content and all Commons content is properly copyrighted.
   2. media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.
   All media is relevant and well-captioned.

In summary

All in all, this is a quality article! I trust that the above concerns are relatively easy to address, and this should be a GA! I may suggest you nominating for a DYK, as that Chissano quote about the American flag is really quite interesting. Great work! Jordano⁵³ 06:27, 23 December 2024 (UTC)

@Jordano53: Howdy! I made these edits based on your feedback.

• I removed the sentence about firearms on flags in general that cited the CIA. I found that different sources contradicted each other, and I am also aware of previous discussions on Wikipedia talk pages about the validity of each claim, so I think it's best to just leave it out entirely.
• The way I cited the Mozambican government website's colours is a bit unorthodox, but I don't think it's really a policy violation in the spirit of WP:SYNTHESIS. If you think otherwise, it's better to leave the sentence out entirely as I have not found a reliable source that explicitly makes the comparison.
• I found that some of the descriptions of the flag's symbolism were just too difficult to paraphrase without losing their original / intended meaning, so I just quoted them directly instead, namely "the justice of the struggle of the Mozambican people" and "the spirit of international solidarity of the Mozambican people".

Every other edit was exactly as you proposed. Let me know what you think and what else needs to be done. Cheers! Yue🌙 10:02, 23 December 2024 (UTC)

Wonderful! Removing the sentence seems to be best, so I agree with that choice. I don't see an issue with the way you cited the government colors, I think that should be fine. And I think direct quotes in the symbolism section would work best. I reviewed the entire article again and believe it to meet the GA criteria. Congratulations and thanks for your quality work! Jordano⁵³ 15:18, 23 December 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Did you know nomination

(

• Comment or view
• Article history

)

Flag of Mozambique

• ... that the flag of Mozambique (pictured), which depicts an AK-47 equipped with a bayonet, is the only national flag to feature a modern firearm?

• Source: Marshall, Tim (4 July 2017). A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols. Simon and Schuster. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-5011-6835-2.

• ALT1: ... that the flag of Mozambique (pictured) depicts an AK-47 equipped with a bayonet? Source: Chivers, C. J. (6 September 2011). The Gun. Simon and Schuster. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7432-7173-8.
• ALT2: ... that, in response to criticisms of the star on the flag of Mozambique (pictured) as a communist symbol, Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano retorted that the U.S. flag would make the U.S. a leftist nation? Source: Wines, Michael (7 October 2005). "Symbols Are Important. So What Does a Gun Symbolize?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015.
• Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Pilar García Mouton
• Comment: ALT2 honours a suggestion by the second GA reviewer.

Improved to Good Article status by Yue (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 28 past nominations.

Yue🌙 04:38, 24 December 2024 (UTC).

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Everything looks good. The article was made a GA the same day of the DYK nomination. I think the original hook and ALT1 are the best, but ALT2 is interesting too and could work with some slight revision to make it a little less clunky, perhaps. Good work on both the GA and the DYK! Phibeatrice (talk) 05:06, 24 December 2024 (UTC)