Under the Banner of Freedom

Question: What nation entered the 1964 Summer Olympics as one country and left it as another?

Answer: Zambia.

In the mid-20th century, the winds of change swept across Africa as colony after colony broke free from European rule to establish their own independent nations. Zambia's path to self-determination was paved in 1964—the same year that its neighbor, Malawi, also gained sovereignty.

Zambia—formerly known as Northern Rhodesia under British control—had been uneasily yoked together with Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) as part of the Central African Federation since 1953. However, rising African nationalism in the late 1950s and early 1960s made the federation's dissolution inevitable. After two years and two elections, the federation was officially terminated at the end of 1963.

Northern Rhodesia's transition to an independent Zambia progressed rapidly in 1964. When its athletes marched in the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics that October, they still competed under the colonial flag incorporating the Union Jack. But by the time of the closing ceremonies on October 24th, Zambia had officially declared independence just hours earlier at midnight. The triumphant Zambian athletes hoisted a new green flag with an African fish eagle flying over stripes of black, red, and orange—colors symbolizing the country's natural resources and diverse peoples.

Indeed, Zambia joined the ranks of other African nations breaking free of colonialism in that era. Its neighbor to the east, the former Nyasaland, became independent Malawi in July 1964. Tanzania—uniting Tanganyika and Zanzibar—was born in October 1964. Kenya had gained independence from Britain in 1963. To the north, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) secured independence from Belgium in 1960 (but immediately descended into civil conflict). In West Africa, Nigeria threw off British rule in 1960. Algeria waged a bloody war against France before finally winning independence in 1962 after 132 years of colonial subjugation.

So, as joyous Zambians celebrated their newfound freedom in 1964, they joined a swelling movement of African peoples reclaiming their sovereignty after generations under European colonialism. While immense challenges lay ahead in building stable, prosperous post-colonial societies, the lowering of foreign flags and raising of new national banners in their place marked a momentous turning point in 20th-century African history. For Zambia and others, 1964 would be remembered as the year they grasped their destiny and began charting an independent course.

How Zambia Celebrates Its Peoples

• Kuomboka, the Get Out of the Water Festival, marks the end of the rainy season, with a barge parade. The king of the Lozi people floats down the Zambezi in a barge topped by a sculpted elephant whose giant flapping ears are manipulated from inside the boat. His wife follows behind in a barge adorned with an egret, whose wings flutter the same way.

• 20,000 people join the president of Zambia in Luapula province to celebrate Mutomboko, the Lunda people’s biggest holiday. It’s a three-day whirlwind of drumming, beer-drinking, and dancing (including by members of the chief’s family) in a pageant that re-enacts the migration of the first settlers and their conquest of the region.

• The traditional harvest festival known as Ncwala in the Chipata region is a workout for the chief. After being presented with the first fruits of the harvest, he leads a 60-mile walk from his rural home to the royal palace. He is welcome by throngs of Ngoni warriors known as “hyenas,” clad in leopard skins and eagle feathers. A bull is sacrificed live for the chief, then dismembered, and consumed on the spot as the climax of his arrival ceremony.

• Zambians from all over the nation head south for the Tonga people’s Thanksgiving celebration, Lwiindi. The story goes that the first Lwiindi chief disappeared suddenly; his warriors claimed he didn’t die but simply evaporated into the sky. Ever since, the rulers have been called “Shine Chiefs,” or rain makers, so the Thanksgiving festival involves truly epic rain dances and ceremonies of gratitude for the precipitation that sustained them in the previous year.

• For three days each October, the Mbundu people welcome back the young men who have undergone initiation rites with a ritual known as Mbundu Lukwakwa. At its heart are makishi, the spirits of departed ancestors, who “rise from the grave” in the form of a masked parade of locals. Like a cross between Mardi Gras and the Mummers Parade, the costumed revelers in their colorful handmade attire make for a dizzying and dazzling spectacle.

• Not to be forgotten, girl initiates get their day at Lunda Lubanza. During Nkanga, a three-month coming of age period, the girls are isolated from the village, silent except for any instructions each may whisper to the young attendant assigned to help her. During Lunda Lubanza, their return to the community is celebrated by the arrival of the chief, who is carried in on a decorated litter, followed by crowds singing songs about how much better women are than men.

Discover all the rich traditions of Zambia when you join O.A.T. for the Ultimate Africa: Botswana, Zambia & Zimbabwe Safari.