Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.171.3
Object Name
Badge
Date
1970
Description
This is a circular badge reading "FREE NAMIBIA NOW!" The text is in the order of colours of the Namibian flag - blue, red and green. The badge has a plastic coating on the front and a metal backing, with a metal pin.
From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. After the First World War, the League of Nations gave South Africa a mandate to administer the territory. Following World War II, the League of Nations was dissolved in April 1946 and its successor, the United Nations, instituted a trusteeship system to reform the administration of the former League of Nations mandates and clearly establish majority rule and independence as eventual goals for the trust territories. South Africa objected arguing that a majority of the territory's people were content with South African rule.
This badge is referring to independence from South Africa. South Africa occupied the colony in 1915 after defeating Germany during World War One. Namibia was administered under apartheid and the segregatory policies of the South African white minority government. A Namibian chief council submitted petitions to the UN asking for independence. During the 1960s, when European powers granted independence to their colonies, pressure mounted on South Africa to do so in Namibia.
In response to the 1966 ruling by the International Court of Justice, South-West Africa Peopleâs Organisation (SWAPO) military wing, Peopleâs Liberation Army of Namibia, a guerrilla group began their armed struggle for independence, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its occupation of Namibia, in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region.
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/pre-colonial-history/namibia-independence-day/
