Flag of the movement for the autonomy of Kabylia

On 19 November 2012, the provisional government of Kabylia (Anavad) took on the mission of providing the Kabyle people with a national flag which would carry their claims to international scale. On 20 February 2013, a call for proposals on the Kabyle flag was created. [1]In order to bring together the broadest possible consensus around the future Kabyle national emblem, the ANAVAD and the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK) organized a vote both in Kabylia and in the Kabyle diaspora established essentially in France and Canada, on the proposed flags.

The initiative, open to all Kabyles, collected around a hundred flag proposals after the call for proposals of 20 February 2013.

Flag proposals

In Kabylia, this election took place on 1 June 2014, in Tawrit Moussa, at the headquarters of the Matoub Lounès foundation. The vote took place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. An electronic vote was established online to allow Kabylians from everywhere, including expats, to participate to the election process.

Eventually, the proposal n°6 was elected.

A commission was set up by the Anavad on 10 December 2014, to make technical adjustments to the chosen model in order to fit international standards of heraldry and vexillology.

Flag readjusted to international standards

On 10 March 2015, a decree was promulgated in the Official Journal of the Anavad signed by the president of the Anavad, Ferhat Mehenni. It consists of 6 articles[2][3] which are as follows:

Article 1. The Anay Unṣiv Aqvayli, the official flag of Kabylia, shall be as follows.

Article 1.1. The flag is made of the two national colours, arranged in vertical stripes of equal dimensions, so that azure (liberty blue) is at hoist and or (Kabylia yellow) is at fly.

Article 1.2. The proportions of the flag are 3:5 - 3 units for the hoist and 5 units for the fly, the base unit being the height of letter Aza.

Article 1.3. The belonging of Kabylia to the Amazigh great family is highlighted by a letter Aza Gules (red for life and aspiration to serve the homeland), centered at equal distance of the flag's top and bottom and at equal distance of the flag's lateral borders.

Article 1.4. The letter Aza is supported, all along its height and starting from its base, by two crossed olive branches. The lozenge leaves are ten per branch, by pairs, except at the top and bottom; they are representing in turn with two circles apart from each other, forming eight olives per branch, emphasizing the attachment of the Kabyles to the olive-tree, their nourishing tree. The branch on the blue stripe is yellow while the branch on the golden stripe is blue.

Article 2. The specimen attached to this Decree is the definitive model of the flag.

Article 3. The flag described in the previous Articles, whose specimen is attached to this Decree, is proclaimed Anay Unṣiv Aqvayli.

Article 3.1. The flag shall be the Kabyle national emblem until the election of a Kabyle Constituent Assembly, which will decide of its preservation or re-assessment.

Article 3.2. The Kabyle flag shall be hoisted in all official meetings of the ANAVAD, of the MAK and of the ANAVAD Network.

Article 3.3. The Kabyle official flag shall be hoisted in all demonstrations of the resistance of the Kabyle people to the Algerian colonial power.

Article 4. Kabylia has two brother flags: its proper official flag, prescribed by this Decree, and the flag common to all the Amazigh Race, elaborated by the Berber Academy and called the "Amazigh flag".

Article 5. The members of the Kabyle Provisional Government are commissioned, everyone in his domain of competence, to officially use the flag and to exploit its colours in the logotype of their respective services.

Article 6: This decree is promulgated in the Official Journal of Anavad.

Old Kabyle flag

The older Kabyle flag is a cultural and national flag proposed for the Kabyle people, a Berber ethnic group native to Kabylia in northern Algeria. It is composed of five horizontal stripes (azure, green, yellow, green, and azure). In the centre, the flag is charged with a green letter Z in the Tifinagh alphabet (ⵣ), which represents the Berber resistance, freedom and the Kabyle language.

Each colour of the flag refers to an element of Tamazgha, a territory inhabited by the Berbers (corresponding to the north of Africa). The azure represents the rivers and valleys of the Mediterranean Sea, the green represents the plains and verdant mountains, and the yellow represents the Kabyle people.