Southeast Asian country Timor-Leste, also referred to as East Timor, occupies half of the island of Timor. The national banner of East Timor (Timor-Leste), known in Portuguese as Bandeira de Timor-Leste (or "flag of East Timor"), is one of the country's identifying features.
The flag is red with a bigger yellow triangle based on the hoist-side extending to the center, both of which are overlaid on a smaller black isosceles triangle, and the flag's center is a white five-pointed star. A white five-pointed star is also present in the middle of the flag.
East Timor lacked a distinct national flag prior to being integrated into the Portuguese Empire. In 1702, a flag that could be viewed as a precursor to the current emblem was first flown. A proposal to use a modified form of the Portuguese flag as a symbol for East Timor was made in 1965, but Portugal never agreed.
The flag was only flown for a brief period of time before Indonesian forces invaded and seized control of the nation, even though the nation adopted its flag and proclaimed its independence in the same year, 1975.
When East Timor was still a part of Indonesia from 1976 to 1999, it flew a distinct flag than it does today. The United Nations flag was flown over the nation during that period as it worked to regain full independence; the current flag replaced it in 2002 after the prior one was retired.
Ever since East Timor's flag was formally approved in 2002, it has been flying over the nation. Under the same flag, East Timor proclaimed its freedom from Portugal in 1975, a few days before Indonesia invaded the country. The banner of the United Nations was taken down on May 19, 2002, at noon, and the flag of East Timor was raised on May 20, 2002, in the early hours of Independence Day.
Delegates from various political parties and organizations suggested a new flag during the first East Timorese National Convention, which took place in Portugal back in April 1998. The CNRT (Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense) is represented by this banner.
Due to the CNRT's widespread support, the convention participants unanimously decided to make it the temporary flag of East Timor. It was changed back to the initial 1975 design in 2002.
This banner was modeled after the one used by Fretilin (the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor) to protest Indonesia's occupation of East Timor in 1975 and 1976. Two overlapping isosceles triangles form the rectangle of our emblem. The other, overlapping triangle is yellow, and its height is one-half the length of the banner. One triangle is black, and its height is one-third of its length.
The guiding light in the center of the dark triangle is a white star with five points. The top right corner of the flag's top field is where the white star's point is tilted to be nearest. The emblem is red with the exception of the white of the star.
The Timor-Leste emblem symbolizes a country that is cognizant of its colonial past and works to move past its legacies. The flag's design, which combines images representing the past of the nation with those that symbolize optimism for the future, embodies the cultural history of East Timor.
The flag of East Timor is the only one in Timor-history Leste's to represent the nation as an independent state as opposed to a colony, making it one of the few to have ever flown over the complete nation.
The yellow triangle depicts how colonial rule altered the nation, and the red field depicts how the nation battled to end colonial rule. The bright star represents East Timor's ongoing progress toward a better future, while the dark triangle represents the risks presented by threats.
Source: a-z-animals.com
