It is sadly common to see a tattered Zimbabwean flag flying at some Government departments and companies.
Pitifully they fly a sorry sight to all who pass by.
The sight of a torn flag, years after independence, is evidence of misguided thinking as well as lack of understanding of this all-important symbol.
Flying a tattered flag is no statement but a display of lack of self-respect and national pride.
Our national flag and anthem are the two symbols that identify us as Zimbabwean.
These symbols are also the rallying point for our common cause and aspiration.
A symbol is a mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function or process.
These symbols represent our people, our wealth, our struggles, our success and our history.
A nation might have problems and challenges but this does not mean or give anyone the right to desecrate the symbols that define a people.
Symbols are rallying points.
The national flag with its bright red, yellow, green, black and white colours is a symbol of the Zimbabwean story requiring no words.
Black is for the black majority, the red for the blood that was shed for this country, yellow for our minerals, green for our vegetation and white for peace.
The National Anthem is our supplication.
It is our deepest plea and wish for our nation, a prayer to the higher power.
It is a symbol engraved deep within our hearts and minds.
The national anthem and flag are emblems of sorrows, pain, success and the victory that we hold dear and cherish.
Failure by those chosen to represent our country to sing the anthem is treasonous.
It is foolish pride that leads citizens of a country to fail to identify with their national symbols. Possession of detailed knowledge about other people’s countries at the expense of your own is not something to brag about.
The sad example is the current crop of cricketers in the national team, some of whom cannot sing the national anthem.
Is it any wonder they deliver dismal performances.
They are not patriots.
Their failure to sing the anthem is a reflection of their thinking and convictions.
It seems they are more white than black.
It appears that some of the players, remnants of the team once dominated by the whites like Heath Streak and crew, have an illusion of being white.
The illusion is so entrenched in their minds you can tell even from the way they talk and walk, they have become more white than the whites.
But these boys must wake up and realise sooner rather than later that they are black and will not be any other colour.
What the colonisers have successfully managed to do is instill in us inferiority complex which makes us think that anything white is superior to black.
While they ‘teach’ and drum into us that anything black is inferior they are teaching their children the values of their symbols.
The Rhodies continue to observe their special days which they celebrate blazoning their symbols.
While we hoist tattered Zimbabwean flags, thinking we are making some statement, the US proudly flies its own, showing it off everywhere including in movies and the clothes that we are so keen to wear.
When the Americans landed on the moon, Neil Armstrong’s first act was to plant the American flag.
Many continue to visit Rhodes’ grave at Matopos to offer prayers and solidarity with his work and get inspiration to continue with it.
That is the extent to which the coloniser places value on his/her symbols.
They are a source of inspiration and power.
Our lack of reverence for our symbols should put us to shame.