Cape Hare - Rwanda

Rwanda is one of six countries bordering an area known as the Great Lakes region of Africa, an area including Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world and Lake Tanganyika, the world’s second deepest lake. Lake Kivu is the largest of the African Great Lakes bordering Rwanda.

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Lepus capensis - Although native to the non-forested areas of Northern, Central, and Southern Africa, the Cape hare has also spread into the Middle East. It feeds in open areas such as meadows or cultivated fields, but relies on nearby thickets and hedges for escaping the heat or when evading a potential predator. The Cape hare has well-developed hind quarters capable of propelling the animal to speeds of 75 km/h, able to cover up to 2.5 meters in single bounds. The Cape hare is also a good climber and swimmer.

Mountain Gorilla - Rwanda

Gorilla beringei beringei - The eastern gorilla is divided into two subspecies: the lowland gorilla and the mountain gorilla. The mountain gorilla is native to the volcanic slopes of the Eastern Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. It is the largest living primate. A typical adult male will grow to 1.7 meters in height and weigh 140 to 205 kilos. Gorilla populations are in sharp decline; there are less than 5,000 individuals of the lowland gorilla and less than a 1,000 of the mountain gorilla remaining in the wild.

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The Brussels Conference of 1890 awarded the territories of Burundi and Rwanda to Germany in exchange for Germany agreeing to relinquishing its claim on Uganda. The first German expedition to settle Rwanda arrived in 1893 and was followed by colonialists and missionaries arriving in 1897. Germany lost Rwanda to Belgian at the end of World War I. Belgium retained control over Rwanda until the emerging Pan-African movements of the 1950’s brought independence to Rwanda in 1961.

Historical Flags of Afrcia

The flag for the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros was used from 1996 until 2001. Since becoming independent from France in 1975, the flags of the Comoros have featured the crescent and four stars. The stars represent the number of island’s in the Comoros Archipelago. The Congo Free State existed from 1885 until 1908, and was under the private control of Belgium’s King Leopold II through an agreement reached during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference. In 1908, the territory was administrated directly by the government of Belgium. The Ethiopian flag of 1897 featured a lion wearing a crown and carrying a staff with a cross finial. The design was changed in 1974 after the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie. Rwanda achieved independence from Belgium in 1962 and adopted a tricolor with a large “R” to distinguish it from Guinea’s flag.  A new flag was introduced in 2011 following a brutal civil war.