this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2024
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Why add a symbol that is almost solely used by totalitarian governments?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_and_sickle
Are there any countries that use the symbol that are actually nice places to live with good governments?
Angola
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola#Angolan_Civil_War
Yes I'm aware of the history of Angola.
You asked
Angola has made a conscious decision to stick to this symbol as if transitions to a liberal democracy and stable economy. There were some efforts to change the flag recently because as you said it's often associated with totalitarian regimes. But those efforts failed because to Angolans it symbolizes the Angolan triumph over the colonial oppression of Portugal and resistance to apartheid South African invasion.
It could change in the future, Angola is still moving towards "good government" and "nice place to live" as you said. But for now it remains their national flag.
Interesting. That being said I don't understand the lemmygrad peoples desire for the Hammer and sickle as a symbol. Like almost nothing good has come from it. Even in Angola it seems to be viewed as a somewhat tarnished period in their history.
I get what you mean, I'm helping to add nuance to the discussion. Also a bunch of white people coming in and telling Angolans what symbols they can and can't use to represent their triumph over colonialism and apartheid isn't a great look either.