THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF CAMEROON
FLAGS AND COAT OF ARMS OF CAMEROON
The first national flag of Cameroon was adopted in 1957 and
was used as the country's official flag until 1961. The color scheme of
green, red, and gold is the Pan-African color scheme used by many nations in
Africa. For Cameroon the green represents the forests and vegetation in
the south, the red represents sovereignty and unity, and the gold represents
the sun of the northern part of the country and the savannas in the same area.
[1] The Pan-African colors are represented in two ways either red, gold, green
or red, black and green. This movement
is to encourage and make the bonds of solidarity stronger between all people of
African American descent within the continent and outside of it. [2]
The second national flag was adopted in 1961 and remained
the country’s flag until 1975. The color
scheme is the same as the original but there are two stars added to the
flag. These stars represent Cameroon and
Southern Cameroon, a former British territory, joining together. The two stars are a different shade of gold
than the stripe on the flag. [3]
The current flag of Cameroon was adopted in May of 1975 when
Cameroon became a single state. The only
change was using one star in the center of the flag which represents unity [4]
The coat of arms of Cameroon uses both English and French, at
the bottom giving the country’s name and at the top giving its motto: Paix (Peace), Travail (Work), Patrie
(Fatherland). The shield is in the
same color scheme as the flag and has an outline of the country and scales
representing justice. Two crossed fasces
are behind the shield representing authority. [5]
ART OF CAMEROON
Like
many of the other African countries; Cameroon uses art to express its history
and culture but also uses art for economic, decorative, and religious reasons. The most common art forms are woodcarvings
and sculptures. Pottery and ceramics are also created because of the quality of
clay in the western highlands. [6] An example of a Cameroon sculpture is on
display at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Cameroon was once a colonial territory of
Germany. This is a sculpture of a colonial officer when Cameroon was a territory of Germany.
[7]
Crafts such as basket weaving, bead working, calabash carving and painting, and bronze working are also very popular in Cameroon. More recently, Cameroon has produced a wide variety of contemporary art. One artist is Agnu Walters and an example of his work is the "Happy African Family"
[8]
Music and Dancing in Cameroon
The music and dancing of Cameroon has long been an important part of their festivals, social gatherings, religious ceremonies, and storytelling. Musically is mainly given orally by a soloist and a group of singers that repeat the soloist. [9] Cameroon has over 200 traditional dances and they use these dances for births, weddings, and funerals. They also do war dances and dances to celebrate a successful hunt. [10] There are restrictions to the dancing. They are segregated by age, sex, and at times social status. [11]
This photo by Hannes Grobe shows a traditional Cameroon dance in 1969. [12]
Music is also an important part of Cameroon culture. The use of drums, talking drums, whistles, rattles, and harped or stringed instruments are a few examples of instruments used. Two of the most popular types of music are Makossa and Bikutsi. Bikutsi is war music and dance originated by Ewondo people and Makossa was developed in Douala and became popular in the 1970's and 1980's. [13]
, ¶1
[6] “Local Arts and Crafts”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroon#Local_arts_and_crafts
, Sect 8.3, ¶1
[7] “Sculpture”, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kamerun_Deutscher_Kolonialoffizier_Linden-Museum_F54064.jpg
[8] “Contemporary Art”, http://artcameroon.com
[10] “Dance in Cameroon”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_Cameroon#Traditional_dance
, Sect. 2, ¶1
[11] “Dance in Cameroon”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_Cameroon#Traditional_dance
, Sect. 2, ¶2
[12] “Dance of Cameroon”, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:kamerun1969-154_hg.jpg
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