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Berber Peoples

Tuaregs and Kabylians

by Luc Baronian, 20 June 1997

Geography
Kabylian flag
AZAWAD

See also:

Geography

The Berber peoples live in the western parts of Sahara (Algeria, [the Canaries], Libya, Mali, Morocco and Niger). Their languages belong to the Hamito-Semitic language family. There are two main groups, a southern (with Tuareg) and a northern (with Kabylian, Rif, Tamazight, Tashelhit [and Guanche]) and a variety of dialects.

Ole Andersen, 31 August 1999

Berber is a family of languages, and thus of peoples speaking one of these languages, in North Africa. "Tamazgha" is the area in question, including the Canarias (where a Berber people lived until 2 or 3 centuries ago, the Guanches, if I recall correctly.) An adjective for "Berber" is "amazigh", "Berbers" as a people call themselves "Imazighen", the angular writing used by the Touareg (plural of Targui) and currently extending to other Berber people is "tifinagh", a.s.o. I shall keep searching and give info to anyone interested.
Many Berbers have characteristic physical features, quite a few are blond-haired and blue-eyed. But one should insist on the fact that whereas there is a notion of "Berber nation", Berber movements are mostly cultural and wish to protect and promote the language and original traditions. This has to be said especially if you are French, because many Algerians resent us for artificially separating Kabyle Berbers from Algerian "Arabs" according to a colonialist system of "dividing to rule" (diviser pour regner).

Back to flags. Some years ago, I asked Kabyle friends about their flag. One said that it was yellow with an olive branch and fruit on it. Another laughed and said that it was mostly the flag of the local Tizi-Ouzou football club fans. He must be right, but still, the flag probably has some local cultural (and political ?) significance.

Yesterday, on http://www.worldlynx.net/tamazgha/, I found a yellow ("desert yellow" ?) little flag with a brown tifinagh "Z" letter on it (which looks like two uppercase "psi" letters glued together -- just have a look at the site). This was used as a "language flag" (just as the British and French flags besides). In the site, a number of Berber Associations can be found. One, in America, has the same letter as a logo, but the middle bar is replaced with a torch (on top) and a pen (bottom). Obviously this "z" letter is an acknowledged symbol.

Finally, here is what I get from the Amazigh World Congress (Congres Mondial Amazigh).

"En ce qui concerne le(s) drapeau(x) amazigh(s), il en existe quelques uns mais celui qui semble faire l'unanimité est celui qui a été présenté par les canariens lors de notre dernier congrès à Tafira (août 97). Il est constitué de 3 couleurs horizontales (bleu, jaune, vert) sur lesquelles vient s'inscrire un grand "z" de couleur noire. C'est celui par exemple que l'on voit maintenant dans les manifestations berbères.

Cela étant dit, imazighen (les berbères) ne se sont pas encore officiellement donné un emblème commun reconnu par tous et ce, pour diverses raisons. N'oublions pas qu'ils appartiennent à une dizaine d'Etats différents."

(As regards amazigh flags, several ones exist, but one of them seems to be acknowledged by all, and this is the one which was presented by Canarians during our latest Meeting at Tafira (August, 1997). It is made up of 3 horizontal colors (blue, yellow, green) on which a big black "z" is printed. This is the flag to be seen nowadays in Berber demonstrations, for instance.

This being said, the Imazighen have not adopted an emblem acknowledged by all as yet, for miscellaneous reasons. We must not forget that they belong to about ten different countries.)

Thanh-Tam Le, 17 October 1998

Kabyllian flag

I have a nice little surprise for you today : the Kabyllian flag ! For those who don't know, the Kabyllians are the berber of Algeria (correct me if I am missing a subtility here).

I saw it in a nice litte Kabyllian restaurant in Montreal, L'etoile Kabylle. Of course, I had to go in, have lunch, and ask the owner about it.

He first told me it was the Berber flag, but when I asked him if it was used outside Algeria, he said he didn't know. So let's take it for a Kabyllian flag for now and a possible Berber flag. (Unless anyone has some other details ?)

The flag is 2:3 (approx.), gold, with this black symbol that was reproduced everywhere in the restaurant : on a calendar, on the walls, on the ceiling with colourful clothes.

The owner told me that the flag was a symbol of liberty, democracy and prosperity.

Luc Baronian, 20 June 1997

by Jaume Ollé, 21 June 1997

Exist several kabylian flags: the historical flag is red with many olive wreaths. In the years 80s a political movement (I dont konw the name) used red flag with diagonal white band and star. Recently another flag is common in the independentist movement. Jaume Ollé, 21 June 1997

The emblem in the flag of Kabylia that I posted is a letter "z" of the kabylian alphabet. Perhaps is another letter the emblem of the flag posted by Luc.

Jaume Ollé, 21 June 1997

The actual name of the language is something like amzigh, if I recall correctly. Note that Kabylia is in NW Algeria, while the whole of the berber people lives in a much wider territory.

Antonio Martins, 23 June 1997

The symbol on both flags indeed resembles the letter "Z" of the Tafilagh alphabet. The alphabet is used in the Tamachek (amazegh) language, i.e. by inhabitants of the Sahara desert (sometimes referred to as Tuaregs).

Harald Müller, 24 June 1997

I found the (unofficial?) flag of the Berber nationality.
The flag can be seen in an illustration here:

http://www.cybergone.com/kabylie.net/matoub_reportage_4.jpg

It's a horizontal tricolour of blue-yellow-green with a black emblem in the centre. The emblem is the Tifinagh letter "Z" but it is also a symbol for the human being.
I don't know if all Berbers everywhere use this flag or if it is just the Algerian Berbers (or even just the Kabyle Berbers, which are a sub-set of the Algerian Berbers).
R. Ben Madison, 31 May 1999

AZAWAD (Tuareg Liberation Front)

The flag of the AZAWAD (Tuareg Liberation Front), in revolt in the north of Mali, is similar to the flag of the Tchad Northern Army.