Issue and Opponent: The #ThisFlag protests began in response to chaos and crisis in Zimbabwe. When Zimbabwe gained independence from Great Britain in 1980, Robert Mugabe emerged as a freedom fighter and revolutionary hero of the African independence movement. However, in his nearly four decades-long rule over Zimbabwe, Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) oversaw the country’s rapid decline. By 2016, a combination of natural disasters, corruption, authoritarianism, and economic meltdown created a crisis in Zimbabwe. Banks did not have enough money to provide their customers with cash, many civil servants went months without pay, and unemployment reached a frightening 80%. The formerly strong health and education sectors broke down. Mugabe’s government failed to answer calls for reform.
Dilemma Action: In April 2016, Pastor Evan Mawarire sparked the #ThisFlag protests when he shared a video of himself online expressing his discontent with the situation in Zimbabwe. Wearing the green, yellow, red, and black Zimbabwean flag draped over his shoulders, Mawarire said that he could not afford to pay his daughter’s school fees and that the ideals that the flag represented were far from the actual state of the country. Mawarire’s video became a viral sensation, and the Zimbabwean flag quickly became a symbol of popular discontent with the government. On social media and during physical protests on the streets of Zimbabwe, protesters used the flag to demand reform from the Mugabe regime to tackle issues of corruption and unemployment. The #ThisFlag protests spread beyond the geographic borders of Zimbabwe, with Zimbabwean nationals around the world expressing their support for the movement on social media. By turning the Zimbabwean flag into an anti-government protest symbol, protesters forced the government to choose between banning the use of the flag or allowing the #ThisFlag protesters to continue flying the flag.
Outcomes: In response to the #ThisFlag protests, the Zimbabwean government chose to ban private citizens from using the country’s flag for purposes not approved by the government. Offenders could be fined or face up to six months of jail time for improper use of the flag. Protests were met with brutality from police and security forces, and many protesters were arrested, including Pastor Mawarire himself. The protests received coverage by international media outlets such as the BBC, Aljazeera, and France24. Although the #ThisFlag movement was ultimately unsuccessful in convincing the Mugabe government to reform, in 2017 Mugabe was ousted from power by a military coup and replaced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The #ThisFlag protests in 2016 were joined by the #ThisGown protests, during which university graduates in Zimbabwe expressed their frustration with widespread unemployment and a lack of professional opportunities after university. Like the #ThisFlag protests, the message of the #ThisGown protests was largely spread over social media.