Red is the color of opposition in Africa | All media content | DW | 06.01.2020

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Africa

Red is the color of opposition in Africa

The color of blood, rage and revolution has been showing up more and more in African opposition circles. Overalls, T-shirts or red berets have been favored by politicians, activists, and students.

  • Malema addressing a crowd of supporters wearing red clothing (picture-alliance/dpa/C. Tukiri)

    Leader in red

    Julius Malema and his allies founded South Africa's far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party after being expelled by the youth league of the ruling African National Congress in 2013. Malema and his party have since gained wide pan-African appeal.

  • Women supporters of the MDC beating pots and pans

    Color for change

    Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) came to prominence at the height of the country's spiral into an economic downturn from which it is yet to recover. The T in its name is a reference to the party's late founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai who was detained and tortured by the previous government of Robert Mugabe. MDC gatherings were banned recently.

  • Bobi Wine in a red beret with the logo of his movement

    Ghetto president

    Bobi Wine is the stage name of the leader of Uganda's People Power Movement, Kyagulanyi Ssetamu Robert. He is a popular musician. Uganda's long-time President Yoweri Museveni has banned the red beret favored by Wine and his supporters, saying it should be reserved for the military.

  • Nigerian woman Aisha Yusuf taking on Boko Haram

    #BringBackOurGirls

    In April 2014, 276 school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in Nigeria's Borno state. Dozens of girls were later freed or escaped but most are still being held captive by the extremist group. Aisha Yusuf has been one of the most vocal advocates for their release. An international campaign for their release uses hashtags that include #BringBackOurGirls and #ChibokGirls

  • MCP leader Lazarus Chakwera surrounded by supporters at a protest against Jane Ansah

    No to a white-out vote

    The alleged use of correction fluid on marked ballots in Malawi's May 2019 presidential election has caused widespread outrage. The opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and its supporters have been calling for the resignation of the chair of the country's electoral commission, Jane Ansah, ever since.

  • Student protesters in South Africa (Reuters/S. Sibeko)

    #MustFall movements

    In recent years, various movements have sprung up, many of them led by students protesting on the streets and on the internet under hashtags such as #FeesMustFall or #RhodesMustFall and #GhandiMustFall, over colonial-era public statues and ideas.

  • A large protest march with participants wearing red (AFP/C. Binani)

    Seeing red

    Guinea has seen regular anti-government protests since October 2019, with participants wearing the color of the opposition coalition. Many Guineans are angry over the West African country's octogenarian leader Alpha Conde's plans to revise the constitution and make a third presidential term possible.

  • A poster showing Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (picture alliance/CPA Media Co. Ltd)

    Red for revolution

    Red has always been the color of the revolution since at least 1848. Roman generals had their bodies colored red to celebrate victories whilst the Ancient Egyptians and Mayans colored their faces red in ceremonies. Soviet Russia adopted a red flag following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, later followed by China, Vietnam, and other communist countries.


  • Malema addressing a crowd of supporters wearing red clothing (picture-alliance/dpa/C. Tukiri)

    Leader in red

    Julius Malema and his allies founded South Africa's far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party after being expelled by the youth league of the ruling African National Congress in 2013. Malema and his party have since gained wide pan-African appeal.

  • Women supporters of the MDC beating pots and pans

    Color for change

    Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) came to prominence at the height of the country's spiral into an economic downturn from which it is yet to recover. The T in its name is a reference to the party's late founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai who was detained and tortured by the previous government of Robert Mugabe. MDC gatherings were banned recently.

  • Bobi Wine in a red beret with the logo of his movement

    Ghetto president

    Bobi Wine is the stage name of the leader of Uganda's People Power Movement, Kyagulanyi Ssetamu Robert. He is a popular musician. Uganda's long-time President Yoweri Museveni has banned the red beret favored by Wine and his supporters, saying it should be reserved for the military.

  • Nigerian woman Aisha Yusuf taking on Boko Haram

    #BringBackOurGirls

    In April 2014, 276 school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in Nigeria's Borno state. Dozens of girls were later freed or escaped but most are still being held captive by the extremist group. Aisha Yusuf has been one of the most vocal advocates for their release. An international campaign for their release uses hashtags that include #BringBackOurGirls and #ChibokGirls

  • MCP leader Lazarus Chakwera surrounded by supporters at a protest against Jane Ansah

    No to a white-out vote

    The alleged use of correction fluid on marked ballots in Malawi's May 2019 presidential election has caused widespread outrage. The opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and its supporters have been calling for the resignation of the chair of the country's electoral commission, Jane Ansah, ever since.

  • Student protesters in South Africa (Reuters/S. Sibeko)

    #MustFall movements

    In recent years, various movements have sprung up, many of them led by students protesting on the streets and on the internet under hashtags such as #FeesMustFall or #RhodesMustFall and #GhandiMustFall, over colonial-era public statues and ideas.

  • A large protest march with participants wearing red (AFP/C. Binani)

    Seeing red

    Guinea has seen regular anti-government protests since October 2019, with participants wearing the color of the opposition coalition. Many Guineans are angry over the West African country's octogenarian leader Alpha Conde's plans to revise the constitution and make a third presidential term possible.

  • A poster showing Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (picture alliance/CPA Media Co. Ltd)

    Red for revolution

    Red has always been the color of the revolution since at least 1848. Roman generals had their bodies colored red to celebrate victories whilst the Ancient Egyptians and Mayans colored their faces red in ceremonies. Soviet Russia adopted a red flag following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, later followed by China, Vietnam, and other communist countries.


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