Zululand (known locally as KwaZulu) is a country in southern Africa. A country by this name was established in the 80s when the Zulu nationalist leadership renamed KwaKholwa, the former colony of the Federated Kingdoms, this way. With the renaming it was attempted to portray the country as the direct descendant of the 19th century Zulu empire, which the Zulu nationalists seen as a golden age of their nation. Zululand, however, included not only Zulu, but as well many Xhosa and Swati inhabitted territories, and the rights of these nations were sometimes lower than those of the Zulus. Zulu became the sole official language of the state, replacing English and due to the protests of the Federated Kingdoms, Zululand left the Commonwealth. Zululand agitated during the civil unrest of the 1980s and early 1990s in South Africa, where it attempted to gain the Zulu-inhabitted territories and declared its independence from South Africa. Zululand lost the war however and therefore lost large Xhosa-inhabitted territories in the west. Following the war, the nationalist government was deposed, and some policies changed: Zululand rejoined the Commonwealth, Swati and English also were given status of national language in addition to Zulu. However, the Swatis still feel discriminated and the Swati liberation movements that were established during the time of the Zulu nationalist rule continued their operation, demanding an independent state of Swatiland. These movements are supported by the Swatis living in South Africa, thus making the northern Zululand an unstable zone. Zululand's defacto internal independence was guaranteed by South Africa in 2004, though defence is handled by South African armed forces.
Proposal for state flag that was ultimately rejected
