Adoption of the National Flag - 25 centesimo
On October 12, 1954, the Territorial Council of the Trust Territory of Somaliland (under Italian administration, AFIS) officially adopted the national flag of Somalia, designed by the Somali scholar and statesman Mohammed Awale Liban. Created in anticipation of full national sovereignty, the flag features a sky-blue field honoring the United Nations for establishing the trusteeship pathway to self-determination, centered by a five-pointed white star. Each point of the star of unity (Xiddigta Midnimada) historically symbolized the five regions inhabited by ethnic Somalis across the Horn of Africa (Italian Somaliland, British Somaliland, French Somaliland, the Ogaden region, and the Northern Frontier District).
The composition commemorates the historic adoption date (12 OTTOBRE 1954) as a defining milestone in the Somali independence movement. The foreground depicts the new national flag flying tall from a flagpole against a backdrop of traditional coastal architecture and minarets in Mogadishu. Behind the banner, a spherical globe highlights the geographical emergence and political rebirth of Somalia on the world stage, marking a crucial step toward its unification and full independence in 1960.
The composition commemorates the historic adoption date (12 OTTOBRE 1954) as a defining milestone in the Somali independence movement. The foreground depicts the new national flag flying tall from a flagpole against a backdrop of traditional coastal architecture and minarets in Mogadishu. Behind the banner, a spherical globe highlights the geographical emergence and political rebirth of Somalia on the world stage, marking a crucial step toward its unification and full independence in 1960.