Flag: Eswatini

Eswatini, formerly Swaziland: a warrior's shield on red, framed by blue and yellow.

Eswatini is a landlocked kingdom roughly the size of Wales or New Jersey, tucked between South Africa and Mozambique. It is home to the Swazi people, speaks siSwati and English, and is one of the last countries where a king rules directly: Mswati III has reigned since 1986. The name means "land of the Swazi". The flag was raised on 6 October 1968, a month after independence from Britain, and its design goes back to a banner King Sobhuza II gave Swazi soldiers serving in the Second World War.

Blue bands run along the top and bottom, a wide crimson band fills the middle, and thin yellow stripes separate them. The usual official reading is red for past battles, blue for peace and stability, yellow for the country's resources. At the centre lies a traditional Nguni battle shield in black and white, laid over two spears and a fighting staff hung with feather tassels, the kind of regalia worn by the king. The shield and spears stand for protection from enemies, and the black and white hide for Black and white people living together in harmony.

What does it mean when someone sends 🇸🇿?

It names the country, with pride if the sender is from there.

Most people use it exactly as they use any other flag emoji. Swazis at home and abroad put it in bios and captions to say where they come from; many Swazi also live across the border in South Africa, so it often appears next to 🇿🇦. Travellers drop it in a post from Mbabane, a game reserve or the mountains. It fills up around Independence Day on 6 September and during the big royal ceremonies, above all the Umhlanga Reed Dance in late August or September, when tens of thousands of young women dance for the Queen Mother and the king.

Fans add it to posts about the national football team or athletes at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. There is no slang or hidden meaning: if the message is not about the country, the sender probably meant the flag as a geography joke, usually the old Swaziland-or-Switzerland mix-up.