Editing Flag of Sierra Leone (section)

==History==
The British first arrived in what is now modern-day Sierra Leone in 1787, when philanthropists and abolitionists acquired {{convert|52|sqkm}} of land situated close to [[Bunce Island]] for freed slaves.  The site of the settlement is where [[Freetown]] is now located.  It became a [[crown colony]] of the [[United Kingdom]] within [[British Empire|its colonial empire]] in 1808, [[Colony of Sierra Leone]].<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Sierra Leone profile|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094419|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref><ref name=LP>{{cite web|title=History of Sierra Leone|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/sierra-leone/history|access-date=June 10, 2014|publisher=Lonely Planet}}</ref>
Under colonial rule, Sierra Leone used the British [[Blue Ensign]] and [[Defacement (flag)|defaced]] it with the arms of the territory.  The emblem of Sierra Leone at the time consisted of a circle depicting an [[elephant]], an [[Elaeis guineensis|oil palm tree]] and mountains, along with the letters "S.L." standing for the initials of the territory's name.  Other than the initials, the rest of the emblem's design was identical to the colonial arms of the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]], [[Gambia Colony and Protectorate|The Gambia]] and the [[Lagos Colony]].<ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Whitney|last=Smith|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Flag of Sierra Leone|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1355505/flag-of-Sierra-Leone|date=October 30, 2013|access-date=June 10, 2014|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}} '''{{subscription required}}'''</ref>  Sierra Leone was granted its own unique coat of arms in 1914, and the emblem on the Blue Ensign was modified to reflect this change.<ref name=EB/>

In 1960, the [[College of Arms]] formulated and then approved of a new flag and [[Coat of arms of Sierra Leone|coat of arms]] for Sierra Leone, in anticipation of the colony's independence the following year.  The arms was designed first, and its predominant colours of green, white, and blue were subsequently used in the creation of the flag.<ref name=complete>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZauSgqSl6ekC&q=flag+of+sierra+leone&pg=PA81|title=Complete Flags of the World|publisher=Dorling Kindersley Ltd.|date=November 3, 2008|last=Kindersley|first=Dorling|pages=81|access-date=June 10, 2014|isbn=9781405338615}}</ref>  It was first hoisted at midnight on 27 April 1961, the day Sierra Leone became an independent country.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thousands Cheer At Independence For Sierra Leone|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CdwxAAAAIBAJ&pg=5522,3393446&dq=flag+of+sierra+leone&hl=en|date=April 27, 1961|access-date=June 10, 2014|page=1|first=Horace|last=Castell|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|agency=Reuters}}</ref>  Two years later, the [[Politics of Sierra Leone|government]] passed a law making it illegal to "insult" the country's flag, along with the flags of "friendly" nations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Law Shields Flag|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T3RQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2374,2513614&dq=flag+of+sierra+leone&hl=en|date=April 24, 1963|access-date=June 10, 2014|page=11|newspaper=The Milwaukee Sentinel|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=April 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411062750/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T3RQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2374,2513614&dq=flag+of+sierra+leone&hl=en|url-status=dead}}</ref>