Following the granting of responsible government a flag was adopted which followed the standard British colonial practice, being a Blue Ensign, defaced with the shield from the Southern Rhodesian coat of arms.

On 11 November 1968, three years after the predominantly white government unilaterally declared independence from Britain, a national flag based on a completely new design was adopted.

[1] In 1979, when the country reconstituted itself as Zimbabwe Rhodesia following the Internal Settlement between the government and moderate black nationalists, a new flag was adopted to mark the transition on 4 September of that year.

[3] The design incorporated the pan-African colours of yellow, black, green and red, with the soapstone bird of Great Zimbabwe, representing an older, pre-colonial source of power and identity in yellow on a vertical black stripe, symbolising the importance of majority rule, and three horizontal stripes, one red representing the blood spilled in the struggle for majority rule, one white, representing the integral part of the European community and other minorities in all aspects of the country's life, and one green, reflecting the importance of agriculture to the country's well-being, but the new design had little support from black politicians, who described it as "the flag with two names", a reference to "Zimbabwe Rhodesia".

[4] In response, the Voice of Zimbabwe radio service operated by Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF from Maputo in Mozambique, carried a commentary entitled "The proof of independence is not flags or names", dismissing the changes as aimed at "strengthening the racist puppet alliance's position at the Zimbabwe conference in London".

[5] This flag was officially superseded in December 1979 when the UK took interim control of the country following the Lancaster House Agreement which ended the Rhodesian Bush War.

At midnight between 17 and 18 April 1980, the country was granted independence by the UK under the name Zimbabwe and a new national flag was adopted,[6][7][8][9] the draft for which had been handed to the Minister of Public Works Richard Hove by an unspecified designer.

[16][17] It "exemplifies the strong bond that ancestral humans had with animals, nature and spiritual guides" and it is treated with a high level of importance and respect.

[8][19] The Great Zimbabwe Bird first appeared in an armorial sense when it was incorporated in the coat of arms of Southern Rhodesia, which were granted by Royal Warrant on 11 August 1924.

The origin of this discrepancy appears to be an illustration of the proposed new flag that was first released by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Information in April 1980, just prior to the country attaining full independence.

The poor quality of the illustration, with the star appearing as irregular on the flag, but regular under the description of the meanings on the right, and with the Zimbabwe Bird being omitted completely from where it should be next to the words The National Emblem, would suggest that it was done in haste and without accuracy.