African National Symbols: Share Your Pride on WeChat
African National Symbols Are More Than a Pretty Profile Picture It is Monday morning in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou or wherever your campus or job has landed you. You open WeChat, see a group message asking everyone to introduce their home country, and suddenly the chat wakes up: flags, traditional outfits, food photos, football jerseys, national animals, old songs and a fair bit of good-natured banter. For South Africans in China, the flag often does the heavy lifting first. Its colours are instantly recognisable, and it gives people an easy opening: “Where are you from?” “What do the colours mean?” “Is that your national team shirt?” From there, a simple post can turn into a proper conversation about eleven official languages, braais, local music, wildlife, food and the many different communities that make South Africa what it is. ...