A century of new flags: How independence shaped the world

Graphics: TBS

In the last hundred years, more than a hundred flags have risen across the world over newly freed nations as symbols of hope, sacrifice, and the stubborn human insistence on self-determination.

But the paths these countries followed after independence show a complicated truth: freedom can unleash extraordinary economic and political transformation, but it can also expose nations to turmoil, conflict and decay.

The journeys of countries that secured their independence in the past century map out a story of triumph, trauma and everything in between.

In the Levant, Syria emerged from the shadow of French rule on 17 April 1946, after years of nationalist uprisings led by figures such as Sultan al-Atrash. The cost was high; hundreds died during revolts like the 1925–1927 Great Syrian Revolt.

Its neighbour, Lebanon, followed a similar but less violent trajectory. When France arrested Lebanese leaders in 1943, public outrage and British pressure forced their release, paving the way for formal independence on 22 November 1943.

What neither country expected was the instability that followed. 

Syria found itself trapped in a cycle of coups and, decades later, engulfed in a civil war that shattered its economy. Lebanon slipped into its own devastating civil war from 1975 to 1990, before collapsing again under the weight of political paralysis and its 2020 economic crisis.

In both cases, independence opened the door to sovereignty but not stability, leaving economies struggling under the pressure of conflict and mismanagement.

Meanwhile, Jordan's path to independence was far quieter. Gaining independence from Britain on 25 May 1946 through negotiation, the new kingdom avoided the large-scale bloodshed that marked many anti-colonial struggles.

Some nations soared; others staggered; many are still finding their footing. But each, in its own way, embodies the profound and complicated truth that the desire for self-determination remains one of the most powerful forces in human history.

Its monarchy held, bringing political stability even as its resource-poor economy grew slowly and cautiously. It serves as one of the region's modest success stories: not prosperous, but steady.

Across the seas in Asia, the Philippines' independence from the United States on 4 July 1946 came after a brutal war against Japanese occupation that cost around one million Filipino lives.

Emerging into self-rule, the country grappled with dictatorship and corruption, particularly during the Marcos era, before finding a stronger economic footing in the 2000s. Its progress is uneven, but its direction, after decades of turbulence, now points upwards.

Some struggles also reshaped the world. India's independence on 15 August 1947 was won through nonviolent resistance, mass movements, and political negotiation. But the joy of freedom was immediately darkened by Partition, which took between 200,000 and one million lives and created two new states: India and Pakistan.

India went on to build one of the world's largest democracies and, since the 1990s, a fast-growing economy that has transformed it into a rising global power.

Pakistan, born on 14 August 1947, faced the same Partition tragedy but took a very different path. Political instability, military coups, and recurring economic crises weighed down the country's potential. Independence had created a homeland, but not a stable foundation.

Burma, now Myanmar, gained its independence from Britain on 4 January 1948 after negotiations led by Aung San, who was assassinated months before independence. Instead of peace, independence brought decades of military dictatorship and ethnic civil wars.

Similarly, Sri Lanka, which achieved independence peacefully on 4 February 1948, later fell into a long civil war and, more recently, an economic crisis that pushed the nation into bankruptcy. Freedom alone could not shield them from deeper fractures.

In Korea, the collapse of Japanese rule in 1945 divided the peninsula. South Korea formally became independent on 15 August 1948, followed by North Korea on 9 September 1948. Their futures could not have been more different.

Illustration: TBS

South Korea endured the Korean War before launching one of the world's most dramatic economic transformations, becoming an OECD member and global technology powerhouse. North Korea, shaped by extreme authoritarianism, isolation, and famine, plunged into economic failure.

Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands on 27 December 1949 came at the end of a four-year war that claimed more than 100,000 Indonesian lives. Sukarno's republic struggled with authoritarian rule and corruption, yet the country has grown into a major emerging economy, uneven but undeniably successful in the long arc of history.

In North Africa, Libya's independence on 24 December 1951, overseen by the UN, arrived with minimal violence. But the decades that followed oscillated between Gaddafi's authoritarian rule and the chaos of post-2011 civil conflict.

Egypt's independence is marked by the Revolution of 1952 and was completed on 18 June 1953, paving the way for a long era of military-backed governments and persistent economic challenges.

Sudan's independence on 1 January 1956 was peaceful, but its aftermath was anything but. Plagued by two civil wars and the Darfur genocide, Sudan remains one of the most conflict-ridden and economically fragile states born in the last century.

Morocco's independence on 2 March 1956, won through negotiations with France after nationalist uprisings, produced a stable monarchy and a steadily growing economy, one of the region's quieter success stories.

Southeast Asia again offers two contrasting outcomes. Malaysia, which achieved independence peacefully on 31 August 1957, has grown into a successful multi-ethnic state with rapid economic development.

Singapore, expelled from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, had none of the natural resources of its neighbours, yet it transformed itself into one of the richest nations in the world, a testament to how independence, even accidental independence, can unlock unexpected potential.

Bangladesh's independence on 16 December 1971 was among the bloodiest in the century. Born from the ashes of genocide and a liberation war that took nearly three million lives, the country's struggle for statehood stretches far deeper into history. Starting from the 1947 partition that created Pakistan with two geographically and culturally disparate wings, the Bengali-majority East Pakistan found itself politically, economically, and culturally marginalised by West Pakistan. 

The first major expression of resistance came with the Bangla Language Movement of 1952, a movement that sparked decades of nationalist awakening. This long-standing struggle reached its breaking point after a Bengali-led political party won a decisive majority in the 1970 general elections but was unlawfully denied the right to govern. The Pakistani military responded with Operation Searchlight, a genocide order that killed thousands on March 25, 1971.

That triggered the nine-month Liberation War, during which the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Forces) fought against the Pakistani military. This was one of the century's most violent wars that resulted in the deaths of roughly three million people and forced ten million refugees into India. The war ended with Pakistan's surrender in Dhaka on December 16, 1971, marking the birth of the sovereign nation of Bangladesh.

Independence did not immediately bring stability. The newly formed nation endured years of political turmoil. Democratic governance was restored only in the 1990s. Since the 2000s, Bangladesh has charted a remarkable economic rise, transforming itself into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, relying largely on its Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector and remittances from migrant workers. 

But its future now faces new uncertainties, but its trajectory remains one of resilience and hard-earned progress.

Vietnam followed a different timeline but a similarly painful journey. Its reunified independence on 2 July 1976, after the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War, came at the cost of over one million Vietnamese lives. The country suffered deep poverty until its economic reforms in 1986 sparked a rapid transformation; today it stands as one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought new nations into the global family. Ukraine's independence on 24 August 1991, backed by a 92% vote in favour, promised democracy and reform. Instead, corruption, oligarchic politics, and a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 have pushed the nation into a struggle simply to survive.

The last two countries to join this century-long story of new sovereignties reflect both hope and heartbreak. East Timor, or Timor-Leste, secured its independence from Indonesia on 20 May 2002, after a UN-supervised referendum and violent backlash that left between 100,000 and 200,000 Timorese dead under occupation.

Its young democracy remains fragile, its economy dependent on oil, yet its political environment continues to improve.

Then came South Sudan, the world's newest nation, which gained independence on 9 July 2011 after decades of civil war in which two million people died. Despite an overwhelming 98.8% vote in favour of separation, the country fell back into civil war in 2013, descending into extreme poverty and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Taken together, these stories show that independence is not a guarantee of stability or prosperity. It is simply the beginning of a new chapter, one shaped by leadership, resources, geography, global politics, and the unresolved tensions that freedom often lays bare. Some nations soared; others staggered; many are still finding their footing. But each, in its own way, embodies the profound and complicated truth that the desire for self-determination remains one of the most powerful forces in human history.