{
  "g": "h,empire,africa",
  "ns": "empires",
  "name": "Merina Kingdom",
  "now": "madagascar",
  "years": "1540–1897",
  "id": "merina",
  "index": "c/madagascar:1540",
  "title": "Flag of the Merina Kingdom",
  "ratio": "2:3",
  "colors": [
    {
      "color": "white",
      "hex": "#ffffff",
      "note": "Upper band — **fotsy**, symbolising purity."
    },
    {
      "color": "red",
      "hex": "#ef4135",
      "note": "Lower band — **mena**, the royal colour."
    }
  ],
  "desc": "- The Merina Kingdom (1540–1897) was the dominant Madagascar state that unified most of the island under a single monarchy, known as the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1817\n - **Construction:** a simple horizontal bicolour — white over red — the historic banner of the Merina monarchs\n - The modern Malagasy flag preserves the red and white (plus a green vertical stripe added at independence)",
  "flag": "empires/merina.svg",
  "countryData": {
    "name": "Merina Kingdom",
    "officialName": "Kingdom of Madagascar",
    "un": "none"
  },
  "trivia": "- Queen Ranavalona I's 33-year reign (1828–1861) saw the expulsion of missionaries and the suppression of Christianity\n - Her grandson Radama II opened the kingdom again to Europeans; Queen Ranavalona III was deposed by the French in 1897\n - The Merina aristocracy's **fanompoana** (royal corvée) and oligarchic structure survived colonialism as a political legacy in Madagascar",
  "_name": "Merina Kingdom",
  "_namespace": "empires",
  "_namePart": "merina"
}