History of Harare in Pictures

The Origin of the Name “Harare”

Before European colonization, the region of modern-day Zimbabwe’s capital was called Harawa, named after the local leader Chief Neharawa. In 1890, British settlers displaced the indigenous population to establish a military outpost, naming the new settlement Fort Salisbury (later shortened to Salisbury). Following Zimbabwe’s independence, the city was officially renamed Harare in 1982 to honor Chief Neharawa’s ancestral legacy. Harare from Harawa because European settlers struggled with local Shona pronunciations over nearly a century of colonial rule. When the city was officially renamed in 1982 to shed its colonial title, Salisbury, the government adopted the colonial mispronunciation, evolved version—Harare

Harare in Historic and modern pictures

The Pioneer Column of the British South Africa Company reached the site of Fort Salisbury on 12 September 1890, which was celebrated from 1920 as Pioneers’ Day. The next morning, at 10 am on 13 September 1890, a full dress parade of the column was held. The seven-pounder gun fired a royal salute and Canon Balfour said a prayer as the column’s Lieutenant Edward Tyndale-Biscoe hoisted the flag atop the kopje overlooking the site of the future capital, Salisbury.