First Sudanese Civil WarSudan / South Sudan · 1955–1972“Bring the children close for this one: the flag rose over Sudan, but not every child saw themselves beneath it.”The spark came at Torit in 1955, before Sudan's independence flag had even climbed the pole, when southern soldiers mutinied against a state they feared would speak with northern officers, northern language, northern faith and no southern consent.The lesson the elders kept: The elders kept this lesson: a nation cannot be built by changing the flag while leaving some people outside the promise. Autonomy written on paper must be guarded in practice, or the bush will remember.