The actors onstage reached for their pockets, each pulling out and then unfurling a Kenyan flag before a hushed crowd that packed the theater.
Then, in a solemn and chilling delivery, they began reciting the names of the dozens of people they say were killed by security forces in the monthslong mass protests that have convulsed Kenya. As they waved the flags, several members of the audience wrapped their own flags around themselves, some weeping quietly.
“The flag is no longer a cloth that flaps overhead and that is detached from the people,” Ngatia Kimathi, one of the actors in the play staged in the capital, Nairobi, said in an interview.
“The flag has become a symbol of unity and a symbol of the people’s power,” said Mr. Kimathi, who had been arrested in the protests. “In these times of death but also hope, everyone is holding onto it.”
Kenya has strict legal limits on the use of its national flag, which features two crossed spears and a shield against stripes of black, red, green and white. The law specifies that the flag is to be displayed only on government properties or on public holidays and that violators can be prosecuted. The rules were first introduced in the 1960s to limit the desecration of the flag — and a proposal to amend them several years ago never passed the Senate.
But as antigovernment protests have roiled the East African nation, protesters have embraced the flag as a symbol of solidarity against a political class they say is corrupt and has left the country with grinding poverty, skyrocketing debt, joblessness and poor infrastructure.
Activists have embraced the flag as patriotic bunting and a symbol of unity that could overcome the corrosive ethnic politics and political dynasties that have shaped Kenya for decades.
Dozens of protesters have been arrested while carrying nothing but the flag, according to lawyers, protesters and activists. While none have been charged with improper use of the flag, the lawyers said, protesters risk two months in prison or a fine of $15.
“Historically, the flag represents victory that has been gained through struggle,” said Chao Tayiana, a Kenyan historian who has begun a project collecting objects used in the protests, including flags. “So for Kenyans who envision a different future and an alternative way of living, the flag is a symbol of unity.”
The youth-led protests, which began in mid-June against proposed tax increases, have devolved into broader calls for President William Ruto to resign. At least 60 people have been killed, hundreds arrested and dozens more abducted and tortured, according to human rights groups.
In capitulating to the protesters’ demands, Mr. Ruto abandoned the tax increases and fired his cabinet. However, he reappointed many of the same, often wealthy officials, to office, further angering the protesters, who vowed to return to the streets.
“They are not listening to us,” Mr. Kimathi, the actor, said.
As they go out on the streets, protesters have advised one another on social media to carry three things: water, a phone and a flag.
Demonstrators have shown up wearing the flag as a scarf or bandanna or strapped to their belts and bags. They have draped the flag on coffins and on the bodies of dead protesters — as in the case of David Chege, who activists and rights groups say was shot by security forces in front of Parliament. They gave folded flags to the families of the deceased.
Young people, chanting “Ruto Must Go,” have also waved the flag at nightclubs, concerts and vigils. Street vendors at busy roundabouts have begun selling the flags for a few dollars. One activist has been giving away hundreds of flags before and during protests.
“My generation has been able to democratize the flag,” said Boniface Mwangi, an activist who has been at the forefront of the protests.
Growing up, Mr. Mwangi said, he was a scout member who helped raise the flag at school every Friday. He associated the flag with the then-government of the autocratic leader Daniel arap Moi and thought it was an emblem “to be feared rather than to be respected.”
When he first traveled to the United States years ago, Mr. Mwangi said, he was surprised to see the American flag everywhere. He is incensed that many Kenyan politicians affix flags to their cars so that the police would wave them through traffic jams.
Kenyan politicians, he said, had forgotten how the flag encoded the country’s history: black for the people, red for the blood spilled during the struggle for independence, green for the land and white for peace.
“The flag belongs to all of us,” said Mr. Mwangi, who was recently arrested while wearing the flag around his neck. “Now, we have liberated the flag.”
Protesters like Shakira Wafula admit they were scared when they first stepped into the street carrying the flag.
At a protest in June, Ms. Wafula was among demonstrators who engaged in a fierce running battle with the police. Hours later, exhausted, with a runny nose and burning eyes from the tear gas, she said she decided to sit down and rest at a corner near Parliament. But security forces quickly caught up with her and demanded that she leave. Ms. Wafula refused, and holding onto a metal fence, challenged the officer to move her.
Then she raised her fist in the air while holding a Kenyan flag.
The staredown with the officers went viral and was broadcast on news networks and widely shared on TikTok. Some protesters said Ms. Wafula gave them the courage to show up in the streets. A prominent artist drew a mural of her face on a wall, with the Kenyan flag next to it.
“The fear I had at the beginning that it’s illegal to be walking around with the flag in this manner is no longer there,” Ms. Wafula, a fitness instructor, said in an interview. “I permanently have a flag in my bag, and it’s making me feel connected to my country and to the other youth who are actively participating in this movement.”
For now, protesters hope the restrictive laws governing the use of the flag will be amended. Some have called for the portrait of the president, which is displayed in businesses and offices, to be replaced with the flag.
Mr. Kimathi, the actor, said he wrote poems while looking at the two flags he now owns, and thought about all those who have been killed or hurt while demonstrating for a better Kenya.
“The flag has shown us Kenyans how we can be together and fight together,” he said. “No one is above the flag.”
