Rhodesia was an unrecognized state which existed from 1965 to 1979 in the territory now occupied by the country of Zimbabwe. Originally a British colony, it declared its independance in 1965 in order to preserve the rule of the country's white minority over its much larger Black population, sparking the Rhodesian Bush War. Rhodesia has since become a symbol of racism and segregation, and its flag and military insignas have been used in white nationalist propaganda. Dylann Roof, who shot nine Black parishioners in a historically Black church in Charleston, notably displayed the Rhodesian flag in a number of pictures before the shooting. His manifesto also mentioned Rhodesia in several instances.