Installation view of Ethiopia at the Crossroads at the Walters Art Museum. Pictured: 20th-century liturgical dress and umbrella from the Peabody Essex Museum (photo Nandini Pandey/ Hyperallergic ).

Toledo Museum of Art. Among items on view in “Ethiopia at the Crossroads” is a recent museum acquisition of an important Ethiopian icon dating to about 1500.

“Ethiopia at the Crossroads” runs through March 3 at the Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St. Admission is free. For more information, call 410-547-9000 or visit thewalters.org .

Obviously, the flag remains a symbol of patriotism and nationalism,and it has, for Ethiopia, been a beacon of freedom as the nation has never been tested the tyrannous times of the colonial era.