The flag of Cape Town is the official flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

 of the city of Cape Town

City of Cape Town

The City of Cape Town is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of 2007, it had a population of 3,497,097....

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

The current flag (featuring a silhouette of Table Mountain

Table Mountain

Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa, and is featured in the flag of Cape Town and other local government insignia. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top...

) replaced the previous flag (which consisted of the seal of Cape Town

Seal of Cape Town

The Seal of Cape Town depicts the official coat of arms of the municipality of Cape Town. These arms are no longer in official use, and no new arms have yet been adopted...

 on a blue field) in 1996. It was created by a graphic designer

Graphic designer

A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...

 and has not been registered with the South African Bureau of Heraldry.

The design consists of a stylised image of Table Mountain (and neighbouring peaks Devil's Peak

Devil's Peak (Cape Town)

Devil's Peak is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town. When looking at Table Mountain from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, or when looking at the standard picture postcard view of the mountain, the skyline is from left to right: the spire of Devil's Peak, the flat mesa of Table Mountain,...

 and Lion's Head

Lion's Head (Cape Town)

Lion's Head is a mountain located in Cape Town, South Africa, between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. Lion's Head peaks at above sea level. The peak forms part of a dramatic backdrop to the city of Cape Town and is part of the Table Mountain National Park....

) in white on a background of blue in the top left section and green in the top right section. Below the Table Mountain image is a yellow "paint brush" horizontal stripe under which is a red section at the bottom of the flag.

Unusually, the flag is the main symbol now used by the municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

, since no new coat of arms for the city has yet been adopted.