List of South African flags
Encyclopedia
Historical flags 1652-1928
- Many flags were used in South Africa, prior to [Bold]political unification in 1910.
- The original Dutch East India CompanyDutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
colony at the Cape of Good HopeCape of Good HopeThe Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
(1652-1795) flew the Dutch flag, with the VOC logo in the centre. - The BoerBoerBoer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
republics, i.e. Orange Free StateOrange Free StateThe Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
(1854-1902), South African RepublicSouth African RepublicThe South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
(1857-1902), StellalandStellalandStellaland, officially known as the Republic of Stellaland from 1882–1883 and, after unification with the neighbouring State of Goshen, as the United States of Stellaland from 1883–1885, was a Boer republic located in an area of Bechuanaland, west of the Transvaal.During its short history,...
(1882-85), GoshenStellalandStellaland, officially known as the Republic of Stellaland from 1882–1883 and, after unification with the neighbouring State of Goshen, as the United States of Stellaland from 1883–1885, was a Boer republic located in an area of Bechuanaland, west of the Transvaal.During its short history,...
(1883-85), the Nieuwe RepubliekNieuwe RepubliekNieuwe Republiek was a small boer state, existed during 1884-1888 in Southern Africa.-History:After British and Boer mercenaries had helped Dinuzulu defeat his rival Usibepu for succession of the Zulu throne, land and farming rights were granted to them along the banks of the Mfolozi River...
(1884-88), and Klein VrystaatKlein VrystaatKlein Vrystaat was a short-lived Boer republic in what is now South Africa.-History of the Little Free State :From around 1876, a group of Boers lived on land bought from the Swazi king Mbandzeni. In 1886, a formal government was formed, following the adoption of a constitution.King Mbandzeni sold...
(1886-1891) had their own flags. Several were derived from the Dutch flag. - The British colonies that existed in the 19th century, flew the British flags, and from the early 1870s some, i.e. NatalColony of NatalThe Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
, Cape ColonyCape ColonyThe Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
, and later the Orange River ColonyOrange River ColonyThe Orange River Colony was the British colony created after this nation first occupied and then annexed the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War...
and TransvaalTransvaal ProvinceTransvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
, added their own colonial flag badges. - The Union of South AfricaUnion of South AfricaThe Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
, formed in 1910, initially used a red ensignRed EnsignThe Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such...
, defaced with a badge depicting the Union coat of arms. This was superseded by the first South African national flag, introduced in 1928.
National flag 1928-1994
- The flag was introduced by the HertzogJames Barry Munnik HertzogJames Barry Munnik Hertzog, better known as J. B. M. Hertzog was a Boer general during the second Anglo-Boer War who later went on to become Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939...
administration, after several years of political controversy. It was approved by Parliament in 1927, and first hoisted on 31 May 1928. - The flag reflected the Union's predecessors. The basis was the 17th-century orange-white-blue Dutch flag, with the addition of a Union Jack to represent the Cape and Natal, the former Orange Free state flag, and the former South African Republic flag.
- Until 1957, the flag was flown subordinate to the British Union Jack.
- The flag remained unchanged when South Africa became a republic on 31 May 1961. However, there was pressure to change the flag, particularly from Afrikaners who resented the fact that the Union Flag was a part of the flag. The then prime minister, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, had a "clean" flag, comprising three vertical stripes of orange, white, and blue, with a leaping Springbok over a wreath of six Proteas in the centre, designed, but he was assassinated before he could introduce it, and the project died with him in 1966.
Homeland flags 1966-1994
- Nine of the ten Black 'homelands' which were created inside South Africa under the apartheid system, had their own flags, i.e. TranskeiTranskeiThe Transkei , officially the Republic of Transkei , was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa...
(1966-94), BophuthatswanaBophuthatswanaBophuthatswana , officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana was a Bantustan – an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity – and nominal parliamentary democracy in the northwestern region of South Africa...
(1973-94), CiskeiCiskeiCiskei was a Bantustan in the south east of South Africa. It covered an area of 2,970 square miles , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean....
(1973-94), GazankuluGazankuluGazankulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Tsonga people. It was carved out of the former Transvaal Province and given self-rule in 1971, with its capital at Giyani. When Apartheid was abolished in 1994, the population...
(1973-94), VendaVendaVenda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....
(1973-94), LebowaLebowaLebowa was a bantustan located in the Transvaal in north eastern South Africa. Seshego initially acted as Lebowa's capital while the purpose-built Lebowakgomo was being constructed. Granted internal self-government on 2 October 1972 and ruled for much of its existence by Cedric Phatudi, Lebowa...
(1974-94), QwaQwaQwaQwaQwaQwa was a Bantustan, or homeland, in the eastern part of South Africa. It encompassed a very small region of in the east of the former South African province of Orange Free State, bordering Lesotho. Its capital was Phuthaditjhaba...
(1975-94), KwaZuluKwaZuluKwaZulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Zulu people. The capital, formerly at Nongoma, was moved in 1980 to Ulundi....
(1977-94), and KwaNdebeleKwaNdebeleKwaNdebele was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Ndebele people. The homeland was created when the South African government purchased nineteen white-owned farms and installed a government....
(1982-94).
- All these flags became obsolete when the homelands were reincorporated into South Africa on 27 April 1994.
National flag 1994-
- South Africa was reconstituted as a democratic state, with equal rights for men and women of all races, in 1994. The old flag's long association with the apartheid era made it unacceptable for the new era, and a new flag was therefore designed by the State HeraldBureau of Heraldry (South Africa)The Bureau of Heraldry is the South African heraldic authority, established in Pretoria on 1 June 1963. It is headed by a National Herald and its functions are to register arms, badges, flags and seals , to keep a public register, to issue registration certificates and, since 1980, to advise the...
, Frederick BrownellFrederick BrownellFrederick Gordon Brownell OMSS SM MMM JCD is a South African herald, vexillologist, and genealogist.He joined the Bureau of Heraldry as Assistant State Herald in 1977, and was promoted to State Herald in 1982. He retired in 2002....
. It was approved by the Transitional Executive Council on 20 March 1994, and officially authorised by state president F.W. de KlerkFrederik Willem de KlerkFrederik Willem de Klerk , often known as F. W. de Klerk, is the former seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994...
on 20 April 1994. The flag was officially hoisted a week later, on 27 April 1994.
- The new flag was intended as an interim measure, but it proved so popular that when the final Constitution was prepared in 1996, it became the permanent flag.
| Flag | |Description | |
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| 1910 - 1912 | A British Red Ensign Red Ensign The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such... with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State... . |
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| 1912 - 1928 | A British Red Ensign Red Ensign The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such... with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State... on a white roundel. |
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1928 - 1994 | Orange, white, and blue horizontal stripes, on the white stripe the Union Flag Union Flag The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas... towards the hoist, the Orange Free State Orange Free State The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province... flag hanging vertically and the Flag of Transvaal Flag of Transvaal The Flag of Transvaal was the flag of the former Transvaal province of South Africa. It was previously the flag of the historic Transvaal Republic, officially called the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek or in English translation, the South African Republic, from 1857 to 1874, 1875-1877, and 1881-1902.The... , also known as the Vierkleur, towards the fly. |
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1994 – Present | Two horizontal bands of chilli red (top) and blue with a black triangle at the hoist, over all a green horizontal (pall Pall (heraldry) A pall is a Y-shaped heraldic charge. An example of a pall placed horizontally is the green portion of the Flag of South Africa.... ) (Y-shape), fimbriated white against the red and blue and gold against the black. |