List of South African flags

This article lists the flags of the various colonies and states that have existed in South Africa since 1652.

History

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1839-1843	Natalia Republic
	1857-1902	Orange Free State
	1857-74, 1875–77, 1881-1902	South African Republic (1)	('Vierkleur')
	1870-1905	Natal (1)
	1874-1875	South African Republic (2)	('Burgers Flag'). A red saltire outlined in white on a dark blue field.
	1876–1910	Flag of the Cape Colony	A blue ensign defaced with the shield-of-arms of Cape Colony
	1883-1885	State of Goshen
	1883-1885	Stellaland
	1884-1888	Nieuwe Republiek
	1886-1891	Klein Vrystaat
	1904–1910	Orange River Colony	A blue ensign defaced with a springbok antelope in a disc[1]
	1904–1910	Transvaal	A blue ensign defaced with a disc showing a lion lying on an African plain with palm trees.[2]
	1905-1910	Natal (2)	A blue ensign defaced with the Natal
	1910-1912	Union of South Africa (Merchant flag)
	1910-1928	Union of South Africa (State Ensign)
	1912 - 1960	Union of South Africa (Merchant flag)
	1928 - 1994	Republic/Union of South Africa
	1966-1994	Transkei
	1973-1994	Bophuthatswana
	1973-1994	Ciskei
	1973-1994	Gazankulu
	1973-1994	Venda
	1974-1994	Lebowa
	1975-1994	QwaQwa
	1977-1985	KwaZulu (1)
	1982-1994	KwaNdebele
	1985-1994	KwaZulu (2)
	1994 – present	Republic of South Africa

Historical flags 1652–1928

• Many flags were used in South Africa prior to political unification in 1910.
• The original Dutch East India Company colony at the Cape of Good Hope (1652–1795) flew the Dutch flag, with the VOC logo in the centre. This flag was also flown during the period of Batavian Republic rule (1803–06).
• The Boer Republics, i.e. Orange Free State (1854–1902), South African Republic (1857–1902), Stellaland (1882–85), Goshen (1883–85), the Nieuwe Republiek (1884–88), and Klein Vrystaat (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. Natal, Cape Colony, and later the Orange River Colony and Transvaal, added their own colonial flag badges.
• The Union of South Africa, formed in 1910, initially used a red ensign, 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 This was superseded by the first South African national flag, introduced in 1928.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 Hertzog administration, after several years of political controversy. It was approved by Parliament in 1927, and first hoisted on May 31, 1928.
• The flag reflected the Union's predecessors. The basis was the Prince's Flag (royal tricolour) of the Netherlands, 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 May 31, 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. Transkei (1966–94), Bophuthatswana (1973–94), Ciskei (1973–94), Gazankulu (1973–94), Venda (1973–94), Lebowa (1974–94), QwaQwa (1975–94), KwaZulu (1977–94), and KwaNdebele (1982–94).
• All these flags became obsolete when the homelands were reincorporated into South Africa on April 27, 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 Herald, Frederick Brownell. It was approved by the Transitional Executive Council on March 20, 1994, and officially authorised by state president F.W. de Klerk on April 20, 1994. The flag was officially hoisted a week later, on April 27, 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	Date	Description
	1910–1912	A British Red Ensign with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa.
	1910–1928	A British Blue Ensign with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa.
	1912–1928	A British Red Ensign with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa on a white roundel.
	1928–1994	Orange, white, and blue horizontal stripes, on the white stripe, a backwards Union Flag towards the hoist, the Orange Free State flag hanging vertically and the Flag of Transvaal, towards the fly. Used for both the Union and later Republic of South Africa
	1994–present	Two horizontal bands of chilli red (top) and blue with a black triangle at the hoist, over all a green horizontal (pall) (Y-shape), fimbriated white against the red and blue and gold against the black.

Military flags

South African National Defence Force

1947–1981  1981–1994  1994–2003

National Defence Department

Joint Operations Division  Department of Military Veterans

Army

1951–1966  1966–1973  1973–1994  2003–present

Air Force

1920–1940  1940–1951  1951–1958  1958–1967  1967–1970  1970–1981  1981–1982  1982–1994  1994–2003  2003–present

Navy

1922–1946  1946–1951  1951–1952  1952–1981  1981–1994  1994–present

Police

1981-1994

See also

• Flag of South Africa
• National symbols of South Africa
• Coat of arms of South Africa
• Flag of Transvaal
• Flag of the Orange Free State
• Flag of the Cape Colony
• Flag of Stellaland
• Flag of the Natalia Republic

Notes

1. This replaced the Orange Free State republican flag.
2. The flag is the colonial flag which replaced the "Vierkleur" of the South African Republic (horizonally red, white and blue with a vertical green stripe at the hoist).

References

• Beckett, D. (2002) Flying with Pride.
• Brownell, F.G. (1993) National and Provincial Symbols.
• Burgers, A.P. (1997) Sovereign Flags of South Africa.
• Burgers, A.P. (2008). The South African Flag Book.
• Pama, C. (1965) Lions and Virgins.
• Pama, C. (1984) Die Vlae van Suid-Afrika.

External links

• Southern African Vexillological Association (SAVA)
• Flags of the World