List of South African flags

Template:Short description Template:Use South African English Template:Use dmy dates This article lists the flags of the various colonies and states that have existed in South Africa since 1652, as well as other flags pertaining to South Africa, including governmental, military, police and provincial flags.

Overview

The following flags have been used as the national flag of the Union of South Africa and the Republic of South Africa:

Flag	Date	Description
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg	1910–1957	Blue field on which the Cross of Saint Andrew counterchanged with the Cross of Saint Patrick, over all the Cross of Saint George fimbriated.
File:South Africa Flag 1910-1912.svg	1910–1912	A British Red Ensign with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa.
File:South Africa Flag 1912-1928.svg	1912–1928	A British Red Ensign with the shield of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa on a white roundel.
File:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg	Flag of South Africa 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 the South African Republic, towards the fly. Used for both the Union and later Republic of South Africa
File:Flag of South Africa.svg	Flag of South Africa 1994–present	Two horizontal bands of chilli red (top) and blue (bottom) 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.

History

Historical flags (1652–1928)

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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. the Orange Free State (1854–1902), the South African Republic (1857–1902), Stellaland (1882–85), Goshen (1883–85), the Nieuwe Republiek (1884–88), and the Klein Vrystaat (1886–1891) had their own flags. Several 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 the 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. The first South African national flag, introduced in 1928, superseded it.

Flag	Date	Use	Description
File:Prinsenvlag.svg	1652–1795	The Prince's Flag	A horizontal triband of orange, white and blue.
File:Statenvlag.svg	1652–1795	States Flag	A horizontal triband of red, white and blue. The blue is a lighter shade than that of the current national flag
File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg	1652–1795, 1803–1806	Flag of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
File:Flag of Great Britain (1707–1800).svg	1795–1801	Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain	the Flags of England and Scotland superimposed.
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg	1801–1803	Union Jack	The flag was used in the occupation of The Dutch Cape Colony until 1803, only to be reintroduced in 1806.
File:Flag of the Batavian Republic.svg	1803–1806	Flag of the Batavian Republic	A horizontal triband of red, white and blue with the Republic’s emblem in the canton.
File:Flag of Natalia Republic.svg	1839–1843	Natalia Republic
File:Flag of the Orange Free State.svg	1857–1902	Orange Free State
File:Flag of Transvaal.svg	1857–74, 1875–77, 1881–1902	South African Republic (Transvaal Republic)	('Vierkleur')
File:Diamond flag of the Diggers Republic.svg	1870–71	Flag of the Diggers' Republic	('Diamond flag')
File:Flag of the Diggers Republic.svg	1870–71	Flag of the Diggers' Republic	('Klipdrift flag')
File:South African Burgers Flag.svg	1874–1875	South African Republic (Transvaal Republic)	('Thomas François Burgers's Voortrekker flag'). A red saltire outlined in white on a dark blue field.
File:Flag of the Natal Colony (1875–1910).svg	1875–1910	Colony of Natal
File:Flag of the Cape Colony 1876-1910.svg	1876–1910	Cape Colony	A blue ensign defaced with the shield-of-arms of Cape Colony
File:Flag of the Republic of Goshen.svg	1883–1885	State of Goshen
File:First flag of Stellaland.svg	1883	Stellaland
File:Flag of Stellaland.svg	1883–1885	Stellaland
File:Flag of Nieuwe Republiek.svg	1884–1888	Nieuwe Republiek
File:Flag of Klein Vrystaat.svg	1890–1891	Klein Vrystaat
File:Flag of Orange River Colony.svg	1902–1910	Orange River Colony	A blue ensign defaced with a springbok antelope in a disc^[1]
File:Flag of the Transvaal Colony 1904–1910.svg	1904–1910	Transvaal Colony	A blue ensign defaced with a disc showing a lion lying on an African plain with palm trees.^[2]
File:South Africa Flag 1910-1912.svg	1910–1912	Union of South Africa (Merchant flag)
File:Red Ensign of South Africa (1912–1951).svg	1912–1951	Union of South Africa (Merchant flag)
File:Blue Ensign of South Africa (1910–1928).svg	1910–1928	Union of South Africa (State Ensign and naval jack)

National flags (1928–1994)

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The Hertzog administration introduced the flag after several years of political controversy. Approved by Parliament in 1927, it was first hoisted on 31 May 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 31 May 1961.

Flag	Date	Use	Description
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg	1910–1957	Union of South Africa	The flag was a co-official flag until 1957 when the flag of the Union of South Africa became the sole official flag.
File:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg	1928–1982	Republic/Union of South Africa	The flag using a darker shade of "Union" blue common before the early 1980s.
File:Flag of South Africa (1982–1994).svg	1982–1994	Republic of South Africa	The flag using a lighter shade of "Solway" blue as specified by the South African government in 1982.

Homeland flags (1966–1994)

Nine of the ten Black 'homelands' which were created inside South African Federation 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). KaNgwane was the only homeland that never adopted its own distinctive flag, instead using the national flag of South Africa.
All these flags became obsolete when South Africa reincorporated the homelands on 27 April 1994.

Flag	Date	Use
File:Flag of Transkei.svg	1966–1994	Transkei
File:Flag of Bophuthatswana (1972–1994).svg	1973–1994	Bophuthatswana
File:Flag of Ciskei.svg	1973–1994	Ciskei
File:Flag of Gazankulu.svg	1973–1994	Gazankulu
File:Flag of Venda (1973–1994).svg	1973–1994	Venda
File:Flag of Lebowa.svg	1974–1994	Lebowa
File:Flag of QwaQwa (1975–1994).svg	1975–1994	QwaQwa
File:Flag of KwaZulu (1977–1985).svg	1977–1985	KwaZulu (1)
File:Flag of KwaNdbele.svg	1982–1994	KwaNdebele
File:Flag of KwaZulu (1985–1994).svg	1985–1994	KwaZulu (2)

Sporting flags (1992–1994)

As a result of the sporting boycott of South Africa over its policy of apartheid, South Africa did not participate in the Olympic Games between 1964 and 1988. The country was re-admitted to the Olympic movement in 1991.^[3] As a result of a dispute over what flag and national anthem to use following readmission, the team participated in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games under the National Olympic Committee flag. The flag consisted of a white field charged with grey diamond, which represented the countries mineral wealth, three cascading bands of blue, red and green, which represented the sea, the land and agriculture respectively and the Olympic rings.^[4]^[3] This flag was also used to represent the South African team at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Team uniforms included the emblem of Olympic Committee of South Africa, which depicted Olympic rings surrounded by olive branches, with the name of the country above. The team would use Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as its victory anthem at these games. At the 1994 Winter Games, South Africa participated under the flag of its Olympic committee. Script error: No such module "Gallery".