Flag of South Africa
the Rainbow Flag; in Afrikaans, Seskleur ("six colour")
A green Y shape lying on its side, edged in white and gold, splits a red top stripe from a blue bottom stripe, with a black triangle at the pole side.
At a glance
- Adopted
- April 27, 1994first flown as an interim flag on election day 1994; kept as the permanent flag in the 1996 constitution
- Shape (height : width)
- 2:3
- Capital
- Pretoria (executive capital); Cape Town is the legislative and Bloemfontein the judicial capital
- Continent
- Africa
- Colours
- red
- blue
- green
- black
- gold
- white
What it means
- Colours: officially they have no fixed meaning; the designer said they sum up South Africa's flag history
- Y shape: different groups coming together and moving forward as one: the convergence of diverse elements of South African society
- Popular reading: black, gold and green are often linked to the liberation movements, and red, white and blue to the old British and Dutch flags; this is unofficial
Where it came from
The flag was designed by Fred Brownell, the State Herald of South Africa. He had sketched the idea of arms coming together in 1993, after a flag conference in Zurich. In early 1994, after about 7,000 public ideas had been turned down, he was asked to produce a design within a week.
His daughter suggested removing a third arm so it would not look like a peace sign. Nelson Mandela approved it after seeing a faxed copy that had been coloured in by hand.
History
From 1928 to 1994 South Africa used an orange, white and blue flag with three small flags in the middle. When apartheid ended, a new flag was needed for the first democratic election, and it flew for the first time on 27 April 1994.
It was meant to be temporary, but people liked it, and the 1996 constitution kept it. Since 2019, showing the old 1928 flag in public is generally treated as hate speech, except in art, teaching, news and museums.
Fun facts
- It was the only national flag with six colours in its main design when it was adopted.
- The design was finished only about a week before it was officially approved.
- In Afrikaans the flag is nicknamed Seskleur, which means six colour.
- A temporary flag that became permanent because people loved it.
Easy to mix up with
Vanuatu: Vanuatu also has a sideways Y and a black triangle, but its Y is yellow and its triangle holds a curled boar's tusk
Questions
What does the flag of South Africa look like?
A green Y shape lying on its side, edged in white and gold, splits a red top stripe from a blue bottom stripe, with a black triangle at the pole side.
What do the colours and symbols on the flag of South Africa mean?
Colours: officially they have no fixed meaning; the designer said they sum up South Africa's flag history; Y shape: different groups coming together and moving forward as one: the convergence of diverse elements of South African society; Popular reading: black, gold and green are often linked to the liberation movements, and red, white and blue to the old British and Dutch flags; this is unofficial.
When was the flag of South Africa adopted?
The current flag of South Africa was adopted on April 27, 1994. (first flown as an interim flag on election day 1994; kept as the permanent flag in the 1996 constitution)
What colours are on the flag of South Africa?
The flag of South Africa uses red, blue, green, black, gold and white.
Which flag is easy to mix up with the flag of South Africa?
It is easy to mix up with the flag of Vanuatu. Vanuatu also has a sideways Y and a black triangle, but its Y is yellow and its triangle holds a curled boar's tusk
Famous landmarks in South Africa
🎯 Play the flag quiz 🌍 Play the globe
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org
- crwflags.com
- Flag picture: flagcdn.com (Wikimedia Commons)