Flag of South Africa

As South Africans daily work to build a better society, they are surrounded in many forms and countless manifestations by a flag which recognises and celebrates the unity and diversity of the country's people. ~ Nelson Mandela

The flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The new national flag, designed by the then State Herald of South Africa Frederick Brownell, was chosen to represent the country's new democracy after the end of apartheid.

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Quotes

B

• My mind started wandering and then it struck me: Aren't we looking for convergence and unification? ... I was struck by the extent it resonated with what Mandela had in mind. "Yes, it might work!" I thought... I think one must realist that red, white and blue or orange white and blue harked back to South Africa's colonial heritage... Public reaction was muted, originally, but once Mandela was inaugurated on 10 May, with the flags draped over Union Buildings in Pretoria, people warmed to the fact they had a new president, with a new flag to go with him... The level of acceptance exceeded my wildest expectations... I grew up in the Anglican church and this particular design was in fact incorporated into the classical chasubles worn by priests in both the Catholic and Anglican church... I feel happy to have contributed in some small way.
  • Frederick Brownell, as quoted in "Fred Brownell: The man who made South Africa's flag" (27 April 2014), BBC

M

• As South Africans daily work to build a better society, they are surrounded in many forms and countless manifestations by a flag which recognises and celebrates the unity and diversity of the country's people... Few would have imagined, almost a decade ago, that this collection of colourful shapes could become such a potent symbol of unity and progress. But then fewer still would have thought that a country torn apart by decades of racial oppression could transform itself into a beacon of democracy and hope.
  • Nelson Mandela, as quoted in Flying with Pride: The Story of the South African Flag (2002), by Denis Beckett, WildNet Africa

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Flag of South Africa on Wikipedia
• Media related to Flags of South Africa (since 1994) on Wikimedia Commons