The current flag was adopted on April 27th, 1994 for national and civil usage following the end of apartheid and the transition to a multi-party, multi-racial democracy. And what makes this flag so fascinating is that it draws on both sides of South Africa's history to produce a synthesis of something new. Because you see, although the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, they didn't have a distinctive flag until 1928 when this flag was adopted:
This one was based on the orange, white and blue horizontal tricolor that was used by the first Dutch settlers. The three flags in the center represent Britain, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (the latter two being the old Boer Republics that were eventually absorbed into British South Africa following the Boer War.)
During the apartheid regime, the African National Congress became the driving force behind the opposition to the white regime. (It's been around since 1912 campaigning for the rights of black South Africans and is the ruling party of South Africa today-- so it's not like apartheid kickstarted this party.) Their flag looks like this:
This flag was adopted in 1917. Another horizontal tricolor, the black represents the people, the green represents the land and the yellow symbolizes riches.
Both of these flags tie back to the new flag of South Africa- and that's what I like most about the new flag! (I mean, it's not exactly 'new' anymore- it's been around for nearly 20 years.) But with the downfall of apartheid, the people obviously wanted a new design and the new flag was designed by the Chief Herald. The red, white and blue in the flag were taken from the colors of the Boer Republics (as seen in the old flag of South Africa) while the yellow, black and green were taken from the flag of the ANC. The distinctive 'Y-Shape' represents the convergence of old traditions with new and the progress of the new South Africa into the future.
So everybody put your hands together and give it up for South Africa! And remember, until next time- keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!
No comments:
Post a Comment