South African national flag

The national flag of the Republic of South Africa was designed and first used in 1994. The flag was designed by the State Herald, Mr F. Brownell. An earlier attempt to create a new flag by asking for suggestions from the public did not turn out to be successful.

Despite its newness, the flag has turned out to be an excellent national symbol, even among white South Africans whose flag it supplanted, and can now regularly be seen at sporting events and the like.

Flag description: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes

Note: prior to 26 April 1994, the flag was actually four flags in one - three miniature flags reproduced in the center of the white band of the former flag of the Netherlands, which has three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and blue; the miniature flags are a vertically hanging flag of the old [Orange Free State]? with a horizontal flag of the UK adjoining on the hoist side and a horizontal flag of the old Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other side.

External links:

• http://www.gov.za/symbols/flag.htm is the South African government's page on the flag.
• http://www.polity.org.za/misc/flagdim.html gives the dimensions of the flag.

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