Colors and the Meaning of the South Africa Flag
The South African flag consists of equal sized horizontal lines with red top and blue bottom.
These blue and red lines are separated by a green Y-shaped stripe with thin white stripes around them. On the left side of the flag is a black triangle surrounded by a thin yellow strip.
Although colors don’t have a formal meaning, black, green and yellow colors indicate Nelson Mandela’s political party, while the red, white and blue colors are also found in the African National Congress and the old Boer Republics flags.
The South African flag was inspired by the colors and meanings of the old South African flags:
- The red color = blood flowing in conflicts
- blue = sky
- green = the territory of the country
- black = Black people in Africa
- white = European people
- yellow = Symbolizes gold from natural sources
South Africa Flag Map
History of the South Africa Flag
Europeans discovered the South African road at the end of the 16th century, and by the beginning of the 17th century they had begun to invade South Africa.
During the 18th century, the population of Europeans continued to increase in an uncontrolled manner.
In 1909, the representatives of the colonies were gathered to form a constitutional union and the South African Union was formed on May 31, 1910.
With this new union, colonies were divided into provinces. The blacks in all other states, except for the Cape state in the South, were deprived of their legitimate rights.
Also read: South Africa Provinces and Regions
The South African Union called for a flag to represent its existence, and the British Flag became the national flag of South Africa.
The flag contained the British flag on the red background and the shield of South Africa.
In 1910, Britain was allowed to use this new flag on the seas.
Freedom Movements in South Africa
Until 1925, the country used the British flag without any objection. After the first government of South Africa was established, it was asked to be a different national flag from the British flag.
The British government felt that the South African government was trying to get rid of the symbols of the British Empire on the flags, which led to a three-year civil war.
In 1927, an agreement was signed between the parties and a flag was designed to represent South Africa under Britain.
This flag first rose to the skies on 31 May 1928. This flag consisted of three colors. Horizontal stripes in orange, white and blue.
There are three small flags on the white line.
The first is the flag of the United Kingdom standing on the left side, the second is the old flag of Free South Africa in the vertical form, and the third is the flag of the Transvaal province, one of the founders of Union of South Africa.
A national flag of independence from Britain was a dream for South African rulers. This dream played a major role in getting rid of the British symbols.
In 1948, the National Party seized sovereignty in South Africa and established a system known as Apartheid. This system meant discrimination and class division among the people of South Africa.
Between groups of people, racial and colors led to a distinction. Union of South Africa was one of the most prominent examples in the world in terms of racism. 4 million white ruled 29 million blacks with cruelty and violence.
Nelson Mandela
On May 31, 1961, the Republic of South Africa was formed. However, nothing changed. The flag remained unchanged, and the blacks were still deprived of their rights. This led to protest and armed resistance.
In 1963, many political leaders were arrested. The world’s most famous prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was among them. This process continued until 1989 when Frederik Willem de Klerk was elected president. In 1990 Nelson Mandela was released.
The ban on establishing a political organization for the blacks was abolished and in 1991-1992, racist laws were abolished.
In 1993, the Negotiation Council presented a new constitution project to the country.
In 1994, it was announced that an egalitarian election would be held for the first time.
It was supposed to be a flag to choose from, and Frederick Brownell presented a flag to South Africa for use in the April 27, 1994, elections.
This election was the first comprehensive national election in the country. Nelson Mandela won the election and became the first black president of South Africa.
No changes were made to the flag and the designed flag was accepted as the national flag of the state. This flag is considered one of the symbols of modern South Africa. To illustrate equality and fusion between the South African community, the flag consisted of many colors.
With a law enacted on 20 April 1994, South Africa had two national starters. The first national anthem is ‘Call of South Africa’, and the second is the march which was written in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga with the Xhosa language and was said to be a folk anthem in the anti-racist concerts held in Johannesburg during the years of racist practice.
Neighboring Countries of South Africa
South Africa, a country located at the southernmost tip of Africa, is neighboring Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in the north, Mozambique and Swaziland in the northeast. Within the borders of the country, there is a country called Lesotho, which is completely translated by the Republic of South Africa. There are also the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest, the Indian Ocean to the southeast.
Main Characteristics of South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is an African country where you can explore natural life with safari tours, visit national parks and participate in cultural activities. It is one of the crowded countries in terms of population in Africa.
Founded between Pretoria and Johannesburg, Sun City is a popular holiday destination for tourists. This city is called Africa’s Las Vegas. There are three capitals, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. The official languages are English and Afrikaans. Apart from these languages, local languages are also spoken. They use Rand as the currency.
The climate varies according to country regions. Arid climate and temperate oceanic climate is observed in the western coastal parts of the country and semi-arid climate is observed in the southern coastal regions.
Food culture due to being a large country varies according to regions. Meat consumption is quite high. There are international restaurants in the city center.
| Country | South Africa |
| Code | ZA (ZAF) |
| Calling Code | 27 |
| Capital City | Pretoria |
| Currency | south african rand (ZAR) |
| Emoji Symbol | 🇿🇦 |
| Highest Point | Mafadi (3,450 m) |
| Internet TLD | .za |
| Population(2017) | 57,054,819 |
| Total Area | 1,221,040 km2 |