The+South+African+Flag

The South African Flag South Africa's modern flag is relatively new - it hasn't always looked the way it does now. The flag has actually changed several times throughout history. The first flag of united, modern day South Africa was made official in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was first established. It was a very simple flag, the British flag in the top left corner, and the coat of arms of South Africa in the middle right section of the flag. If it was being flown on a naval ship, the background of the flag would be red, but if it was flown on a government building, it would be blue. This flag changed slightly in 1912, by simply adding a white circle around the coat of arms.

The second flag was established in 1928 when natives were angered over the imperialistic symbols of the first flag. This flag had three main colors: orange, blue, and white. In the middle, there were three images of smaller flags - on the left, the British Union Jack; in the middle, the Orange Free state flag; and on the right, the South African Republic flag. This flag was designed to be "politically neutral," but it still provoked natives that wanted the British flag completely eliminated from the Union's flag.

Finally, the modern day flag was established in 1994 when Nelson Mendela won the first multiracial election after the fall of Apartheid. The flag was immediately changed to a "Y" shaped flag. It consists of six colors, red, blue, green, black, yellow, and white. The black, blue, and green colors represent Nelson Mandela's Political party, the African National Congress, or ANC. The red white and blue are inspired by the British and Afrikaner flag. The horizontal "Y" represents the unity of the racial diversity in South Africa.