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Flags of South Africa

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Family research · Phase 13 of the world atlas

Flags of South Africa

Few countries in this atlas carry as many distinct governing traditions inside one modern border: Khoikhoi and San societies at the Cape; Dutch, then British colonization; two independent Boer republics forged by the Great Trek and destroyed in the Anglo-Boer Wars; a self-governing Dominion; and, from 1948 to 1994, apartheid — a system of state-mandated racial segregation and white-minority rule that this page states plainly and factually, as it is one of the best-documented and most consequential political systems of the 20th century.

Six flags trace this arc, ending with the modern six-color flag adopted for the 1994 elections that brought Nelson Mandela to the presidency.

Scope of this page: the lands of present-day South Africa, from Khoikhoi and San societies through Dutch and British colonization, the Boer Republics, the Union, and apartheid to the modern democratic republic. The Zulu Kingdom under Shaka and the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War are discussed in the prose of the relevant colonial-era entry rather than as a separate timeline row, since their dates run concurrent with British/Boer rule rather than in succession to it. No interactive map on this page — deferred to a future phase of the atlas. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.

British colony and Boer republics, 1806–1910

South Africa's own real border, split into the two pieces that were, for over half a century, ruled by entirely different governments: the British-administered Cape and Natal on the coast, and the independent Boer republics (Transvaal and the Orange Free State) in the interior highveld. Press play, or drag the slider.

The Boer republics were fully independent states, not colonies. Britain formally recognized Transvaal's independence in 1852 and the Orange Free State's in 1854; both later lost that independence by force in the 1899–1902 Second Boer War, not by treaty. The border below only solidifies for the span the two pieces were genuinely governed apart — it dissolves before the republics existed and again after the 1910 Union reunites the whole territory under one government.
pre-1652
MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA BOTSWANA CAPE OF GOOD HOPE CAPE & NATAL TRANSVAAL & O.F.S.
Khoikhoi and San societies

Schematic internal partition on a real traced border — the interior/coastal dividing line approximates the old Transvaal/Orange Free State frontier, not a surveyed boundary.

How we know this. 6 of 6 eras on this page carry an evidence panel (4 attested, 1 placeholder image, 1 not yet checked). Only the ones marked attested are confirmed by the sources named under them; where sources disagree or a claim could not be confirmed, the panel says so.
the six-color flag, designed for the 1994 elections
1994 – present

Republic of South Africa (democratic)

Republic, multiparty democracyNelson MandelaSecular (no state religion)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: economic migrants from elsewhere in AfricaEmigration: white South Africans (ongoing)

Who & why: after decades of internal resistance and international pressure, South Africa holds its first multiracial elections in April 1994, bringing Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power and formally ending apartheid. The new flag, designed by state herald Fred Brownell, is raised for the first time at the elections and confirmed permanently in the 1996 constitution.

What it represents: the converging Y-shaped green band, unique among national flags, symbolizes the convergence of South Africa's diverse peoples into one nation; the remaining colors are drawn deliberately from the country's major political traditions rather than assigned fixed individual meanings — black, green and gold from the ANC, and red, white and blue echoing both the old Dutch/British-descended flag and the Union Jack.

Attestedhow we know this

Both sources give 1994, the year this page starts the current flag. Wikipedia's infobox gives the adoption as 27 April 1994; Flags of the World dates it 27 Apr 1994.

Not established: Only the year the current flag was adopted was compared; the design and the swatch colours were not checked against a specification.

Paint guide
Proportions2:3.
LayoutBlack triangle at hoist, green Y-band bordered in white and gold dividing red (top) and blue (bottom) horizontal bands.
Black#000000
Green#007A4D
Gold#FFB612
Red#DE3831
Blue#002395
White#FFFFFF
orange-white-blue with the UK, Orange Free State, and Transvaal flags in miniature at center
1928 – 1994

Union / Republic of South Africa (segregation and apartheid)

White-minority ruleJ.B.M. HertzogDutch Reformed Christianity (privileged, not formally established)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: anti-apartheid activists into exileEmigration: white professionals (brain drain)
Ruling house:House of Windsor

Who & why: the Union adopts its own national flag in 1928, ending sole reliance on the British ensign, and becomes a fully independent republic on 31 May 1961 after white voters narrowly approve leaving the Commonwealth. In 1948 the National Party wins power and formally institutes apartheid: state-mandated racial segregation and classification, forced removals of Black South Africans into "homelands" and townships, and the systematic denial of political rights to Black, Coloured, and Indian South Africans, a system that persists until sustained internal resistance (including the ANC's armed and political struggle, the 1976 Soweto uprising, and decades of mass mobilization) and international sanctions finally force negotiations in the early 1990s.

What it represents: the orange-white-blue field descends from the 17th-century Dutch Prince's Flag; at center, three small flags — the Union Jack, the old Orange Free State flag, and the old South African Republic (Transvaal) Vierkleur — symbolize the union of Britain's and the two defeated Boer republics' descendant communities, a design that deliberately excludes any Black South African symbolism.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia says the 1928 flag was first hoisted on 31 May 1928, based on the Prinsenvlag, with the Union Flag, the Orange Free State flag and the Transvaal Vierkleur in the white band; that the arrangement means each miniature flag enjoys equal precedence; that a brighter version was adopted in 1982; and that the flag was relinquished on 20 April 1994. FOTW says the old national flag was in use in 1928–1994, in blue, white, red and green.

Not established: This page says the three small flags symbolise the union of Britain's and the two defeated Boer republics' domains; Wikipedia describes the arrangement as one of equal precedence. FOTW does not give the 1928 date.

Paint guide
Proportions2:3.
LayoutHorizontal tricolor orange-white-blue, three miniature flags centered on the white band.
Orange#FF6B00
White#FFFFFF
Blue#002395
British Red Ensign with the Union of South Africa's badge
1910 – 1928

Union of South Africa (Dominion)

Dominion (self-governing)Louis BothaNo official state religion
Ruling house:House of Windsor

Who & why: the 1909 South Africa Act unites the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies into a single self-governing Dominion of the British Empire on 31 May 1910, eight years after the Boer Republics' defeat. Political power remains restricted overwhelmingly to the white population under this founding settlement, laying the legal groundwork later expanded into full apartheid.

What it represents: the British Red Ensign defaced with the Union's coat of arms, authorised by Admiralty warrant of December 1910 and set on a white roundel in 1912 (Flags of the World; Wikipedia's Red Ensign article), regarded as the de facto national flag until 1928 although the Union Jack was officially the national flag; the Red Ensign stayed the merchant ensign to 1951.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia (Red Ensign article): a Red Ensign with the coat of arms of South Africa on a white disc, authorised by Admiralty warrants of December 1910, the civil ensign 1910-1951 and used on land as a de facto national flag until 1928; Wikipedia's Flag of South Africa article says the same of the Red Ensign from 31 May 1910. Flags of the World: Admiralty warrant of 28 December 1910, amended 25 March 1912 to put the shield on a white roundel; the Union Jack was officially the national flag, the Red Ensign often regarded as the national flag, merchant ensign to 1951.

Not established: The Union Jack was officially the national flag; the Red Ensign's 'de facto' status was popular practice (FOTW calls the perception erroneous). The badge is the Union's arms (FOTW says its quartered shield reportedly carries emblems of the four provinces), not a separate 'Union badge'.

Paint guide
Proportions1:2.
LayoutRed field, Union Jack in canton, Union badge on a white disc in the fly.
Red#C8102E
Blue#00247D
British Blue Ensign over the Cape and Natal; the Boer republics flew their own separate flags
1806 – 1910

British Cape Colony & Natal, and the Boer Republics

Colony (contested with independent republics)No single ruler documentedNo single state religion (divided rule)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: 1820 British SettlersImmigration: Indian indentured laborers (1860–)Conquered by: British Empire (Boer republics & Zulu Kingdom)
Ruling house:House of HanoverHouse of Windsor

Who & why: Britain seizes the Cape from the Dutch in 1806, formalized at the 1814 Congress of Vienna, and later annexes Natal in 1843. Resisting British rule and the 1834 abolition of slavery, thousands of Boer (Afrikaner) families undertake the Great Trek from the mid-1830s, founding the independent South African Republic (Transvaal) and Orange Free State inland. The same decades see the rise and fall of the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka and his successors, whose 1879 war against British forces (the Anglo-Zulu War) ends in the kingdom's defeat and annexation. Sustained tension between Britain and the Boer republics — sharpened by the discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) — erupts into the First (1880–81) and Second (1899–1902) Anglo-Boer Wars, the second involving British concentration camps in which tens of thousands of Boer civilians, along with many Black Africans, die of disease and neglect; British victory in 1902 ends both republics' independence and sets the stage for the 1910 Union.

What it represents: the Cape Colony flew the undefaced British Union flag until a Blue Ensign with the colony's arms was introduced in 1875-76, which Flags of the World and Wikipedia's list of South African flags date to 1876-1910 (Natal's ensigns date from 1870/1875); the Boer republics flew their own flags (Flags of the World describes the Orange Free State flag as seven white and orange stripes with the Dutch flag in the canton, Wikipedia dates it 1857-1902), so the Blue Ensign drawn here fits only the last part of 1806-1910. The Vierkleur's design is not described in the pages read.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Flags of the World: the Cape Colony flew the undefaced British Union flag from 1805/06 until a Blue Ensign with the colony's arms (Royal Warrant 29 May 1876) was introduced, used until 31 May 1910; Natal adopted Red and Blue ensigns in 1870 with the Blue later given a simpler badge; the Orange Free State flag had seven white and orange stripes with the Dutch flag in the canton (delivered 12 January 1856, in use to 31 May 1902). Wikipedia's list of South African flags: Cape Blue Ensign 1876-1910, Natal 1875-1910, Natalia 1839-1843, Transvaal Vierkleur 1857-1902 and Orange Free State 1857-1902.

Not established: The card's Blue Ensign over the Cape and Natal fits only 1875/76-1910: both publishers date the badge to the 1870s and FOTW says the Cape flew the plain Union flag before that; the Vierkleur's design is not described in the pages read.

Paint guide
Proportions1:2.
LayoutBlue field, Union Jack in canton, Cape Colony badge on a white disc in the fly.
Blue#00247D
Red#C8102E
the Dutch Prince's Flag, flown over the Cape settlement
1652 – 1806

Dutch Cape Colony

ColonyJan van RiebeeckDutch Reformed Christianity (state religion)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: French Huguenot refugees (1688–89)Immigration: enslaved people from Madagascar, Mozambique & the East Indies

Who & why: the Dutch East India Company (VOC) establishes a resupply station at the Cape under Jan van Riebeeck in 1652, which grows into a settler colony as free burghers expand into the interior, displacing and often violently subjugating Khoikhoi communities and importing enslaved people from elsewhere in the VOC's trading empire. Dutch control (with a brief 1803–06 interlude as the Batavian Republic) ends when Britain seizes the Cape during the Napoleonic Wars.

What it represents: the Prince's Flag (Prinsenvlag), orange-white-blue, which Wikipedia says the VOC used in a version at the Cape from 1652 to 1795; Flags of the World says the flags generally used by Dutch vessels were the Prinzenvlag (its orange later became red) and that the Cape flag was either the Netherlands' or the Company's, the Dutch flag bearing the Company's cipher. The Dutch and VOC tricolours flew until the British occupation of 17 September 1795; the Union flag then flew until 1803 and the Batavian Republic's Dutch tricolour in 1803-1806.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia: the VOC used a version of the Prinsenvlag at the Cape from 1652 to 1795; its list dates the VOC flag 1652-1795 and 1803-1806. Flags of the World: the Dutch and VOC tricolours flew until the first British occupation on 17 September 1795; the flags generally used by Dutch vessels were the Prinzenvlag, an orange-white-blue tricolour (the orange later changed to red), and the Cape flag was either the Netherlands' or the Company's, the Dutch flag bearing the Company's cipher, though the author says no evidence of a Cape cipher on flags exists.

Not established: The card's end date of 1806 spans the British occupation (Union flag 1795-1803) and the Batavian Republic (Dutch tricolour 1803-1806). The VOC monogram flag is FOTW's, not Wikipedia's, and FOTW doubts the Cape cipher.

Paint guide
ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded for this period; shown at 2:3.
LayoutHorizontal tricolor, orange-white-blue.
Orange (period-accurate, darker)#AE1C28
White#FFFFFF
Blue#21468B
NO FLAG DOCUMENTED
placeholder maroon field — Khoikhoi and San societies, no flag survives
pre-1652

Khoikhoi and San societies

Pre-colonial societiesNo single ruler documentedTraditional Khoikhoi and San religions (no single state faith)

Who & why: before Dutch settlement, the Cape region is home to Khoikhoi pastoralist clans and San hunter-gatherer bands, among the oldest continuous cultures in the world, organized around clan and kinship structures rather than centralized kingdoms. Bantu-speaking farming and herding communities, including the ancestors of the Xhosa and Zulu, populate the country's eastern regions well before this period.

What it represents: no securely documented flag survives from this era for any Khoikhoi, San, or Bantu-speaking community in the region; shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Placeholder imagehow we know this

This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — Khoikhoi and San societies, no flag survives».

Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.

Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Pre-colonial societies — no centralized crown
Colony — administered as Dutch or British territory
Dominion (self-governing) — British Empire, internal self-rule
White-minority rule — formalized racial segregation and apartheid
Republic, multiparty democracy — universal-suffrage constitutional government
Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start
State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for South Africa lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

Search Record Atlas for South Africa →

Records here are filed by historical jurisdiction, not modern borders — check the region that covers your ancestral town:

The eastern Cape

More of the atlas

This page is one lineage in a larger set. See the region-wide hub and the other countries here:

Flags Atlas indexSearch every country and hub Central & Southern Africa hubFourteen countries, Congo basin to the Cape
Compiled from Wikipedia, Flags of the World (fotw.info / crwflags.com), and Britannica. Colors are close historical approximations for painting reference; pre-19th-century swatches are informed reconstructions, not official specifications.