Flag of Orange Free State

The flag of the Orange Free State was the official flag of the Orange Free State from 1857 to 1902. It was superseded by the flag of the Orange River Colony.

When the Orange Free State became an independent republic in February 1854, the government hoisted a red, white and blue flag. Details of the exact design have been lost, but it was presumably similar to the contemporary Dutch flag. This was evidently intended as a temporary flag, as the first state president, Josias Philip Hoffman asked King Willem III of the Netherlands (r. 1849-1890) to give the new state which bore the Dutch royal family's name a flag and coat of arms. The king graciously agreed.

A flag and coat of arms were designed by the Hoge Raad van Adel. They duly arrived in the Orange Free State in January 1856, and the Volksraad (legislature) resolved on 28 February 1856 that "the design of the flag sent by the King of the Netherlands shall be adopted". It was officially taken into use a year later, on 23 February 1857, the third anniversary of the republic.

It was used until the republic came to an end on 31 May 1902.

The flag consisted of seven horizontal bands of white (4) and orange (3), with the Dutch flag in the canton.

The flag was later incorporated into the design of the national Flag of South Africa (from 1928 to 1994).

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