Flag of South Africa
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| Use | Civil and state flag, civil and state ensign |
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| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 27 April 1994 |
| Design | a horizontal bicolour of red and blue with a black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side and a green pall, a central green band that splits into a horizontal Y, centered over the partition lines and was edged in both white against the red and the blue bands and gold against the triangle, in which the arms of the Y ends at the corners of the hoist and embraces the triangle on the hoist-side. |
| Designed by | Frederick Brownell |
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| Proportion | 2:3 |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1928 |
The flag of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The new national flag, designed by the then State Herald of South Africa Frederick Brownell, was chosen to represent the country's new democracy after the end of Apartheid.
The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) and blue (on the bottom), of equal width, separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal "Y" shape, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side (and follow the flag's diagonals). 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. The stripes at the fly end are in the 5:1:3:1:5 ratio.
At the time of its adoption, the South African flag was the only national flag in the world to comprise six colours in its primary design. Three of the colours – black, green and yellow – are found in the banners of the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party – and are thus said to represent the country’s black population. The other three – red, white and blue – are displayed on the old Dutch tricolour and the British Union flag and are said represent the country's white population.
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