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Flag of South Africa

Africa

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Quick Facts

Capital
Pretoria
Flag adopted
1994
Population
63,100,945
Area
1,221,037 km²
Languages
Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Currency
South African rand (R) — ZAR
Demonym
South African
Government
parliamentary republic
Subregion
Southern Africa
Driving side
Left
Timezones
UTC+02:00
Independence
1910

Religions

  • Christian 86%
  • other traditional African religions 5.4%
  • None 5.2%
  • Muslim 1.9%
  • Other 1.5%

About This Flag

The flag of South Africa features a horizontal Y-shape (or pall) in green, bordered by narrow white and gold stripes, which divides the flag into a red upper section, a blue lower section, and a black triangle at the hoist. Adopted on April 27, 1994 — the day of the first fully democratic elections — it was designed by State Herald Frederick Brownell as an interim flag that became permanent by popular acclaim.

The six colors incorporate elements from both the African National Congress flag and the former Boer republic flags, symbolizing the convergence of diverse political and cultural traditions into a unified nation.

What the colors & design mean

Green represents the fertility of the land; black, white, and gold reference the people and mineral wealth; red symbolizes the blood shed in conflict; blue represents the sky and surrounding oceans. The converging Y-shape symbolizes diverse elements uniting.

red blue green yellow black white

Pattern: Complex Design

Bordering countries (6)

🇧🇼 Botswana 🇱🇸 Lesotho 🇲🇿 Mozambique 🇳🇦 Namibia 🇸🇿 Eswatini 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

Fun Facts

  • South Africa is the only country in the world with three capital cities: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial).
  • The flag was originally intended to be temporary, but proved so popular it was formally written into the 1996 constitution.
  • Table Mountain in Cape Town is estimated to be roughly 600 million years old, predating most mountain ranges on Earth.
  • South Africa produces roughly 75% of the world's platinum supply.

More Africa Flags

🇩🇿 Algeria · 🇦🇴 Angola · 🇧🇯 Benin · 🇧🇼 Botswana · 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso · 🇧🇮 Burundi · 🇨🇲 Cameroon · 🇨🇻 Cape Verde

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