Our proud colourful South African flag

DID YOU KNOW: That our national flag was designed by Fred Brownell and was first used on 27 April 1994. The individual colours, or colour combinations have different meanings for different people and cultures in our country.

South is rich with diversity and we are reminded every day and, especially on Heritage Day, how our differences can make us unite to become stronger. The design and colours are an outline of principal elements of the country’s flag history.

In 2008 then KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele attributed the following meanings in an official speech:

•  black = black, Indian and coloured people
•  red = the violence that led to freedom
•  white = the colonial and apartheid past
•  green and blue = the beauty of our land and ocean
•  yellow = Our mineral wealth
•  blue = the African sky

Fun facts to know about the usage of the South African flag; the flag must be treated with respect at all times and must not:

•  Touch the floor or ground
•  Be used as a tablecloth or be draped in front of a platform
•  Be used to cover a statue, plaque or cornerstone at ceremonies
•  Be used to start or finish tournaments
•  When the National Flag is displayed with any other flag, it must be hoisted up first and lowered last?
•  When our own flag is displayed with flags of other countries, all of them should be of equal size and flown at same height
•  When used or displayed next to, or behind, a speaker at a meeting, it must be on her or his right-hand side. And when placed, elsewhere in the hall or meeting place, it should be to the right of the audience
•  When displayed vertically against a wall, the red band should be to the left of the spectator with the hoist or the cord seam uppermost
•  And that, if displayed horizontally, the hoist should be to the left of the spectator and the red band uppermost.

Related Article: 

https://www.citizen.co.za/northcliff-melville-times/260406/heritage-day-5-interesting-facts-south-african-genealogy-ancestry/