Fun with Randburg’s flag

Did you know that Randburg once used to have its own coat of arms and flag?

Randburg was subsumed into the City of Joburg in December 2000, which meant that it had to sacrifice the symbols of its old governance and adopt those used by the City as a whole.

According to a published work by vexillologist Bruce Berry in 2005, Randburg's flag was approved by the South African Bureau of Heraldry on 9 January 1987.

It consisted of nine horizontal coloured stripes and in the centre, a white triple-towered castle and four gold coins.

The concept of the flag is based on the coat of arms, which was registered in 1972. The blue and yellow colours symbolised the blue and yellow headpiece portrayed in the crest, while the green symbolised the grass, willow and ferns. The red colours in the flag reflected the red castle and red shield.

Randburg's old coat of arms also had symbols of a steenbok and duiker. The castle in both the flag and coat of arms alludes to the word 'burg' in the name of the old municipality, and the coins refer to the word 'Rand' in Randburg.

In December 1994, the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council was established. This new local authority adopted its own symbols to replace those used by the former municipalities.

The new arms was registered with the Bureau of Heraldry on 16 May 1997 and a new flag was introduced in July 2001.

Details: https://www.crwflags.com