Union of South Africa

* For its' current identity, see South Africa.
The flag of the Union of South Africa from 1928 to 1994 was originally used by the Union of South Africa from 1928 to 1961 and later the Republic of South Africa until 1994. It was also used in South West Africa (today Namibia) until 1990 when the territory was under South African rule. Based on the Dutch Prince's Flag, it contained the flag of the United Kingdom, the flag of the Orange Free State and the flag of the South African Republic in the centre. A nickname for the flag was Oranje, Blanje, Blou (Afrikaans for: "orange, white, blue").
== History ==
It was adopted in 1928 by an act of Parliament from the first Afrikaner majority government. In 1948, after their election victory, the National Party unsuccessfully tried to amend the flag design to remove what they called the "Blood Stain" (the flag of the United Kingdom).
After South Africa became a republic in 1961, the flag was retained as the national flag, despite the country having left the Commonwealth. In 1968, Prime Minister John Vorster proposed that a new national flag for South Africa be adopted in 1971 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the declaration of a republic. However, Vorster's idea did not gain parliamentary support and the flag change never happened, leading to it being given the now-popular misnomer "the Apartheid flag" It was replaced by the current flag of South Africa in 1994 with the commencement of the country's transitional constitution and the end of apartheid.
== Controversy ==
Following its retirement in 1994, the flag has been controversial within South Africa, with some people viewing it as historic and a symbol of Afrikaner heritage, while others view it as a symbol of apartheid and white supremacy. In 2019, the Equality Court ruled that public displays of the flag would be classed as hate speech, although exceptions would be allowed for "cases of journalistic, academic and artistic expression".
Category:Africa
Category:South Africa
Category:Historical flags
Category:Unsuitable Flags
Category:Banned
Category:South Africa historical flags
Category:Africa historical flags