Last modified: 2002-07-05 by jarig bakker
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![[President's flag till 1985]](../images/z/za_pr1.gif)
by Mark Sensen, 20 May 2002
Until 1985 the presidential flag was blue with the arms. I don't know
the size of the arms on this flag, I made it half the height of the flag
(just a guess). I also don't know when this flag was adopted, maybe around
the early 1960s?
BTW: does anyone know if there's a presidential flag at the moment,
and how it looks like?
Mark Sensen, 20 May 2002
I don’t recall that the ANC has adopted any kind of presidential flag.
The former presidential flags fell away in 1994. You note that the two
flags both have the letters SP (State President): since the 1994 Constitution
the title of the Head of State has been simply “President”.
Your drawings seem fairly accurate – in fact, perhaps an improvement
over the official illustrations, except that the blue in both illustrations
is rather lighter than the blue actually used. The orange should be brighter.
The size of the coat of arms is roughly correct in both images, but the
initials were more pronouncedly outlined in white (on the earlier flag)
and in black on the later flag. I use the word “outlined”, as this was
not a fimbriation as much as a function of the lettering used (the lettering
on the two flags differs in its colouring, but it is the same typeface).
The first SP flag was an adaptation from the Governor-General’s
flag (as used from 1931 to ’61), which followed the British pattern
of a dark blue flag with the British royal crest of the crown with the
lion standing on it in the centre. Unlike other GG flags, this one had
the country’s name in two languages, on separate scrolls, one above the
crest, and one below: “Union of South Africa” above and “Unie van Suid-Afrika”
below. The proportions of the 1931-61 GG flag were two to one, but those
of the
1961-84 SP flag were 3:2. Brownell does not specifically mention the
proportions of the 1984-94 SP flag, but his image appears to have the same
proportions as its predecessor, namely 3:2.
The caption to the GG flag notes that the St Edward’s crown came into use under Queen Elizabeth; previously it had been the Tudor crown. So technically there were three different GG flags for South Africa:
![[President's 1985 flag]](../images/z/za_pr2.gif)
by Mark Sensen, 1 Jul 2002
From: Data
of the Bureau of Heraldry on registered heraldic representations.
"State President of the Republic of South Africa: granted 16 Aug 1985
Description: A rectangular tricolour, proportion three by two, from
the hoist, per pile throughout; top to bottom orange, white and blue, the
white charged in the hoist with the embellished armorial bearings of the
Republic of South Africa proper, ensigned with the letters S P in gold,
fimbriated black, the height of the charges being one half the width of
the flag."
It seems we don't have the presidential flags of South Africa at our
website, at least I can't find them.
So I made GIFs using the arms from Mike
Oettle's image of the (former) state arms.
Mark Sensen, 20 May 2002
I corrected the letters in za_pr2.gif (1984-'94). I did not change the
colours because I don't have the correct values for the blue and orange.
I also didn't correct za_pr1.gif (1961-'84) yet, because the image in Brownell's
book shows white letters with no outline, while the text says the letters
were gold. What is correct?
Mark Sensen, 1 Jul 2002
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