5 August 2013 A new South African Flag is born By Eric Bolsmann Before Nelson Mandela was released from

Robben Island in 1990, President F. W. de Klerk was well aware of the fact that great changes for the Republic were inevitable. These changes would include the introduction of a new flag and national anthem. The public was invited to submit designs for a flag, and Fred Brownell, the State Herald of the Republic of South Africa, immediately set to work on his new design. During 1991, 1992 and 1993, sketches and suggestions literally poured in, and Brownell and his committee found themselves overwhelmed by a staggering assortment of 7000 designs. Every entry had to be examined and its merits assessed. When Brownell was involved in the design and choice of a new flag for Namibia, it took the Namibians three days to select a flag out of four designs which had been short listed out of 835 entries. But when this committee met for a month in September October 1993 to discuss the new flag for South Africa, a new anthem and a new crest, it took less than five hours to decide on six flag designs out of 7000 submitted. After nearly four years of planning and negotiating in an attempt to reach finality in the flag question, Fred Brownell was given the go-ahead by Minister Roelf Meyer and Cyril Ramaphosa. The onus was placed on him to present to the President and Cabinet the chosen flag designs, which by now had been reduced to five, and which included his own design. After their constituents had given their approval of the designs, President de Klerk and the Cabinet met to make the final choice. One flag, the present one, was selected by all, it was the one Brownell had come up with. Since the arrival of Van Riebeeck in 1652, orange, white and blue have been prominent in all South African flags, and red and blue are used in most flags the world over. Not wishing to use orange, or the red of other flags, Brownwell chose chili red, a blend of red and orange, a bright dark blue, and white. As green and gold are recognized throughout the world as South Africas sports colours, these too were incorporated. All the bright colours were separated by bands of white, but as these were thought to represent the white community, the question as to where to fit in the black South African remained. The only alteration Brownell made to his original design, was to impose a black triangular over the portion of the gold one. With this addition, all colour problems were solved. A six-colour flag had been created, defying the tradition that normally flags have no more than three or four colours. Initially, support for the new flag was not very favourable, but by 1994 no less than 82 per cent of the public were prepared to accept it. A loyalty, too, and a pride in the new South African flag, which was seen as an interim one, emerged. Before the year had come to a close, the new symbol of a new South Africa was heartily accepted, not only at home, but throughout the world. The interim had become a new, permanent flag of South Africa. All flags when flown horizontally must be read from the top to bottom. In the case of the South African flag the red is designed to be at the top. If hung vertically, the flag must be read from left to right, and has to be turned to face the viewer so that the red area is on the left. The exception to this rule comes from the Islamic countries whose flags are read from right to left.