The small flags of South Africa flag, Africa

The flag of South Africa from 1928 to 1994 was the flag of the Union of South Africa from 1928 to 1961 and later the flag of the Republic of South Africa until 1994. It was also the flag for South West Africa (now Namibia) under the former's administration (from 1915 to 1990). 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 (respectively) in the centre. A nickname for the flag was Oranje, Blanje, Blou (Afrikaans for: "orange, white, blue"). It was adopted in 1928 by an act of Parliament from the first Afrikaner majority government, as a compromise between the Afrikaner and British populations. 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. As a result, it was the national flag during apartheid (1948–1994), and it is also known as 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. Following its retirement in 1994, the flag has been controversial within South Africa, with some viewing it as historic and a symbol of Afrikaner heritage, while others view it as a symbol of apartheid and white supremacy. In 2023, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld that "gratuitous" displays of the flag constituted hate speech; exceptions exist for "cases of journalistic, academic and artistic expression" and for museums and places of historical interest.