The South African Red Ensign was used as the unofficial flag of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

between 1910 and 1928. The flag was a red ensign defaced with the Coat of arms of South Africa on a white disc.

Creation

When the Union of South Africa was created in 1910, the only flag that had official status within it was the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

as part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. A new coat of arms was created in September of that year, with Admiralty warrants being issued in December authorising usage of the arms on a red ensign. Though they were intended for maritime usage, the South Africa Red Ensign was used on the land as a de facto national flag similar with other colonies and dominions within the British Empire. In 1912, a royal warrant was issued amending the South Africa Red Ensign so that the arms were on a white disc to bring it into line with a rule in the ''Admiralty Flag Book'' requiring the arms to be on a white disc if any part of them were the same colour as the field of the ensign. In 1915,

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

raised the South Africa Red Ensign over

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

after the British Empire's conquest of

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

as part of the

South-West Africa campaign The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War. Background The ...

Replacement

Despite the South Africa Red Ensign being the de facto flag, it was not popular with either British or Afrikaner communities. Afrikaners, because it contained the Union Jack, and British settlers, because it was not the Union Jack alone. In 1925, following the 1924 general election in which

J. B. M. Hertzog General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who serve ...

was elected as the first National Party Prime Minister of South Africa, a bill was introduced to the Parliament of South Africa by D. F. Malan for a new flag of South Africa which Malan had hoped for, a "clean flag" without the Union Jack. Discussions to change the flag resulted in three years of volatile negotiations as Afrikaner descendants of

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

s who fought in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

found the Union Jack in the flag unacceptable, while British settlers felt that the Afrikaner voting majority was attempting to remove British imperial symbols, and Natal Province threatened to secede if the Union Jack was removed. A compromise was reached after three years whereby the new flag would feature the Union Jack in a reduced position and not as an ensign. The Union Nationality and Flags Act 1928 also provided that the new flag of the Union of South Africa and the Union Jack would be flown together as joint official flags of South Africa. The South Africa Red Ensign ceased being used as the unofficial national flag but was retained in maritime usage as the merchant ensign until 1951.Merchant Shipping Act 1951 (South Africa); South Africa ''Government Gazette'' No 6085 dated 25 July 1958.

References

External links

* {{Union Flag 1910 establishments in South Africa Flags of South Africa Flags of the British Empire Historical flags Red Ensigns South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations Flags displaying animals Flags that incorporate the Union Jack