It was adopted in 1928 by an act of Parliament from the first Afrikaner majority government. A nickname for the flag was Oranje, Blanje, Blou ( Afrikaans for: ' orange, white, blue'). 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.
It was also the flag of South West Africa (now Namibia) to 1990, when that territory was under South African administration. 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. The South African 'Red Ensign' used unofficially as a de facto national flag until 1928 it continued being used sparsely in limited contexts until the early 1950s. Three horizontal bands of orange, white and blue with three small flags (the Union Jack to the left, the vertical version of the flag of the Orange Free State in the centre and the flag of the South African Republic to the right) centered on the white band. For the new flag, see Flag of South Africa. This article is about the flag from 1928 to 1994.
