Flag of South Africa
A horizontal Y shape in green, edged in white and gold, runs from the hoist and splits into two arms. A black triangle sits at the hoist, with red above and blue below the arms.
What Does the Flag of South Africa Mean?
It was first flown on the day of the first fully democratic elections. The converging Y is widely read as different groups coming together and moving forward as one nation. With six colours, it is one of the most colourful national flags.
Main colours: greenredbluewhiteblackyellow
Key Facts About South Africa
| Official name | Republic of South Africa |
|---|---|
| Capital | Pretoria |
| Continent | Africa (Southern Africa) |
| Land area | 1,221,037 km² — #24 of 195 |
| Languages | Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu |
| Currency | South African rand |
| Flag colours | green, red, blue, white, black, yellow |
| Flag proportions | 2:3 (height:width) |
| Flag adopted | April 27, 1994 |
| ISO 3166-1 codes | ZA / ZAF / 710 |
Which Countries Border South Africa?
South Africa shares a land border with 6 countries:
Botswana — capital Gaborone
Eswatini — capital Lobamba
Lesotho — capital Maseru
Mozambique — capital Maputo
Namibia — capital Windhoek
Zimbabwe — capital Harare
Play With the Flag of South Africa
- Africa Flags quiz — every flag of Africa, unlimited rounds.
- Daily flag game — one mystery flag a day, 3 tries.
- Country guessing game — find South Africa and its neighbours on a blank map.
Other Countries in Africa
AlgeriaAlgiers
AngolaLuanda
BeninPorto-Novo- BotswanaGaborone
Burkina FasoOuagadougou
BurundiGitega
CameroonYaoundé
Cape VerdePraia
Central African RepublicBangui
ChadN'Djamena
ComorosMoroni
DjiboutiDjibouti
DR CongoKinshasa
EgyptCairo
Equatorial GuineaMalabo
EritreaAsmara- EswatiniLobamba
EthiopiaAddis Ababa
GabonLibreville
GambiaBanjul
GhanaAccra
GuineaConakry
Guinea-BissauBissau
Ivory CoastYamoussoukro
KenyaNairobi- LesothoMaseru
LiberiaMonrovia
LibyaTripoli
MadagascarAntananarivo
MalawiLilongwe
MaliBamako
MauritaniaNouakchott
MauritiusPort Louis
MoroccoRabat- MozambiqueMaputo
- NamibiaWindhoek
NigerNiamey
NigeriaAbuja
Republic of the CongoBrazzaville
RwandaKigali
São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé
SenegalDakar
SeychellesVictoria
Sierra LeoneFreetown
SomaliaMogadishu
South SudanJuba
SudanKhartoum
TanzaniaDodoma
TogoLomé
TunisiaTunis
UgandaKampala
ZambiaLusaka- ZimbabweHarare
Flag of South Africa: FAQ
What does the flag of South Africa look like?
A horizontal Y shape in green, edged in white and gold, runs from the hoist and splits into two arms. A black triangle sits at the hoist, with red above and blue below the arms.
What colours are on the flag of South Africa?
The main colours are green, red, blue, white, black, yellow.
When was the flag of South Africa adopted?
The current flag was adopted on April 27, 1994.
What is the capital of South Africa?
The capital of South Africa is Pretoria.
Data Sources
Country names, capitals, area, languages, currencies and borders: the world-countries dataset (ODbL), based on ISO 3166-1 and ISO 4217. Flag image: public domain, via flagcdn.com. Flag colours and proportions are measured from the image.