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Convergence and Unification: the National Flag of South Africa (1994) in Historical Perspective

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CONVERGENCE AND UNIFICATION: THE NATIONAL FLAG OF SOUTH AFRICA (1994) IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE by FREDERICK GORDON BROWNELL submitted as partial requirement for the degree DOCTOR PHILOSOPHIAE (HISTORY) in the Faculty of Humanities University of Pretoria Pretoria Promoter: Prof. K.L. Harris 2015 i Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. iv ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................................................... v CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION: FLYING FLAGS ................................................................ 1 1.1 Flag history as a genre ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Defining flags .............................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Flag characteristics and terminology ......................................................................... 23 1.4 Outline of the chapters ............................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER II- LITERATURE SURVEY: FLAGGING HISTORIES .................................... 31 2.1 Flag plates, flag books and flag histories ................................................................... 31 2.2 Evolution of vexillology and the emergence of flag literature .................................. 35 2.3 Flag literature in Africa and South Africa ................................................................. 44 CHAPTER III - FLAGGING THE “OLD” SOUTH AFRICA ................................................ 59 3.1 Early flags over South Africa .................................................................................... 59 3.2 Flags of the Union of South Africa ............................................................................ 67 3.3 South Africa’s national flag ....................................................................................... 70 3.4 Promotion of the 1928 national flag and institution of the National Colour ............. 83 3.5 “Homelands” flags ..................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER IV - FLAG RUMBLES OF DISCONTENT ....................................................... 101 4.1 Flags and the rise of African nationalism ................................................................ 101 4.2 South Africa and Africa’s flags ............................................................................... 106 4.3 Pressures in, on and around South Africa ................................................................ 109 4.4 Negotiating the way forward ................................................................................... 113 4.5 Pondering national symbols ..................................................................................... 119 CHAPTER V - COMMISSION, PUBLIC AND GRAPHIC DESIGNERS .......................... 127 5.1 Negotiations commence, Commission appointed .................................................... 127 5.2 Flag proposals and Commission reports .................................................................. 144 5.3 The Report and reaction ........................................................................................... 153 5.4 Design Studio proposals .......................................................................................... 158 5.5 Promulgation of the “Interim” Constitution ............................................................ 169 5.6 A possible solution? ................................................................................................. 172 ii CHAPTER VI - FLAG ISSUE: A MATTER OF URGENCY .............................................. 177 6.1 The Transitional Executive Council, the “Channel” and the Heraldry Council ...... 177 6.2 Process of acceptance .............................................................................................. 192 6.3 Flag field day of dis / content .................................................................................. 201 6.4 Legislative, practical and regulatory aftermath ....................................................... 212 6.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 218 CHAPTER VII - “INTERIM” TO FINAL: PROGRESSIVE ACCEPTANCE ................... 220 7.1 New flag embraced .................................................................................................. 220 7.2 New national flag derived Ensigns .......................................................................... 226 7.3 The flag and the Constitutional Assembly ............................................................... 228 7.4 Epilogue: a flag fanfare ............................................................................................ 233 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ 238 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 239 APPENDIX A - GLOSSARY ................................................................................................ 295 APPENDIX B - NATIONAL FLAG “PRIVATE” SPECIFICATION, MARCH 1994 ........ 308 APPENDIX C - INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING THE FLYING OF THE NATIONAL FLAG OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: 26 APRIL 1994 .................... 322 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have seen the light of day if it had not been for the inspiration, support and encouragement of many people. First and foremost I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my promoter, Professor Karen Harris, for her guidance, enthusiasm and support through thick and thin. To my external examiners my sincere thanks for their insight and constructive comments on the text. A special word of thanks is due to Mrs Alett Nell of the University of Pretoria Library for her incredible ability to trace theses, books and articles which I needed for my research. In the field of vexillology – and the related field of heraldry – I am only too aware of how many of the colleagues and friends who I have come to know over the part thirty-five years, have shaped my professional life in so many ways. Many of them are mentioned in the text. My special thanks to my fellow founder members of the Southern African Vexillological Association, Bruce Berry and Theo Stylianides, who have never failed to provide me with material which I needed in the preparation of this thesis. Last, but by no means least, my sincere appreciation to my immediate and extended family for their unwavering support. To my late wife Christine, my constant support since we met as young undergraduates and who shared the entire flag process with me. Despite her own failing health, she insisted that I tackled this thesis. She said simply, “I know you can do it.” Sadly she did not live to see its completion. To my daughters, Susan, Heather and Claire for their encouragement. It is Claire who insisted on the only significant change to my initial flag sketch and thus made an important contribution to the final design of the national flag. Her mother-in-law, Nan Muir, has been a tower of strength in helping me with the typing and corrections of successive revisions of the text. iv ABSTRACT This thesis provides an analysis of the history of the new South African flag of 1994. It presents an overview account of the South African flag legacy from the early colonial period through to the first national flag of the Union of South Africa in 1928. Its main concern however is the process which culminated in the raising of a new national flag on 27 April 1994. It shows how the flag issue was integral to the negotiations aimed at addressing South Africa’s political future and it is within this context that it sets out the steps taken to address the matter. It also recounts how the process initially floundered before the current design - which has become one of the primary graphic symbols of identification for the new South Africa and its people - finally came into being. Despite the initial reaction to the design, it unpacks the extent to which the flag has been embraced by the South African population at large which has far exceeded expectation. Apart from its visual success, the flag is symbolic of the convergence and unification which is inextricably linked to the freedom and democracy which the new political dispensation encapsulated. Keywords: convergence; flag; identity; nation-building; national flag; South Africa; symbolism; unification; vexillology. v ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS Note: These abbreviations and acronyms are relevant to the period covered by this thesis. ANC African National Congress APLA Azanian People’s Liberation Army ASF Afrikaanse Studentefederasie AU African Union AVU Afrikaner Volksunie AWB Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging AZAPO Azanian People’s Organisation BDF Bophuthatswana Defence Force BOP Bophuthatswana BWB Boere Weerstandsbeweging CA Constituent Assembly / Constitutional Assembly CBM Consultative Business Movement CDF Ciskei Defence Force CMB Constitution-making Body CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa COM Campaign for Open Media CONTRALESA Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa
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