Following Zambian independence (effective from October 1964), Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front (RF) government in Salisbury dropped the designation "Southern" in 1964 (once ''Northern Rhodesia'' had changed its name to ''Zambia'', having the word ''Southern'' before the name ''Rhodesia'' became unnecessary and the country simply became known as ''Rhodesia'' afterwards). Intent on effectively repudiating the recently adopted British policy of "no independence before majority rule", Smith issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (commonly abbreviated to "UDI") from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965. This marked the first such course taken by a rebel British colony since the American declaration of 1776, which Smith and others indeed claimed provided a suitable precedent to their own actions.