South Africa–United States relations a joint session of Congress. In September, de Klerk visited Washington, the first official state visit by a South African leader. Mandela was subsequently elected President of South Africa, and U.S. Vice President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Clinton attended his inauguration in Pretoria in May 1994. In October of that year, Mandela returned to Washington for a state dinner hosted by U.S. President Bill Clinton. President Clinton visited South Africa in March 1998, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president visited the country. Since Clinton's visit, two of his successors have visited the country: President George W.
Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) was featured on the cantons of the flags of government agencies such the military, prisons service, and police. After the flag was retired in 1994, the new South African flag replaced it on those flags' cantons. Despite the flag's origins and adoption pre-dating the National Party's ascension to power by twenty years, the flag gradually became associated with the apartheid regime. Movements like the Black Sash and Umkhonto we Sizwe started protesting against it with their own symbols. Often the flag of South Africa would be removed from public display and replaced with the banned ANC flag. The flag would