Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) national flag, despite attempts by officials to stop them. In 1994 the State Herald of South Africa, Fred Brownell, was approached to design a new national flag for South Africa to replace the flag in time for the first elections after apartheid. He designed the new flag of South Africa with a combination of the old flag and the colours of the ANC flag. The new flag design was approved personally by both de Klerk and Mandela before being unanimously approved by the Transitional Executive Council on 15 March 1994. De Klerk made the public proclamation of the replacement of
Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) the old flag on 20 April, seven days before the 1994 South African general election on 27 April 1994. When the flag was lowered for the last time at the parliament building in Cape Town, onlookers approvingly shouted "Down, down!" as it was removed. Following its official retirement as the flag of South Africa, the flag was adopted by some white South Africans as being a symbol of Afrikaner heritage and history. Many South Africans still view it as a symbol of apartheid, and therefore have strongly discouraged its use. Despite the negative associations, it was never banned by the