Southern Rhodesia based on "academic achievement and good character" with no racial distinction. University College of Rhodesia (UCR) received its first intake of students in 1952. Until 1971 it awarded degrees of the Universities of London and Birmingham. In 1971 UCR became the University of Rhodesia and began awarding its own degrees. In 1980 it was renamed the University of Zimbabwe. In 1953, with calls for independence mounting in many of its African possessions, the United Kingdom created the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (or the Central African Federation, CAF), which consisted of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Flag of Rhodesia Flag of Rhodesia The flag of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) changed many times as a result of political changes in the country. Before 1953, the then Colony of Southern Rhodesia followed British colonial practice, by using a Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the shield from the colony's coat of arms in the fly. In 1953, Southern Rhodesia federated with Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federal flag was used between September 1953 and 31 December 1963 when the federation was dissolved. Less than a year after the break-up of