The South African national flag was first hoisted on 27 April 1994 when the country held its first free elections. Today, this is known as Freedom Day, and is celebrated as a public holiday on which the flag is traditionally flown.

The flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, during South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the previous flag used from 1928-1994.

The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) and blue (on the bottom), of equal width, separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal "Y" shape, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side (and follow the flag's diagonals). The "Y" embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow or gold bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes. The stripes at the fly end are in the 5:1:3:1:5 ratio. Three of the flag's colours were taken from the flag of the South African Republic, itself derived from the flag of the Netherlands, as well as the Union Jack, while the remaining three colours were taken from the flag of the African National Congress. Nicknames for the flag include the Seskleur (lit. 'six colour') and the Rainbow Flag. Wikipedia