Last modified: 2005-07-16 by bruce berry
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A flag of the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope was taken into use on
12 May 1875, on the occasion of the laying of a foundation stone of the
House of Parliament in Cape Town. The Governor's flag followed the traditional
pattern of having the colonial arms in the centre of a Union Jack surrounded
by a green laurel garland.
However, official authorisation by Royal Warrant for the arms of the
colony was only granted nearly a year later on 29 May 1876 and a Blue Ensign
bearing these arms on a white roundel was introduced soon thereafter. There
does not seem to have been a Red Ensign version.
The Cape Colonial Blue Ensign was used until the Union of South Africa
came into being on 31 May 1910 when the Cape Colony became the Cape Province.
No provincial flag was used by the Cape Province, or any of the other
four provinces in the period 31 May 1910 to 26 April 1994. The Cape Province
was divided into the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and
Northern Cape provinces
on 27 April 1994.
Bruce Berry, 28 May 1999