Flag of South Africa

🎨 What the flag means

South Africa's flag has six colours: red, white, blue, green, black and gold, with a green band shaped like a sideways "Y". The government says the colours have no official meaning. The Y shape shows different parts of South African society coming together and taking the road ahead in unity.

📊 Quick facts

👥 Population

62 million (2022)

🏙️ Capital

Pretoria741.7 thousand people (2011)

🗣️ Main language

EnglishAlso official: Afrikaans, South Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

✨ 3 fun facts

1. South Africa has three capital cities: Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein, each home to a different part of the government.
2. South Africa has 12 official languages, including Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English and South African Sign Language.
3. The Cradle of Humankind is a group of caves in South Africa where scientists have found many very old human fossils.