The current design of the National Flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, the end of apartheid prompting the widespread conviction that a new national flag must include the cultures of all South Africans.

None of the flag designs submitted by the public was supported by the committee charged to select the final design. An interim flag was designed by State Herald Frederick G. Brownell for the 27 April elections, the nation's first fully-inclusive elections, and for Nelson Mandela's May 10 inauguration. The flag was so well received that the interim version was made the final, national flag in the South African Constitution. Given the troubled historical context, it is remarkable that a consensual replacement for the former national flags was found. The new flag is seen as an enduring symbol of the modern South African state.

A heraldic description of the flag would be something like "per pall fesswise gules, sable and azure, a fesswise pall vert fimbriated argent, Or and argent". In plain English, this means two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, 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 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. The South African flag is the only six-coloured national flag in the world without a seal or brocade.