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Ciskei (South African homeland)

Last modified: 2007-03-24 by bruce berry
Keywords: south africa | homeland | ciskei | bird: crane | indwe |
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 image by Martin Grieve, 07 Dec 2006

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Ciskei - introduction

Within the "old" South Africa, 10 homelands were created, four of which were granted "independence" by South Africa (not recognised by any other country in the world). These former South African Homelands/bantustans ceased to exist on 27 April 1994. They have all (including the former so called independent Homelands) been reincorporated into South Africa.

The flags of the former Homelands are no longer in use (either officially or unofficially).
Bruce Berry, 25 April 1996

Ciskei was the largest un-segmented bantustan, in south eastern Cape Province (currently the Eastern Cape).
Antonio Martins, 30 May 1999
 

Ciskei flag description

The design of the Ciskei flag was originally set out in section 2 of the Ciskei Flag Act of 1977 which reads as follows:
"The flag of the Ciskei shall be blue with a bend sinister of white, over all a Blue Crane proper edged white (sic).
The width of the flag shall be equal to two-thirds of its length.
The width of the bend sinister shall be one-sixth of the length of the flag.
The height of the Blue Crane shall be one-third of the width of the flag".
The blue in the flag is said to symbolise the infinity of the sky and the striving for progress and development. The white bar refers to the path which must be followed in order to bring this development to fruition. The Blue Crane or "Indwe" is symbolises the desire of the Xhosa people to be courageous and steadfast and to labour with diligence for the future of the country and its people. Traditionally those who distinguished themselves were decorated with feathers of the Blue Crane by the tribal Chief.

Although the official description gives the colours of the "indwe" as proper, that is in its natural colours, in practise the blue crane was depicted on the flag in black outline and with black detail.

image by Martin Grieve, 07 Dec 2006

This flag was officially taken into use on 22 June 1977 although it had in fact first been hoisted outside the Legislative Assembly building on 15 March 1974.
Ciskei was granted internal self-government on 01 August 1972 and achieved full "independence" from South Africa on 04 December 1981. A description of this flag was incorporated into Schedule 3 of the Republic of Ciskei Constitution Act.

Ciskei was re-incorporated into South Africa on 27 April 1994 and ceased to exist as a separate political entity and the flag is no longer in use.

The image above shows the design of the Ciskei flag actually used although this is slightly different from that which is described in the Flag Act.  The design as officially described is as shown below.
Bruce Berry, 01 Dec 1998

I made the image based on what is depicted in the following books:

  • "Flags of the world", Barraclough, 1981. ([bcr81])
  • "Alverdens flag i farver", Pedersen, 1979. ([ped79a])
  • "Flags and arms across the world", Smith, 1980. ([smi80])
  • "Prisma vlaggenboek", Poels, 1990. ([poe90])
  • "Sovereign flags of Southern Africa", Burgers, 1997. ([bur97])
In these books the white stripe is much wider, so the crane fits in it.
On the other hand, in this way the description makes sense when it says "...edged white" and "...over all...", which doesn't make sense when the crane fits in the stripe.
Mark Sensen, 01 Dec 1998

Flag of Ciskei seems to be according official description, never used. The bird must be a bit in the blue parts.
Jaume Ollé, 12 Apr 2001

Regarding the former flags of the South African homelands;
- how much did the actual flags of the homelands differ from the original specifications, and why?
- how much variation was in between different specimens of the same flag?
- what is the reason for the widely differing representations in flag publications (Ciskei specifically comes to mind)?
Marcus Schmöger, 28 Jan 2007

The simple answer to the questions is manufacturer's licence. There was some variation in the flags made by the various manufacturers, most notably the
detail for the leopard's head in the flag of Bophuthatswana and the Blue Crane in the flag of Ciskei. As reported on FOTW, despite the specifications of the
Ciskei flag as described in the Ciskei Flag Act not conforming to the official artcard, the proportions of the blue and white stripes were followed as per the
artcard and not as per the specifications. This could possibly explain the variations in various flag publications (which was actually the official
specification???). However, one manufacturer produced flags showing the twig in the beak of the Blue Crane (as was the case in the Coat of Arms) although this
was never specified for the flag. This manufacturer subsequently won a Ciskei Government contract to supply flags and despite the error being pointed out (by
me actually!!!), the flags were made and the contract honoured!

So you are correct, the majority of the variations were with the Ciskei flag, while the others were quite minor being mainly different colour shades and in
the case of Venda, different fonts were used for the "V".
Bruce Berry, 08 Feb 2007
 

Flag design according to official specifications

  image by Martin Grieve, 07 Dec 2006
 

Ciskei Coat of Arms

scan by Bruce Berry, 07 Dec 2006

By Government Notice No.1599, published in the South African Government Gazette (Number 3644 of 8 September 1972) it was notified that a coat of arms had been registered for the Ciskei Legislative Assembly in terms of the South African Heraldry Act (Act No. 18 of 1962).  Although application and registration was made in terms of the Heraldry Act (Government Notice 1599 in Government Gazette 3644 of 08 September 1972), the State Herald did not issue a formal certificate of registration in respect of these Arms as they had been devised without consultation of the Bureau of Heraldry. These arms were later illustrated and described in Schedule 4 of the Republic of Ciskei Constitution Act (Act No. 20 of 1981).  However, a formal certificate of registration (number 1280) was subsequently issued on 15 October 1982 at the request of the Government of the Republic of Ciskei.

 The blazon for the Arms reads as follows:
Arms:               Pert saltire Or and Gules, in chief a bull’s head caboshed proper, in base a tree on an island Vert; behind the shield an assegai and knobkerrie in saltire Sable.
Crest:                Four ivory rings conjoined, standing thereon a blue crane holding in his beak a sprig with nine leaves proper.
Supporters:       Two leopards guardant proper
Motto:              SIYAKUNQANDWA ZIINKWENKWEZI  (Reach for the Stars).

With the re-incorporation of Ciskei into South Africa in April 1994, these Arms are no longer in use.
Bruce Berry, 01 Dec 1998