Last modified: 2008-05-10 by bruce berry
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image by Clay Moss, 18 Jun 2005
image by Clay Moss, 18 Jun 2005
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Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing colony with responsible Government
in 1923, thereby relinquishing the
British South Africa Company of its administrative
responsibilities. What this meant was that there was a local parliament although
some powers (notably relating to African political advancement) was retained
by London. The territory was ruled via the
Dominions Office (and NOT the Colonial Office) although strictly speaking
the country was not a Dominion (like Canada, Australia, South Africa etc.).
This was a unique case.
Bruce Berry, 20 Nov 1995
According to Bruce Berry's excellent account,
"Flying in the Winds
of Change, in The Flag Bulletin No. 163, March-April 1995 [brr95],
the status and usage of Southern Rhodesian flags from 1924-1937 was a bit
of a mess, to say the least! But it appears that Southern Rhodesia, when
it used the blue ensign at all, used the shield of the territory without
the white ring behind it, unlike other colonies. (For reasons which I'll
be outlining, Rhodesia was a constitutional anomaly; neither dominion nor
true colony). The two contemporary images I have are flatly contradictory - one
dated 1940 implies the circle, the other (c1937) doesn't.
Stuart Notholt, 11 Feb 1996
This is true, there was confusion surrounding the flag of Southern Rhodesia after the adoption of Responsible Government in 1923. When the organiser of the British Empire exhibition wrote to the Rhodesian High Commission in London in May 1925, on the question of the flag for the colony, this caused some consternation. The High Commission did not know what flag to use; on the advice of the Colonial Office, it recommended that the Blue Ensign with arms (or flag badge) in the fly be used, adding that the Governor had indicated that the government had approved the shield only as the flag badge. In March 1928 the Rhodesian High Commission wrote to the Colonial Office in Salisbury asking what the flag of the colony was, adding that they used the "Blue and Red ensigns with the Arms of the Colony in a circle" at the HC in London and at some exhibitions.
The reply a month later stated that the Union Jack was the flag of
Southern Rhodesia and that the use of the flag badge on the Union Jack
or of both the Red and Blue Ensigns "would not be in order for the purpose
mentioned in your letter". Between 1933 and 1934 correspondence between
London and Salisbury described the colony's flag as being the Union Jack
with the colony's badge in the centre of the fly, while another letter
noted that no official authority had been given for the use of such a flag,
normally reserved for use at sea. In brief, there was no official flag
for Southern Rhodesian during this period.
The impending coronation of King George VI in 1937 brought matters
to a head as the Rhodesian prime minister wanted a flag to represent the
colony at the coronation. Through correspondence with the High Commission
and the Dominions Office, it emerged that the most appropriate flag would
be a Blue Ensign with the badge of Southern Rhodesia emblazoned in the
fly, although the High Commissioner was of the opinion that the Union Jack
remained the official flag of the colony and that the new flag had been
adopted only for use outside the colony only. Thus the flag for Southern Rhodesia
was finally established as being a Blue Ensign with the colonial shield
in the fly. The Union Jack nevertheless continued to be flown INSIDE the
colony, alongside subsequent Rhodesian flags, until 11 November 1968.
Not only the basic form of the colonial flag, but its exact details
were confused in the era of its use. The Admiralty amended the 1915 edition
of its Flags of All Nations by issuing, as part of Errata 8, a coloured
sheet dated May 1926 which showed the flag badge as having the full achievement
of the Southern Rhodesia arms. In April 1927 a correction was made, clearly
establishing that the shield only was the appropriate flag badge. In both
sheets the text indicated that this emblem appeared on a white disc when
on the Union Jack, but WITHOUT a disk on the Blue Ensign. Nevertheless
a Rhodesian Government publication illustrated the ensign with a disc behind
the shield.
Various sources refer to a Southern Rhodesian Red Ensign bearing the
shield (without disc), although Southern Rhodesia's lack of a coastline
suggests that such a flag would have been unnecessary even if - as appears
not to have been the case - it had official sanction. Red Ensigns were
displayed during the 1947 Royal Visit and the local Salisbury newspaper
commented, "This is a variety which we have not met previously and which
appear to owe its origin neither to official sanction nor custom, but to
an enterprising manufacturer's idea of what our flag should be".
The issue of a flag for Southern Rhodesia was resolved once the territory
became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and a new flag
adopted on 7 September 1953.
So in short - dark blue Southern Rhodesia Ensigns are known to have
had the colony's shield both on a white disc and without the disc as illustrated
above. Official
proportions would have followed the British pattern of 1:2.
Bruce Berry, 16 Feb 1998
image by Clay Moss, 18 Jun 2005
image by Clay Moss, 18 Jun 2005
I have in my collection a flag with the arms in white circle. In articles
on the subject of Rhodesian flags by Michael Faul and Bruce Berry, and
in Richard Allport's book on the subject recently published as the SAVA
Journal [all96], it is stated that, while officially there should have been no
white circle, in fact there were versions in existence both with and without
the circle. My flag was made by Annin & Co., and measures 4x6 feet (2:3 proportions).
It is marked on the heading "Rhodesia".
I have a vague recollection that at the 1976 Montreal
Olympics, the Rhodesians were allowed to compete, but under
the old colonial flag, rather than their green and white national flag.
Could these flags have been made up with the white circle? That would explain
the marking 'Rhodesia' rather than 'Southern Rhodesia' on my flag.
Devereaux Cannon, 15 February 1998
The printers, who published the Admiralty Flag Book and its amendments,
appear to have been unsure of the correct badge for the defaced Union Flag
and Blue Ensign that were authorised for Southern Rhodesia in the mid-1920s.
A 1925 amendment to the 1916 edition of the Admiralty Flag Book included
a new page for Southern Rhodesia. The badge illustrated was the shield
from the Arms of 11th August 1924, with a note that the white circle, on
which it was drawn, was to appear on the Union Flag, but not on the Blue
Ensign. The authority was N.L.1655/25, which I think is the reference number
of the letter from Naval Law authorising the amendment for distribution.
A May 1926 amendment, which was in a slightly different format to all the
other amendments, changed the badge for the flags from the shield, to the
complete Coat of Arms. Another amendment dated April 1927 changed the badge
back to just the shield, quoting the original authority N.L.1655/25.
David Prothero,
18 June 1999
As Southern Rhodesia was landlocked, and
as flags of convenience for merchant vessels were scarcely known during the days
of its existence, on what occasion was the SR Red Ensign actually flown?
Ron Lahav, 20 Mar 2005
Southern Rhodesia was indeed landlocked and the red ensign was an anomaly. A number were made erroneously (and displayed) for the Royal Victory tour in 1947. I have one in my collection and there are a number in the National Archives in Harare. The local Salisbury newspaper commented at the time, "This is a variety which we have not met previously and which appears to owe its origin neither to official sanction nor custom, but to an enterprising manufacturer's idea of what our flag should be".
In A Manual of Flags by V. Wheeler-Holohan (1933) confirms that the red ensign was unofficial by stating (p. 85) , "though not laid down, the red ensign is also to be seen bearing the arms." The confusion over whether to place the shield on the disc is highlighted later in Flags of the World (1939) by the same author, where the Southern Rhodesian red ensign is illustrated without the disc. Brownell in The Union Jack over Southern and Central Africa, 1795-1994 [brl94] indicates that in the 1953 edition of Flags of the World, H. Gresham Carr also confirms the existence of a Southern Rhodesian red ensigns, illustrating on Plate VIII the flag of Southern Rhodesia as being the red ensign with badge (without disc) stating that on the Blue ensign the circle is used but not on the red ensign version.
So as with the dark blue ensign, there were variants with the shield on
a white disc as well as without the disc, although the latter appears to have
been more common in the red ensign version!
Bruce Berry, 22 Mar 2005