Pretoria - South Africa

Pretoria is one of the capitals of South Africa, in this case the administrative one. Bloemfontein is the judicial its houses the Supreme Court and Cape Town the legislative its houses the parliament. Pretoria houses the president of South Africa and his cabinet, legally the country has no legal capital. In 1910 the colonies of Cape of Good Hope, Natal and former republics Transvaal and Orange Free State formed the Union of South Africa and the capitals of those colonies become the capitals we know today. But the capital of Natal Pietermaritzburg was compensated with money. The idea of the three capitals was to spread out the power and not to concentrated in one city. Pretoria was original the capital of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek also informal known as Transvaal, until they get annexed by the British after the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Also its now part of the province Gauteng but the capital is South Africa's powerhouse Johannesburg. So lets an look at the flag.

Its an quick look, two vertical colors red and yellow. The colors are taken from the coat of arms, so let take an look at that for some explanation. The supporters are on the right an common eland and on the left an greater kudu, two indigenous antelope species. In the shield is an red background with eight flying bees, an symbol of industry. The mimosa tree is an symbol of growth. The escutcheon on the tree you see an Roman praetor is an pun of Pretoria, also the mural crown in the shape of an castle symbolize that to. The motto "Praestantia Praevaleat Praetoria" is Latin for "May Pretoria be pre-eminent in excellence". The flag and coat of arms are very European influenced, pretty solid design.