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eventREF E-0012416Revised

17 April 1980

End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa

End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa

Updated
30 Sep 2019
End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa

In a historic move, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time in Africa on this day when the embattled ex-British colony of Rhodesia was declared independent and renamed Zimbabwe. The lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the new Zimbabwean flag was a symbolic event for the masses.  Prince Charles, representing the Queen, presented the instruments of sovereignty. Robert Mugabe, the new Prime Minister, spoke of the need for reconciliation between Blacks and Whites and agreed to be part of the Commonwealth countries in the process.

How we know this

  1. 01Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012416

South African History Online (2011) 'End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012416 (Accessed: 7 October 2026).

South African History Online, End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012416, (accessed 7 October 2026).

"End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012416. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "End of the road for the Union Jack in Africa." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012416.

Also on 17 April

  1. 1838Robert Biggar and his force are killed
  2. 1923Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, abolishes slavery.
  3. 1935The ‘Suid-Afrikaanse Noodhulpliga’ (SA first-aid organisation) is founded
  4. 1954The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) is founded
  5. 1963The United Arab Republic is proclaimed by Egypt, Iraq, and Syria
  6. 1969Dorothy Fischer becomes the first South African woman to undergo a heart transplant
  7. 1986Bessie Amelia Head, SA novelist dies
  8. 1989First World Haemophilia Day

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