The Flag of the Union of South Africa is hoisted on Prince Edward Island

On 4 January 1948, the National Flag of the Union of South Africa was hoisted on Prince Edward Island. Prince Edward Island is one of two Islands annexed by South African which includes Marion Island. The Island lies about 1,900 km southeast of Cape Town and 19 km north-northeast of Marion Island covering an area of 47 square km. After World War II, Britain moved to incorporate both Prince Edward and Marion Island under a government as they realised that Islands could also become engulfed in a war of a global scale and play a strategic role. The British worked with the South African government under Jan Smuts who was the Prime Minister at the time to annex the islands. Smuts then commissioned an inquiry about the Islands which resulted in a decision to send a South African warship to the islands to annex them and take formal control of both Prince Edward and Marion Islands in the name of South Africa. G. Brand van Zyl who was the Governor General read out a proclamation on the annexation which stated: "...by virtue of the powers vested in me by Section Six of the Royal Executive Functions and Seals Act, 1934, I do hereby proclaim and declare that His Majesty's sovereignty of Marion Island and Prince Edward Island is henceforth to be exercised by His Majesty's Government in the Union of South Africa." Under the Prince Edward Islands Act of 1948, the Islands were placed under the city of Cape Town under the Cape Province and were made subject to the laws of the Union. Both islands were later declared as nature reserves because of the extensive colonies of birdlife, which include skuas, giant petrels, and various penguins and albatross species.