Klein Vrystaat, 1876

In 1875 King Mbandzeni of Swaziland started his rule, and Transvaal Boers visited his capital in Mbekelweni, seeking land concessions and mining rights, as they had obtained from his father Mswati II. In 1876 several Boers bought a piece of land just northeast of the town of Piet Retief from King Mbandzeni. They adopted a constitution and formed a formal government in 1886, naming their land “Klein Vrystaat” (‘Little Free State’). Their flag was the same “Vierkleur” of the South African Republic - red-white-blue with a vertical green stripe at the hoist. It was incorporated into the South African Republic on 2 August 1890: hence the shape of the border with Swaziland (Eswatini), northeast of Piet Retief.