Bophuthatswana, 1973

Bophuthatswana (Setswana for “gathering of the Tswana people”), a collection of seven parcels of land dispersed over the former Cape Province, Transvaal, and Orange Free State, received internal self-government on 01 June 1972, with its capital in Mafeking, which was then renamed Mafikeng. On 6 December 1977, it was made nominally independent, with its capital in Mmabatho, just to the west of Mafikeng. Its flag was blue, symbolising the infinity of the sky and striving for progress and development, with a diagonal orange bar referring to the golden path that the Tswana people must take to bring this to fruition. The leopard’s face is symbolic of the authority necessary to lead the people to develop their potential. Leopards are traditional symbols of power for the Tswana people. The flag was taken into use on 19 April 1973.