<Tr> <Th> Design </Th> <Td> The flag of Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994 . It replaced the flag that had been used since 1928, and was chosen to represent multiculturalism and ethnic diversity in the country's new, post-apartheid democratic society . </Td> </Tr> <P> The first humans are believed to have inhabited South Africa more than 100,000 years ago . The historical record of this ethnically diverse country is generally divided into five distinct periods: the pre-colonial era, the colonial era, the post-colonial and apartheid eras, and the post-apartheid era . Much of this history, particularly of the colonial and post-colonial eras, is characterised by clashes of culture, violent territorial disputes between European settlers and indigenous people, dispossession and repression, and other racial and political tensions . </P> <P> The discoveries of diamonds and gold in the nineteenth century had a profound effect on the fortunes of the region, propelling it onto the world stage and introducing a shift away from an exclusively agrarian - based economy towards industrialisation and the development of urban infrastructure . The discoveries also led to new conflicts culminating in open warfare between the Boer settlers and the British Empire, fought essentially for control over the nascent South African mining industry . </P> <P> Following the defeat of the Boers in the Anglo - Boer or South African War (1899--1902), the Union of South Africa was created as a dominion of the British Empire in terms of the South Africa Act 1909, which amalgamated the four previously separate British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal Colony, Transvaal Colony, and Orange River Colony . The country became a self - governing nation state within the British Empire, in 1934 following enactment of the Status of the Union Act . The dominion came to an end on 31 May 1961 as the consequence of a 1960 referendum, which legitimised the country becoming a sovereign state named Republic of South Africa . A republican constitution was adopted . </P>

When did the british colonized in south africa