A day in the life at the University of Pretoria. 27 April 1994

On this "Day in the life of the University of Pretoria" UP and the rest of South Africa welcomed the hosting of the new South African flag. The flag was designed by UP student, Dr. Fred Brownell.

Dr. Brownell completed a doctorate in History in 2015 at UP with a thesis entitled “Convergence and unification: the national flag of South Africa (1994) in historical perspective” in which he presented a detailed analysis of the process by which the South African national flag came into being on 27 April 1994. He was not only directly involved in every phase of that process, but was also the designer of our new national flag which has been embraced as a symbol of our people. In recognition of this achievement, his work as the State Herald, as well as his doctoral thesis Brownell was awarded two Vexillons by the Féderation Internationale d’Associations Vexillologiques (FIAV) in 1995 and 2015. He was also the recipient of the Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, by former President Nelson Mandela in 1999. His legacy will live on in the flying of the flag.

The UPA preserves the history of the University of Pretoria. We have an extensive photo collection and earlier copies of the senate, council and faculty minutes. The volumes of the University’s history captured in Ad Destinatium i-v, as well as overview histories of the institution like Humanties 100, as featured here, also forms part of our collection. Please contact us on [email protected] to share your memories of Tukkies or access our collection virtually