Orange Free State
The
Orange Free State (
Afrikaans:
Oranje Vrystaat) was an independent country in southern
Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a
province in
South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day
Free State province. Extending between the
Orange and
Vaal rivers, it was established as a
free state by
Voortrekker settlers, after their departure from the British-dominated
Cape Province (the
Great Trek), and was
annexed by the
United Kingdom in
1848 as the
Orange River Sovereignty. The British recognised the independence of the Orange Free State on
17th February,
1854 and the country officially became independent on
23rd February,
1854, with the signing of the
Orange River Convention. The
Transvaal Republic, a sister
Boer state, was granted independence two years earlier.
Although the Orange Free State developed into a politically and economically successful
republic, it experienced chronic conflict with the British (see the
Boer Wars) until it was finally annexed as the
Orange River Colony in
1900. It joined the
Union of South Africa in
1910. The republic's name derives partly from the
Orange River (just as the
Transvaal Republic was named after the
Vaal River), but both names were bestowed by the
Dutch Protestant settlers in honour of the Dutch ruling family, the
House of Orange.
The
Presidents of the Orange Free State were:
*
Josias P. Hoffman: First President, from
1854 to
1855.
*
Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff: Second President, from
1855 to
1859.
*
Marthinus Wessel Pretorius: Third President, from
1859 to
1863 (also President of the
South African Republic from
1857 to
1871).
*
Johannes Henricus Brand: Fourth President, from
1864 to
1888.
*
Francis William Reitz: Fifth President, from
1889 to
1895.
*
Marthinus Theunis Steyn: Sixth and last President, from
1896 to
1902.
*
Christiaan Rudolph de Wet: Acting President from
29 May to
31 May 1902 and signatory of the
Peace of Vereeniging.
The national flag of the Orange Free State was adopted in
1856. The OFS national flag contained alternating horizontal orange and white stripes (three orange and four white, with the white stripes on the outside) with a version of the Dutch flag (used initially at
Graaff Reinet and
Swellendam in
1795) featured in the canton. The former national
flag of South Africa (from 1927 to 1994) had, as a feature contained within its central white bar, a vertically hanging flag of the Orange Free State.
The republic began to issue
postage stamps in
1868, and continued until
1897. The sole design used was an orange tree, with the inscription "Oranje Vrij Staat" in the margin. The stamps were
typographed by
De La Rue and Company, and came in denominations from one
penny to five
shillings, in various colours. Periodic shortages forced the use of
overprints, in
1877,
1881,
1882,
1888,
1890,
1892,
1896, and
1897. The stamps of the republic are generally common today, but some of the overprints are scarce and are in the
US$200 range. Many kinds of overprint errors are known (inverted, double, etc), and some of them command high prices.
*
List of extinct states*
South African Republic*
Natalia Republic*
Volkstaat*
