On 5th October, 1960, South Africa's white minority government held a referendum on whether or not the then Union should sever links with the British monarchy and become a republic. October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... Union of South Africa is also the name of a LNER Class A4 locomotive, preserved on the Severn Valley Railway The Union of South Africa came into being on May 31, 1910 when the old Cape Colony and Natal Colony were combined with the defeated South African Republic and Orange... The monarch or Sovereign is the head of state of the United Kingdom. ... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people who do not base their political power on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ...

The Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which came to power in 1948, was avowedly republican, and regarded South Africa's links with the Crown as a relic of British imperialism. The National Party (with its members sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats) was the governing party of South Africa from 1948 until 1994, and was disbanded in 2005. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is on the political theory of republicanism. ...

However, it was not until 1960 that the Prime Minister, Hendrik Verwoerd, held a referendum on the issue. On October 5th 1960, South Africa's whites were asked: 'Do you support a republic for the Union?'. The result was 52 per cent in favour of the change. 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... This is a list of South African Prime Ministers. ... Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (8 September 1901 - 6 September 1966) was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966, when he was assassinated. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Prior to the referendum, Verwoerd had lowered the voting age for whites to 18, and had also included the white voters of South West Africa (now Namibia) on the electoral roll. South-West Africa is the former name (1884-1990) of Namibia under German (as German South-West Africa, Deutsch Süd-West Afrika) and (from 1915) South African administration when it was conqured from the Germans during World War I. Following the war, the Treaty of Versailles declared the territory...

Whites in the former Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State voted decisively in favour, as did ones in South West Africa. In the Cape Province there was a smaller majority, while Natal, which had more English-speaking whites than Afrikaans-speaking ones, voted against. Some whites in Natal even called for secession from the Union, but this was never seriously considered. Afrikaners are white South Africans of predominantly Calvinist Dutch, German, French Huguenot, Friesian and Walloon descent who speak Afrikaans. ... Flag of Transvaal The Transvaal was one of the provinces of South Africa from 1910 until 1994. ... Flag of the Orange Free State The Orange Free State (Afrikaans: Oranje Vrystaat) was the historical precursor to the present day Free State province of the Republic of South Africa. ... Under the Union of South Africa and after that under the Republic of South Africa, the old Cape Colony became the Cape of Good Hope Province (though it was commonly known as the Cape Province). ... KwaZulu-Natal (often referred to as KZN) is a province of South Africa. ... South African English is a dialect of the dialect of English spoken in South Africa and to some extent, in neighbouring countries with a large number of Anglo Africans living in them, such as Namibia and Zimbabwe. ... Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. ...

The opposition United Party actively campaigned for a 'No' vote, while the smaller Progressive Party appealed to supporters of the proposed change to 'reject this republic', arguing that South Africa's membership of the Commonwealth, with which it had privileged trade links, would be threatened. The United Party was South Africas ruling political party between 1934 and 1948. ... The Progressive Party was a liberal South African party that opposed the ruling National Partys policies of apartheid. ... Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of independent sovereign states, most of which are former colonies once governed by the United Kingdom as part of the British Empire. ...

The National Party had not ruled out continued membership after the country became a republic, but the Commowealth now had new Asian and African members who saw the apartheid regime's membership as an affront to the organisation's democratic principles. Consequently, South Africa left the Commonwealth on becoming a republic, although many Afrikaners welcomed this as a clean break with the colonial past. World map showing location of Asia A satellite composite image of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ...

When the Republic of South Africa was declared on 31st May, 1961, Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be head of state, and the last Governor General of the Union took office as the first State President. May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years). ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Elizabeth II in an official portrait as Queen of Canada (on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002, wearing the Sovereigns badges of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) (born 21 April 1926), styled HM The... Though a term originally coined for Republican presidents, a head of state or chief of state is now universally known as the chief public representative of a nation-state, federation or commonwealth, whose role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions... The Governor General of the Union of South Africa was the representative of the British Crown in South Africa between May 31, 1910 and May 31, 1961. ... From 1961 to 1994, South Africas head of state was called the State President or Staatspresident in Afrikaans. ...

Other symbolic changes also occurred:

• Legal references to the 'Crown' were replaced by those to the 'State';
• Queen's Counsels became known as Senior Counsels;
• The Crown was removed from the badges of the military and police;
• Her Majesty's South African Ships became known simply as South African Ships; and
• the 'Royal' title was dropped from the names of some South African Army regiments like the Natal Carbineers. (However, some institutions retained the 'Royal' title, such as the Royal Natal National Park and the Royal Society of South Africa.)

The new decimalised currency, the Rand, which did not feature the Queen's portrait on either notes or coinage, had already been introduced before the establishment of the Republic. Queens Counsel ( postnominal QC), during the reign of a male Sovereign known as Kings Counsel (KC), are barristers or, in Scotland, advocates appointed by patent to be one of Her Majestys Counsel learned in the law. They do not constitute a separate order or degree of lawyers. ... The title of Senior Counsel (postnominal SC; 資深大律師 in Hong Kong Cantonese [1] [2]; 高级律师 in Singapore Mandarin [3] [4]) is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, especially in Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions in which the British monarch is no longer head of state, such as... The British monarch or Sovereign is the monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and is the source of all executive, judicial and (as the Queen_in_Parliament) legislative power. ... The South African Army is the army of South Africa. ... Decimalization refers to any process of converting from traditional units, usually of money, to a decimal system. ... The old R1 and new R10 bank notes The Rand is the currency of South Africa. ...

However, the only notable difference between the Constitution of the Republic and that of the Union was that State President was the ceremonial head of state, in place of the Queen and Governor-General. The National Party decided against having an executive presidency, instead adopting a minimalist approach, as a conciliatory gesture to English-speaking whites who were opposed to a republic. Similarly, the Union Jack remained a feature of the Flag of South Africa until 1994, despite its unpopularity among many Afrikaners. Flag Ratio: 1:2 The Union Flag or Union Jack is the flag most commonly associated with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and was also used throughout the former British Empire. ... Flag ratio: 2:3 The current design of the National Flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, the end of apartheid having prompted the widespread conviction that replacing the former national flag was imperative due to its racist connotations to many South Africans. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...