Wednesday's landmark ruling in South Africa's Equality Court in Johannesburg barred the so-called "apartheid flag" - comprised of three stripes of orange, white and blue with the emblems of Britain, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic at its centre - from being displayed except for academic, artistic or journalistic purposes.
THE PROPAGANDA FILMS OF APARTHEID-ERA SOUTH AFRICA
During the ruling, Judge Phineas Mojapelo said any gratuitous display of the old flag was "racist and discriminatory".
"It demonstrates a clear intention to be hurtful, to be harmful and incite harm and it, in fact, promotes and propagates hatred against black people ... it constitutes hate speech," Mojapelo said.
Offenders will not face arrest. However, they will be subject to community service and fines for displaying the flag, which had sometimes been exhibited by far right-wing and conservative groups at political gatherings and at rugby matches.
Supporters of the ban, who have rallied around the #morethanaflag hashtag on social media, likened the ruling to Germany banning the swastika, while opponents said the decision was an infringement on free speech.
The ruling followed a petition to the court by the Nelson Mandela Foundation Trust after the flag was displayed in October 2017 during a protest by white South Africans against the killing of farmers. The foundation, which is the custodian of former president and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela's archives and legacy, argued that flying the flag showed nostalgia for the old days.
Related: The Observation Post (OP) - The inconvenient and unknown history of South Africa’s national flags.