National symbols and nation-building in the post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Since the advent of a new democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994, the metaphor of the ‘‘Rainbow Nation’’, first coined by Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has become the symbol of peace and reconciliation among the country’s diverse population with its long history of strife and conflict. The Rainbow metaphor projects the image of different racial, ethnic and cultural groups being united and living in harmony. It has thus become a symbol of unity among the diverse population of South Africa.