William Carney didn’t just carry the flag at Fort Wagner—he hauled the soul of a nation on his back through a storm of lead, and never let it fall.

“I think the word 'claiming' is overused. The design of the flag of the country is indeed Mr Thembani Hastings Mqhayi’s design,” he told Newzroom Afrika.

In a letter to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on 9 May, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) stated that “the national flag is a national symbol which ...