In a series of decisions made in 1864, 1865, and 1869, the British government decided that every colony should have a distinctive badge, to be displayed on flags at sea.
The governor was to display the badge in the centre of the Union Jack when travelling by sea; vessels owned by the colony's government were to display it in the fly of the Blue Ensign; and, with Admiralty permission, privately owned ships registered in the colony could display the badge in the fly of the Red Ensign.
It was replaced in 1905 with a simpler design, which was used until the colony was incorporated into the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910.
This was a complex design, depicting the British royal arms above a landscape scene showing two wildebeest running across a plain, with hills in the background.
[3] The second badge (1905–10) showed on the landscape scene, in an ornamental frame topped with a crown.