The helmet flashes worn by the Union Defence Forces from the early 1900s until the early 1940s were indirect predecessors of the unit arms borne today.

The standard pattern flash, introduced in 1923, was rectangular (75mm high x 50mm wide). Flashes of Permanent Force (PF) units displayed the branch colours, while those of Citizen Force (CF) units displayed a provincial colour at the top, the branch colour at the bottom, and unit colours in the centre.

The flash was worn on the Wolseley helmet (both left and right sides) and on the upturned (left) brim of the smasher hat. As helmets and smasher hats were superseded by berets during World War II, the system therefore lasted for only about twenty years, though some flashes were later adapted for wearing on berets. Several later also influenced the designs of unit arms, which were introduced in 1973.

Air Force

The SA Air Force was a branch of the land forces until the defence forces were divided into individual services in 1951. Its helmet flash (1923) was sky blue. Sky blue remained the SAAF colour until the 1960s, when it was changed to steel blue.

Artillery
There were four artillery branches, which were combined in 1934.

The PF SA Field Artillery and SA Permanent Garrison Artillery wore yellow-edged dark blue flashes with a red "lightning flash" for the SAFA and a straight stripe for the SAPGA. The SA Artillery which replaced them in 1934 had a blue flash with the red lightning flash. Red, gold, and dark blue still predominate in SAA unit arms today.

CF field artillery units wore the lightning flash on a background of the provincial colour, e.g. red for the Cape and blue for Natal, over yellow, which was the branch colour. From 1939, they too wore the SAA flash. Examples: the Cape Field Artillery and the Natal Field Artillery.

Engineers
The SA Engineer Corps wore a white flash from 1923 to 1928, when it adopted the colours of the Royal Engineers, namely dark blue and red. These remain the SAEC colours, and most of the modern SAEC unit arms are red and blue, with gold charges and borders.

Infantry

This branch consisted entirely of CF regiments, for which the standard design was the provincial colour (red for the Cape, blue for Natal, green for the Transvaal, or orange for the Orange Free State) above the branch colour (black) with, in most cases, unit colours in the centre.

Examples: the Royal Durban Light Infantry in Natal, Prince Alfred's Guard in the eastern Cape, and two of the Afrikaans units formed in 1934, the Regiment De la Rey in the Transvaal and Regiment De Wet in the Orange Free State.
 

Medical

The colour of the SA Medical Corps, which was part of the Army until 1968, was "dull cherry". The flashes of its CF units combined this with the provincial colour at the top, and brown for "departmental" branches at the bottom. Today, as "ruby red", this is the predominant colour in SA Military Health Service unit arms.

Military Police
The SA Corps of Military Police, formed in 1938, wore a flash of orange and black. The colours were changed to red and black in the 1970s, and most modern SACMP unit arms display a golden charge against a field resembling the old flash.

Mounted Rifles

The PF unit, the SA Mounted Riflemen, wore a flash of black, red, and amber until it was disbanded in 1926. CF units, such as the Royal Natal Carbineers, wore flashes with the provincial colour (in this case, blue) above the branch colour (grey), with unit colours in the centre. The Johannesburg-based Imperial Light Horse wore a non-standard flash in the city colours of green and gold/yellow.

Non-European Auxiliary Services
"Non-European" men were recruited for non-combat service in World War II, and organised into racially separate branches. The Cape Corps flash was a brown and white diamond. The colours of the Indian Service Corps were red and green. The Native Military Corps flash was brown, with the unit number in white.

'Q' Services

The SA Service Corps and SA Ordnance Corps wore blue flashes with centre stripes of white and red respectively. Their CF units wore flashes which had the provincial colour at the top, the corps colours in the centre, and brown at the bottom.

The SA Administrative, Pay & Clerical Corps flash was black and yellow. In 1939, the three corps were combined to form the 'Q' Services Corps, whose flash was red, white, and blue. Blue remains the dominant colour in the arms of logistics units.

Signals

The SA Corps of Signals' flash (1928) represented the air, naval, and ground forces. The sequence of colours was later changed to green, sky blue, and navy blue, and this design forms the field of many SACS unit arms designed since the 1970s.
 

Staff
The SA Staff Corps flash was "staff blue" until 1936, when it was changed to orange. The SA Instructional Corps flash (1923) was also "staff blue", with a red centre stripe. The SA Police later adopted blue for its staff officers' insignia.
 

'T' Services

The 'T' (later Technical) Services Corps, formed in 1939, wore a flash representing the air, land, and naval forces, all of which it supported. Red and blue remain the predominant colours in the arms of TSC units, but sky blue has been superseded by gold.
 

Veterinary
The SA Veterinary Corps flash was maroon and black. CF unit flashes had the provincial colour at the top, maroon in the centre, and brown for "departmental" branches at the bottom.
 

Reference/Source

South African Heraldry Website © Arthur Radburn