An artistic rendering of the African antelope, the Springbok, was
depicted with stylized wings to serve as the logo of South African
Airways (SAA) for well over 60 years. It was replaced by a new corporate
identity when the airline was rebranded after the demise of apartheid,
the release of Nelson Mandela from political incarceration, and the
introduction of a non-racist democratic society in South Africa in the
mid-nineties. As a state-owned entity, many people once saw SAA as the
'apartheid airline.' For a time, travel on board its aircraft was
restricted to whites only, but this was later changed to include members
of all the country's diverse racial groups. SAA pioneered flight
throughout Africa during the colonial era, long before airports, supply
services, radio and weather forecasting capabilities even existed. Its
staff and equipment served with the Allies in Europe and North Africa
during WWII and it met the enormous challenge of having to circumvent
African airspace when flying to destinations abroad after most African
nations closed their skies to it in protest against the country's racist
policies in the early sixties. Over the years the airline grew into one
of the world's major domestic, regional, and international carriers. Its
long history was eventually terminated and replaced by a new entity in
2020 with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In its original
incarnation it could proudly boast of being one of the world's oldest
and longest-surviving international carriers. It is still seen by many
around the world as the airline with that much revered and fondly
remembered emblem, the Flying Springbok.
