 When the Orange Free State became an independent republic in February 1854, the government hoisted a red, white and blue flag.Details of the exact design have been lost, but it was presumably similar to the contemporary Dutch flag.This was evidently intended as a temporary flag, as the first State President, Josias Philip Hoffman asked King Willem III of the Netherlands (r. 1849–1890) to give the new state which bore the Dutch royal family's name a flag and coat of arms.