▁dem ise ▁of ▁apart heid ▁the ▁r uling ▁African ▁National ▁Congress ▁has ▁wanted ▁to ▁replace ▁the ▁Spring b ok ▁across ▁all ▁national ▁teams , ▁as ▁em blem ▁of ▁the ▁ra cially ▁seg reg ated ▁sport ing ▁codes , ▁with ▁a ▁neutral ▁symbol ▁that ▁would ▁represent ▁a ▁decis ive ▁break ▁with ▁a ▁repr ess ive ▁past . ▁The ▁King ▁Prote a ▁as ▁South ▁Africa ' s ▁national ▁flower ▁was ▁chosen ▁for ▁this ▁purpose , ▁so ▁that ▁the ▁national ▁cr icket ▁team ▁became ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Prote as , ▁for ▁example . ▁A ▁similar ▁change ▁was ▁en vision ed ▁for ▁the ▁national ▁rugby ▁squad ' s ▁spring b ok ▁em blem . ▁Paul ▁Ro os ' s ▁team ▁had ▁first ▁introduced ▁the ▁Spring b ok ▁in ▁ 1 9 0 6 , ▁and ▁it ▁had ▁promoted ▁a ▁measure ▁of ▁unity ▁among ▁white ▁English ▁and ▁A frika ans - spe aking ▁players ▁after ▁the ▁two ▁Ang lo - Bo er ▁Wars ▁of ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 th ▁century . ▁▁▁ ▁The ▁Spring b ok ▁was ▁regarded ▁as ▁representing ▁both ▁the ▁ex clusion ▁of ▁players ▁who ▁were ▁not ▁designated ▁white ▁under ▁apart heid ▁legisl ation ▁and , ▁by ▁extension , ▁of ▁apart heid ▁itself . ▁Although ▁the ▁Spring b ok ▁was ▁adopted ▁briefly ▁by ▁the ▁first ▁col oured ▁national ▁rugby ▁team ▁in ▁ 1 9 3 9 ▁and ▁by ▁their ▁first ▁black ▁counter parts ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 0 , ▁it ▁became ▁exclus ively ▁associated ▁with ▁seg reg ated ▁sport ing ▁codes ▁afterwards . ▁South