As a result of political pressure the national rugby team jersey from 1992 on featured a king protea alongside the springbok.
From the en.wikipedia.org
The picture shows a king protea, national flower of South Africa and one of the plant species on which the moleculargenetic analysis was performed.
From the sciencedaily.com
The king protea as South Africa's national flower was chosen for this purpose, so that the national cricket team became known as the Proteas, for example.