Cultural Heraldry
November 2006
Updated October 2007
Heraldry is part of South Africa's European-influenced culture, so it's appropriate that a number of cultural organisations have armorial bearings.
A small selection:
Academies
The arms of the Afrikaner
SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SA Academy for Science and Art), adopted in its 75th anniversary year, are
Per fess enarched Or and Sable, in chief two quills in saltire nibs downwards proper, in base the head of Minerva Argent, on a chief Azure four escutcheons Argent
(BoH 1984). On the Akademie's previous quasi-heraldic emblem, the shields represented the four provinces, and Minerva was represented by her owl.
The Akademie's English counterpart, the English Academy of SA, has a seal displaying an English rose (BoH 1967)
Broadcasting
The SA Broadcasting Corporation which was, for many years, the country's only broadcaster, is armigerous, though it has long since shelved its arms in favour of a logo: Sable a winged torch Or with flames Gules (CoA 1958, BoH 1964). Black and gold represented night and day broadcasting, and torch symbolised education and progress.
None of the other broadcasting companies has registered arms.
Cultural Foundations
The arms of the
Simon van der Stel Foundation, which preserves and restores historical buildings, are based on those of 17th-century Cape governor
Simon van der Stel:
Or, on a chevron Azure between three turrets Gules masoned Sable, the one in base charged with the VOC monogram of the Dutch East India Company Sable, three millrinds Argent (BoH 1977).
Libraries
The Natal Society arms (BoH 1987) are appropriate to its status as a copyright deposit library: Per fess enhanced and nowy floretty to base Argent and Vert, in chief an open book Argent garnished Or leathered Sable and with two clasps on each side Or.
Musea
The
SA Museum in Cape Town registered arms in the year of its 155th anniversary:
Or, a lion rampant between three annulets Gules, on a chief Azure three colophon beetles Or (BoH 1973). They were based on the official arms of the Cape of Good Hope, which the museum had used since 1877.
The arms of the National Cultural History & Open-Air Museum in Pretoria are Or, an ogress charged with a fillet saltire surmounted by an eight-spoked wheel Or and ensigned of a billet Sable; a chief nowy gabled Sable (BoH 1983).
References/Sources/Links
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