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KEY (Afr: SLEUTEL)
The key has become a symbol of education ("unlocking knowledge"), and is found in the arms of many schools*, and those of the former Department of National Education (BoH 1978).

KNOBKIERIE
The African war-club is sometimes used as a charge, and is usually stylised as a shaft with a spherical head. It is more often found behind the shield, crossed in saltire with an assegai*. A crossed assegai and knobkierie are placed above the shield of the national arms, as symbols of authority.

LANDSCAPE
Landscape is usually suggested by the use of varied lines of partition*, e.g. dancetty for mountains, wavy bars or pallets for rivers and sea, fir-tree-topped for forests, as in the arms of the Thaba Chweu municipality (BoH 2004). However, a few arms depict specific places, which are blazoned by name, e.g. Isandhlwana, Maskam mountain, Spandau Hill, and Table Mountain*.

LAW OF ARMS (Afr: WAPENREG)
SA's law of arms consists of common law and statutory law.

The Roman-Dutch common law, transplanted to SA by the original Dutch colonists in 1652, allows everyone the right* to assume* and bear arms, recognises the granting* of arms, allows personal arms to be inherited*, and outlaws usurpation* of arms.

The statutory law is the Heraldry Act* 1962, which has been in operation since 1963. It established an heraldic authority and provides an administrative framework for the registration* and protection* of arms.

LEGAL PROTECTION
If arms which are registered* under the Heraldry Act* are usurped or misused, the owner can invoke the Act and obtain a court order and/or damages against the offender. In addition, a national or provincial government or a municipality can lay criminal charges, which carry a fine and/or imprisonment on conviction. However, the Act specifically allows anyone to use registered heraldic representations in connection with any stage play, historical pageant, cinema film, or other form of performance or entertainment, as long as they do not bring them into ridicule or contempt.

LEOPARD (Afr: LUIPERD)
The leopard, a symbol of power and royal authority, is used as a charge and - more often - as a supporter in a number of arms. A few arms have a leopardskin headring* instead of a wreath.

LINES
SA uses the traditional decorative lines found in European and British heraldry, and has modified some of them to create special effects (usually landscape), e.g. broad fitchy couped, dancetty each peak embattled*, dancetty the peaks couped, embattled in the form of minedumps, and embattled pointed*.

The Finnish fir-twig* and fir-tree-topped* lines, and the German serpentine* line, were adopted in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The BoH has introduced several original lines, derived from SA architecture, flora, and landscape: cupolaed*, gably*, nowy gably*, nowy of an Indian cupola*, nowy of a Karoo gable*, "protea"*, and "Table Mountain"*.

LION (Afr: LEEU)
The lion is probably the most popular animal in SA heraldry. A lion was the crest of the old national arms* and of government departments*, and a demi-lion was incorporated into the crests of statutory bodies*. The arms of the Kruger National Park Commando depict a lion's pawprint.

LOTUS FLOWER
This flower* has been used since 1964 in the arms of a number of Indian South Africans and Indian educational institutions and authorities, e.g. the former House of Delegates (BoH 1987), which represented Indian voters in the apartheid Parliament.

LOZENGE (Afr: RUIT)
The traditional shield shape for women's* arms. As such, it was used as a charge in the badges of the SA Navy's submarines*, which were named after women. Also as a charge, a black lozenge is used to represent coal in the arms of local authorities and institutions in coal-mining districts. Its Dutch/Afrikaans name and German name (raut) make it an appropriate canting charge for people with surnames such as Rautenbach.