Three of the independent orders of chivalry have branches in South Africa. All are armigerous, and their arms and other emblems are registered at the Bureau of Heraldry.
Order of St John of Jerusalem
The statutes of the order allow knights to place the cross of the order behind their arms. Bailiffs grand cross may add the arms of the order as a "chief of religion" to their arms, and use non-hereditary supporters. Until the appointment of a genealogist/herald to the South African priory in 1993, these additaments were approved by the College of Arms in London.
Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem
This English Tongue of this order established a South African grand bailiwick in 1963. Its arms are those of the parent order differenced by adding the national flower: Argent, a cross Vert, in the first quarter a protea flower proper (LL 1967, BoH 1992). The arms have been further differenced for the two commanderies within the grand bailiwick, by adding to the fourth quarter a disa flower (Cape) or an arum lily (Transvaal).
The statutes of the order allow knights to place the cross of the order behind their arms. Grand crosses may add the arms of the order to their own as a "chief of religion", and have non-hereditary supporters.
Another Order of St Lazarus, under the United Grand Priories of the Order of St Lazarus, was established in the 1990s. Its South African grand priory bears as arms Argent, a cross Vert, in the first quarter a springbok head couped affronté proper. These arms are not registered.
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
