Official heraldry is the smallest category of arms in South Africa, and only a few dozen official arms have been borne over the years. Currently, only ten (one national and nine provincial) are in use.

Background
For the first two centuries of White rule in South Africa, government authority was represented by the arms of the colonial powers, i.e. the Netherlands followed by the United Kingdom. However, as self-government was gradually established from the 1850s onwards, official state arms made their appearance in South African armory.

The Boer republics were the first to adopt official arms. They were followed, several decades later, by the British colonies. In 1910, the four White-ruled territories were united to form the Union of South Africa, which was granted its own coat of arms. The colonial arms were continued as provincial arms and later, as Afrikaner nationalism grew, the old Boer republican arms were revived for this purpose.

The range and number of official arms increased after South Africa became a republic in 1961. Government departments adopted arms of their own, as did the ten self-governing African "homelands" created by the nationalist government in the 1960s and '70s.

When South Africa was reconstituted in 1994, the homelands and the old provinces were replaced by nine new provinces. New national and provincial arms were adopted, and they are now the only official arms in use.

Characteristics
Official arms follow no particular pattern.

Those of the Boer republics displayed symbols of the Great Trek (the Afrikaner migration from the British-ruled Cape in the 1830s and '40s), while the Cape Colony arms reflected the origins of the White colonists. Others depicted animals. The Union arms contained symbols of the four provinces, while the homeland arms displayed African symbols, often relating to agriculture and industry. The new national arms are based on ancient rock paintings, while trees and flowers predominate in the new provincial arms.

Of the pre-1910 colonial and republican arms, only the Cape Colony's had supporters. The Boer republics' arms were flanked by flags. The 1910 national arms, the homeland arms, and the current provincial arms have supporters, but the current national arms do not. Several of the new provincial arms have specially designed crest coronets.

Legal Protection
Official arms are protected under the Heraldry Act. To wear, use, sell, barter or trade in an unauthorised representation of them is to risk (i) being sued for damages of up to 1000 rands, and/or (ii) being prosecuted and fined up to 1000 rands. The penalty for displaying contempt for the national arms, or holding them up to ridicule, is a fine of 10 000 rands and/or up to five years in prison.

References/Sources/Links

South African Heraldry Website © Arthur Radburn