Marcel van Rossum, Deputy Herald of South Africa, and Themba Mabaso, State Herald of South Africa, wearing their tabards at the XXVIIth International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in St Andrews, Scotland

Purposes

Under South African law, everyone has the right to bear a coat of arms as she or he pleases, as long as the prospective armiger does not infringe on the rights of others (i.e. the arms are not too similar to arms already in use by someone else) and the proposed arms conform to basic heraldic principles. The State Herald of South Africa, approves of and registers arms under the authority given by the Heraldry Act (see Note 1).

In addition to registering coats of arms, badges, and other heraldic representations, the Bureau keeps records of names, uniforms, and badges (which include some corporate arms) previously registered by the Department of the Interior (1935-1959) and the Department of Education, Arts & Sciences (1959-1963). Anyone, regardless of nationality or place of residence, may register arms with the Bureau. Since 1980, it has also been authorized to register the arms of official bodies in foreign countries.

Originally, applications had to be approved by the Heraldry Council before the Bureau could register them, but the power of approval was delegated to the State Herald in 1969, though he can still refer applications to the Council (or, since 1980, its Heraldry Committee) when necessary. In 1980, the State Herald was authorised to delete arms from the register, either on an applicant's request or, in the case of official, municipal or corporate arms, if the organisation concerned no longer exists. Appeals against the State Herald's decisions can be made to the Heraldry Committee.

In the 1970s, the Bureau registered between 60 and 90 arms and badges per year. The number increased sharply in the mid-1980s, reaching a peak of 148 in the 1987-88 reporting year. It declined in the early 1990s, and returned to 1970s levels. (These figures do not include the registrations of defence force unit arms and insignia, of which the Bureau has registered more than 1000 since the 1960s.)

The illustrated blazons of applications for registration are published in the South African Government Gazette. Blazons (but not illustrations) of arms registered at the Bureau and its predecessors up to the end of the year 2000 are available online through the National Archives website.

Naturally, the Bureau is itself armigerous - its arms, adopted in 1965, are Azure, three escutcheons Or, on a chief of the second the South African lion. They are depicted on the seal on each registration certificate and, in the 1960s and early 1970s, they were depicted in full colour at the head of the certificate too.

• Note 1: This process is in substance no different than that used by the Republic of Ireland wherein the authority of the Chief Herald of Ireland is vested in the Irish government through the National Library of Ireland. The Chief Herald of Ireland is an employee of the National Library of Ireland. The College of Arms in London is a private corporation operating under the jurisdiction/authority of the Crown of England and forming part of the Royal Household. The Canadian Heraldic Authority, financed by the Canadian Government, operates under the direct supervision of the Queen of Canada via the Office of the Queen's representative, the Governor General. The Lord Lyon of Scotland has direct control of the assignation of Arms in Scotland.

State Herald and staff

The State Herald is a civil servant, and is the head of the Bureau of Heraldry, an ex officio member of the Heraldry Council, and a member of the National Archives' directorate. There have been four state heralds since the office was established in 1963:

• Dr Coenraad Beyers (1963-1964)
• Norden Hartman (1964-1982)
• Frederick Brownell (1982-2002)
• Themba Mabaso (2002- )

The Bureau has a small staff complement: the State Herald, the Assistant State Herald, a Chief Heraldic Artist, a few artists, an administrative assistant, and a cleaner.

The Bureau has had four homes since its inception. Since 1989 it has been housed in the National Archives building in Pretoria.

Since 2004, the State Herald has been called the National Herald, but the Heraldry Act has not yet been amended to reflect this change.

References

• Heraldry Act 1962, as amended
• Annual Reports of the Department of National Education
• Annual Reports of the National Archives

See also

• Heraldry
• Heraldry Council (South Africa)
• South African heraldry
• Canadian Heraldic Authority
• College of Arms (London)
• Court of the Lord Lyon (Scotland)
• Flemish Heraldic Council
• Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland

External links

• National Archives of South Africa website
• South African Heraldry Website
• Armoria: Heraldry in South Africa
• Heraldry Act of 1962 (PDF)

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