South Africa coat of arms

Coat of arms since 2000

The current coat of arms of South Africa was presented on April 27, 2000 by President Thabo Mbeki .

description

It depicts a shield with two people shaking hands, taken from a South African rock drawing. Spear and Knobkierie (baton) cross above the shield, and two ears of grain are located to the left and right of the shield. This arrangement is surrounded by two tusks on each side, which are connected in a green band.

Above the shield there is a secretary bird with outspread wings. In front of his chest is a protea flower, and above his head is a rising sun, which closes the top of the coat of arms.

On the ribbon at the bottom there is a saying in ǀXam (a Khoisan language that died out in the 20th century ): "! KE E: / XARRA // KE" ; This means something like “Different people unite” , mostly reproduced in forms with a collective reference such as “Different peoples united”.

The entire coat of arms is mostly kept in calm green and ocher colors. The red ocher (originally emblazoned as red ocher ) is an unusual tincture in heraldry .

symbolism

The coat of arms symbolizes the changes in South Africa and serves to identify all South Africans.

Tusks: for the virtues said to elephants of wisdom, strength, temperance and eternity
Ears of wheat: for fertility and growth; they refer to the importance of agriculture for feeding the population
Shield: as a symbol of spiritual defense
People: for unity and humanity
Spear and baton: as the strong legs of the secretary bird; both are depicted lying down and symbolize peace
Protea: the beauty of the land and the prosperity of the people as a nation.
Secretary bird: with its outspread wings for the superiority of the South African nation over its enemies; at the same time he protects the nation with his wings.
Sunrise: willpower, specialist knowledge and quick comprehension; also for the source of life and its importance for humanity.
Wing: Symbolizes the freedom of Africans

history

From 1910 to 2000 South Africa had a total of three similar coats of arms, to which the current coat of arms has no further reference.

All three showed a quartered heraldic shield , the contents of which formed the coats of arms of the four provinces of the South African Union .

The first field bears the figure of Good Hope for the Cape Province , the second field two gnus for Natal , the third an orange tree for the Orange Free State and the fourth a wagon for the Transvaal .

The colors of the fields are in the same order: red, twice gold and green. There is a red lion above the shield ; an oryx and a springbok are shield holders on the right and left.

A banner bears the Latin motto:

" Ex Unitate Vires. "

(Unity is strength.)

From 1930 the whole thing stands on a piece of lawn.

From 1932 the shield still wears a helmet on which the lion is now standing.


1910-1930	1930-1932	1932-2000

literature

Karl-Heinz Hesmer: Flags and coats of arms of the world. History and symbolism of the flags and coats of arms of all states . Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, 1992. ISBN 3-570-01082-1

Web links

Commons : Coat of arms of South Africa - Collection of images

Flag lexicon (description of flag and coat of arms)

Individual evidence

↑ New coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa. www.flaggenkunde.de, accessed on August 24, 2013 (source given there: “RSA 2000 No. 05/00, publisher: South African Embassy Berlin”).
^ Government Gazette April 28, 2000 No 21131, Notice 425 Notice of registration of the national coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa. (PDF; 0.37 MB) Republic of South Africa, April 28, 2000, archived from the original on November 3, 2013 ; Retrieved on February 2, 2014 (English / Afrikaans): " Arms: Or, representations of two San human figures of red ocher, statant respectant, the hands of the innermost arms clasped, with upper arm, inner wrist, waist and knee bands Argent , and a narrow border of red ocher; the shield ensigned of a spear and knobkierie in saltire, Sable. Thereabove a demi-secretary bird displayed Or, charged on the breast with a stylized representation of a protea flower with outer petals Vert, inner petals Or and seeded of nine triangles conjoined in three rows, the upper triangle Gules, the second row Vert, Or inverted and Vert, and the third row Vert, Or inverted, Sable, Or inverted and Vert. Above the head of the secretary bird an arc of seven rays facetted or orange, the two outer rays conjoined to the elevated wings.
Upon a riband Vert, the motto! KE E: / XARRA // KE in letters Argent. Issuant from the ends of the riband two pairs of elephant tusks curving inwards, the tips conjoined to the wings of the secretary bird, Or, therewithin and flanking the shields, two ears of wheat Brunatré. "

[1] New coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa. www.flaggenkunde.de, accessed on August 24, 2013 (source given there: “RSA 2000 No. 05/00, publisher: South African Embassy Berlin”).

[2] Government Gazette April 28, 2000 No 21131, Notice 425 Notice of registration of the national coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa. (PDF; 0.37 MB) Republic of South Africa, April 28, 2000, archived from the original on November 3, 2013 ; Retrieved on February 2, 2014 (English / Afrikaans): " Arms: Or, representations of two San human figures of red ocher, statant respectant, the hands of the innermost arms clasped, with upper arm, inner wrist, waist and knee bands Argent , and a narrow border of red ocher; the shield ensigned of a spear and knobkierie in saltire, Sable. Thereabove a demi-secretary bird displayed Or, charged on the breast with a stylized representation of a protea flower with outer petals Vert, inner petals Or and seeded of nine triangles conjoined in three rows, the upper triangle Gules, the second row Vert, Or inverted and Vert, and the third row Vert, Or inverted, Sable, Or inverted and Vert. Above the head of the secretary bird an arc of seven rays facetted or orange, the two outer rays conjoined to the elevated wings.
Upon a riband Vert, the motto! KE E: / XARRA // KE in letters Argent. Issuant from the ends of the riband two pairs of elephant tusks curving inwards, the tips conjoined to the wings of the secretary bird, Or, therewithin and flanking the shields, two ears of wheat Brunatré. "