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Themes – Van Riebeeck

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arms of Van Riebeeck

THE arms of the Van Riebeeck family – Gules, three annulets or – crop up time and again in South African coats of arms, often merely to indicate that the arms belong to this country. (These charges are called ringe in Afrikaans, and ringen in Dutch, but in English a “ring” is one worn on the finger, and set with a stone.) They are often held to be those of Jan van Riebeeck, who founded the refreshment station in Table Bay which was the beginning of European settlement in South Africa. However, it appears that Jan did not display them, although the family’s use of device goes back to the Middle Ages. The arms were, however, displayed by his son Abraham.

Van Riebeeck’s three annulets appear in various guises. Cape Town was granted the plain red shield with an anchor as a supporter, but later added a gold shield. The Cape Colony (and the Cape Province afterwards) had the annulets in the same field as a rampant lion.

Van Riebeeck arms as borne by the Raad der Gemeente Kaapstad (1804)arms of Van Riebeeck as borne by the City of Cape Townannulets of Van Riebeeck in the arms of the Cape of Good Hope (Cape Colony and Cape Province)

Grahamstown (on its own authority) changed the background colour to blue. It also made the third annulet larger, and this was repeated in the arms of the town’s two public schools, today known as Graeme College and Victoria Girls’ High School. Grahamstown, however, later obtained a grant of arms in which the annulets appeared on a red pile. Much later, St Andrew’s College (a school attended by descendants of the colonel) was granted arms also incorporating annulets (two this time).

Van Riebeeck’s annulets (on blue) as borne in the second and third quarters of the arms of Grahamstown (1862)Van Riebeeck’s annulets (in gold on blue) as borne on the sinister half of the arms of Graeme CollegeVan Riebeeck’s annulets (in green on silver) as borne in the second and third quarters of the arms of Victoria Girls’ High SchoolVan Riebeeck’s annulets as borne on a pile in the 1912 arms of Grahamstowntwo of Van Riebeeck’s annulets as borne above and below the saltire of St Andrew’s College

Wynberg, site of Jan van Riebeeck’s farm, used the Van Riebeeck arms in its first quarter. Stellenbosch took just two annulets and placed them on either side of a peacock. And Pinelands High School (taking its cue from the Pinelands Municipality) has three annulets on a red chevron.

Van Riebeeck’s annulets as borne in the first quarter of the arms of Wynbergtwo of Van Riebeeck’s annulets in the arms of StellenboschVan Riebeeck’s annulets as borne on a chevron in the arms of Pinelands High School

Port Elizabeth’s crest places Van Riebeeck’s three annulets on a red mural crown. And the coronet that substitutes for a crest in the arms of the Western Cape Province also features the annulets.

Van Riebeeck’s annulets in the crest of Port ElizabethVan Riebeeck’s annulets in Western Cape’s coronet

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Comments, queries: Mike Oettle