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GABLE CROSS (Afr: GEWELKRUIS)
An original SA cross*, introduced in 1979 and consisting of four stylised Cape Dutch farmhouse gables. The only arms in which it has appeared to date have been those of Gideon van den Berg (BoH 1979). The cross was also used for the badge of the Order for Meritorious Service (1986-2002).

GABLED — see Gably

GABLY (Afr: GEGEWEL)
An original SA line*, introduced in 1975 and consisting of a row of stylised Cape Dutch farmhouse front gables. It is usually applied to a chief, and the blazon may specify how many gables must be shown. The line was first used in the arms of the Institute of Real Estate Economists (BoH 1976). See also: nowy gably.

GOLD STAMP (Afr: GOUDSTEMPEL)
An item of mining equipment used in several municipal, military and other arms in and around the Witwatersrand gold-mining region. Its first appearance was in the original arms of Johannesburg (CoA 1907).

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
From 1971 to c2000, government departments bore their own arms, in addition to, or instead of, the national arms*. They alluded to the departments' various functions, e.g. a triquetra* for Health, sword and scales for Justice, a key for National Education, trowels for Public Works, and a stylised road for Transport. However, all their crests were variants on the lion* crest of the national arms. Departments now use the (new) national arms* as laid down in the government corporate identity manual.

GRANT OF ARMS (Afr: WAPENTOEKENNING)
Although self-assumption* is the usual method of establishing new arms in SA, it was possible until 1961 to have arms granted, as an honour, by the British heraldry authorities, which had jurisdiction over SA (and it is still possible for South Africans of British descent to obtain grants from them, based on their ancestry).

From 1963 to 1969, the Heraldry Act* authorised the State President* to grant arms to official bodies, and the provincial administrators* to grant them to local authorities, in both cases subject to Heraldry Council* approval of the designs. No arms have been granted since these provisions were removed from the Act in 1969, though registration* at the Bureau of Heraldry is sometimes referred to as a "grant".

GRAPES
Bunches of grapes are a popular charge, especially in municipal and institutional arms in the wine-producing province of the Western Cape, e.g. the arms of the former Western Cape Regional Services Council (BoH 1988).

GUN-BARRELS (Afr: KANONLOPE)
Gun-barrels, sometimes singly but usually in pairs crossed in saltire, are found in the arms of many artillery units, e.g. those of the School of Artillery, which also show the arm-of-service colours.

HEADDRESS
Various forms of traditional African headdress are occasionally used as charges, or are placed above shields in place of helmets or crests. They include (a) the Basotho hat, (b) an Ndebele beaded and plumed headdress, (c) the Zulu married woman's headdress [isicholo], and (d) traditional Mpondo headdress. In a few arms (on African shields), a head-ring is sometimes used instead of the wreath.

HEART INCISED OF A TREFOIL INVERTED
(Afr: HART GELEDIG VAN 'N OMGEKEERDE DRIEBLAD)
This charge was devised in 1980 for the arms of Soweto and its various institutions, to indicate that the city was "the heart of the greatest concentration of urban African people in Southern Africa".

HELMET (Afr: HELM)
Several types of helmet are used in modern SA heraldry, the closed tournament helmet, inherited from British practice, being the most widely used in both personal and impersonal arms. Until 1982, helmets faced dexter, but since then they have been either dexter-facing or affronté to match the direction of the crest on top of it.

HERALD'S BATON — see Insignia of Office

HERALDIC REPRESENTATION (Afr: HERALDIESE VOORSTELLING)
A collective term used in the Heraldry Act* and BoH notices and publications to mean (i) a coat of arms, (ii) a badge*, and (iii) other emblems such as flags, pennants, gonfalons, decorations, medals, seals, and insignia of rank or office.

HERALDRY ACT (Afr: HERALDIEKWET)
SA's current heraldic legislation, passed in 1962, introduced in 1963, and amended several times, most recently in 2001. It established the Bureau of Heraldry*, the office of State Herald*, and the Heraldry Council*; provided for voluntary registration* of heraldic representations*; confirmed the continued use of existing arms (whether registered or not); and gave registered armigers legal* means of dealing with usurpation* or misuse of their arms.

Until 1969, the Act also authorised the state president* and the provincial administrators* to grant* official and municipal arms respectively. Matriculation* of arms was authorised in 1969. Since 1980, the Act has outlawed the activities of "bucket shops"*, and since 1982 it has provided severe penalties for insulting the national arms*. Click here for an up-to-date copy.

HERALDRY COUNCIL (Afr: RAAD VIR HERALDIEK)
The Heraldry Council, established in 1963, determines heraldic policy, and hears appeals against rejected applications to register arms. Until 1969, the Council also approved arms before they were registered* by the BoH.

The Council consists of the National Herald* ex officio and other members appointed by the responsible minister. Typically, membership includes heraldists, historians, the National Archivist, artists, a judge and, since the early 1990s, African language specialists.

Chairmen of the Council since its inception have been: Hon Victor Hiemstra (1963-84), Lt Gen Heinrich du Toit (1984-95), Prof Deon Fourie (1995-97), and Prof Themba Msimang (1998- ). The chairman is now ex officio a member of the National Heritage Council.

HERALDRY SOCIETY OF SA
The Heraldry Society of South Africa is a private organisation, founded by a group of heraldry enthusiasts in Cape Town in 1953. Since 1958, it has published a regular journal, Arma, and it now has its own website*.

HERITAGE TRANSFORMATION
The Bureau of Heraldry has been drawn into the government's programme of "heritage transformation", which includes promoting the national arms*, and incorporating African symbolism into heraldic representations* to "serve as an instrument of the African Renaissance". The new generation of municipal arms* is an example.

HOMELANDS
The ten self-governing African "homelands" inside South Africa, which were created in the 1960s and '70s as part of the apartheid system, had official arms, flags, and other symbols, which were registered at the BoH between 1970 and 1981. They were: Bophuthatswana (BoH 1972), Ciskei, Gazankulu, KaNgwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu, Lebowa, QwaQwa, Transkei (BoH 1970), and Venda.

Developed by the Department of Bantu Administration, they introduced many African symbols into heraldry, and seven were depicted on African shields*. Being government arms, they had supporters. The arms became obsolete when the homelands were reincorporated into South Africa in 1994.

HUGUENOT CROSS (Afr: HUGENOTEKRUIS)
A 17th-century French protestant symbol, comprising a Maltese cross (or sometimes a cross moline) with fleurs de lis in the angles, and a descending dove below. It is sometimes used to indicate French Huguenot ancestry, or connections with the Huguenot settlers who arrived in 1688, e.g. in the arms of Stanley le Roux (BoH 1994).

HUMAN FIGURES
Human figures are sometimes used as charges, crests or supporters. They include: the Roman goddess Minerva, a Xhosa woman, a soldier of The Buffs, and a Zulu warrior. Two stylised male figures, based on San rock paintings*, are depicted in the national arms*. Occasionally body parts, such as hands, or a kidney (as in the arms of the Northern Transvaal Renal Patients Society (BoH 1993)), are used as charges.

HUTS
Traditional African huts are occasionally used as charges. There are two basic designs.

The Zulu hut is dome-shaped. It first appeared in the arms of HM King Goodwill Zwelithini of the Zulus (BoH 1975).

If the blazon doesn't specify a particular type, then a generic hut is depicted, e.g. as in the arms of the former Monnakato Urban Council (BoH 1993).
 

INHERITANCE OF ARMS
Personal arms are hereditary, and if they are registered* at the BoH, they can be matriculated*, i.e. re-registered, in the name(s) of descendants, including adopted children.

INSIGNIA OF OFFICE
The Bureau of Heraldry*, the National Herald* and members of the Heraldry Council* place two herald's batons in saltire behind their arms. The SA herald's baton of office has a finial depicting the SA lion* and is topped with a protea flower.

Senior Anglican and Roman Catholic clergymen are entitled to add croziers and shepherd's crooks to their arms, according to the practices in their respective denominations.