Someone looking for Afrikaner family arms may well come across Dr Cornelis Pama's Die Groot Afrikaanse Familienaamboek (GAF), which was published in 1983. Although it's a dictionary of the origins and meanings of more than 3000 Afrikaner surnames, some 445 of the entries include details of coats of arms, which were illustrated in colour by the artist Sidney Ivey.

Because the armorial information in these entries is rather concise, particularly concerning the origins of the arms, it can be misunderstood - especially if the chapters on heraldry aren't read to place the information in context. Perhaps the following observations, based on my own use of GAF, will help to clarify its use as an armorial reference.

Some Heraldic Concepts
It helps to bear in mind that:

Chapters about Heraldry
Anyone using GAF as an armorial source would do well to read three of the chapters in the front of the book. Chapter 5 explains the origins of arms; chapter 6 describes South African armorial sources; and chapter 7 explains that many so-called "family arms" that are in use are not actually authentic.

Pama's earlier book, Wapens van die Ou Afrikaanse Families (WOAF) contains much more detailed information about many of the arms which appear in GAF.

Origins of the Arms in GAF
In GAF, the origins of the arms are noted in brief statements such as "Bell verwys in sy manuskrip" ("Bell refers to them in his manuscript") or "die wapen het c1940 in gebruik gekom" ("the arms came into use c1940"). How should these statements be interpreted? With the assistance of WOAF they can be understood as follows:

Charles Bell

Historical sources: A reference to Charles Bell or his manuscript indicates that the arms date from the Dutch colonial period or the early 19th century. Chapter 6 of GAF describes how, in the 1830s, Bell began sketching coats of arms in churches and on sources such as gravestones, memorial boards, and seals. They're thus historical arms. Both GAF and WOAF include photos of Bell's drawings.

In addition, Pama located about forty more old arms on seals, portraits, armorial china, etc. They're also historical.

It's not always clear if arms were borne by the "stamvader", i.e. the founder of the South African family, himself. Many entries identify a second- or third-generation descendant as the first person who can be identified as having borne the arms.

Modern sources: More than a dozen arms are described as having come into use late in the previous (i.e. 19th) century or early in the 20th. Reference to WOAF reveals that some were published in the magazine Goede Hoop in the early 1900s, while others first appeared as late as the 1930s en '40s.

The 1930s and '40s saw the publication of many books and articles about family histories which were illustrated with coats of arms, but without evidence that members of the Afrikaner families concerned were actually entitled to them. So, if the arms are described as having first appeared, or come into use, in or about 1930, 1933, 1940, 1945, 1946, or 1947, it indicates that they come from one of those sources. Pama discussed their authenticity, or lack thereof, in chapter 7.

"1933" refers to Loxton's Die Afrikaner Voorgeslag. "1940" means Kannemeyer's Die Hugenote Familieboek, and Pama notes that the arms in her book weren't historical.

Barnard
(Baernaert)

According to Pama, if Theunissen found more than one coat of arms for a surname, he simply combined them, and if he found none then he invented some himself. Considering that the "stamvaders" couldn't have borne any of these arms, how could anyone inherit them?

In 1977, the State Herald made it known that arms based on those which had appeared in magazine articles between 1944 and 1947 - clearly a reference to the Theunissen arms - would not be accepted for registration at the Bureau of Heraldry unless their authenticity was proved in each case.

Arms of similarly named European families: About 50 arms in GAF are explained simply as being borne by families of similar surnames in the Netherlands or Belgium or elsewhere. Pama doesn't state categorically that the Afrikaner families are descended from them, nor does he explain why he attributes the arms to them.

Irish sept arms: Eight arms are described as Irish sept arms. In the 1950s, there was a theory in Ireland that members of certain families were entitled to bear the arms of the chiefs of their septs (family groups within clans). However, according to the Chief Herald of Ireland's website, this theory is not officially accepted. What, then, is the status of these eight arms?

No sources: Nearly ninety of the arms - particularly those of "stamvaders" who arrived in South Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - are presented without any explanation of their origins. Nor do they appear in WOAF.

"Improved" and "simplified" arms: Pama notes against twelve of the arms that the originals were, for one or other reason, defective or too complicated, and that he'd therefore "improved" or "simplified" them. To my mind, that actually makes them new arms, dating from 1983. As no "stamvader" could have borne them, who would have any claim to inherit them?

To sum up: of the 445 arms (actually 444, because the Von Ludwig arms appear twice), 183 come from historical sources; 107 come from newspapers, books, and magazine articles; 48 belong to European families whose relationship to the Afrikaner families concerned isn't shown; 12 were re-designed by Pama; 8 are Irish sept arms; and the origins of the rest aren't explained.

Colour Plates
A few observations about the colour plates in GAF.

Some don't agree with the blazons in the text, e.g. Du Plessis (silver instead of ermine), Du Toit (a chevron instead of a fess), and Klerck (red keys instead of black and red).

Some arms, e.g. Myburgh, have different crests to those shown in photos of old seal impressions elsewhere in the book.

Where the original sources, e.g. seals, didn't indicate tinctures, Pama chose tinctures himself for the purposes of the book. There are also some arms, e.g. Myburgh, which are depicted in tinctures different to those as borne by members of the family.