Army Heraldry

Appropriately, considering the military origins of heraldry, the South African Army makes extensive use of armorial and quasi-armorial devices.

The Army is by far the largest branch of the defence forces. It's also the senior service, its origins lying in the militia system introduced at the Cape of Good Hope in 1659. The present organisation was established in 1994, by merging the four homeland armies and the two liberation armies into the "old" SA Army, which had been formed as an arm of service in 1951.

Arm-of-Service Emblem

In 1951, the Army adopted a golden springbok head as its badge. Later framed inside a "Castle of Good Hope" outline, it served until 2000, when the current "pride of lions" design was adopted. The present form of the badge, with its 9-pointed engrailed frame suggesting a sunburst, was introduced in 2003.

Cap Badges
Since the 1850s, South African units have generally followed the British Army system, with a distinctive cap badge for each corps (branch) and, in the combat branches, each unit.

Some have been armorial, e.g. the state artillery regiments of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic wore their respective states' arms; the Cape Colony arms were incorporated into the badges of several colonial volunteer units; and the shield and crest of the South African national arms formed the badge of the SA Administrative, Pay & Clerical Corps (1923-39).

The lion crest of the old national arms was adopted as a substitute for the crown in the 1950s, and it has recently been superseded by the secretary-bird "crest" of the new national arms, e.g. on the badge worn by the general officers.

Colours
British-style Regimental Colours have been borne since at least the 1850s. A standard pattern (no pun intended) was laid down in 1931, and another for commando unit Colours in 1938. The present pattern, dating from the early 1960s, uses the arm-of-service colour as the background, and has the unit badge or other emblem in the centre, surrounded by a wreath and golden scrolls bearing battle honours.

From 1988 to 1994, Army units also carried the short-lived National Colour, which was a ceremonial version of the then national flag, fringed in gold, with a golden protea finial on the staff.

The 1938 commando unit Colours displayed emblems to identify the units. Although they weren't coats of arms, they were evidently designed according to heraldic principles, some being based on the municipal arms of the units' home towns. Some of the devices were revived as the basis of unit arms ("shoulder flashes") in the 1970s and '80s.

Flags
Flags are the oldest form of military heraldry in South Africa. As early as 1664, only twelve years after the founding of the Cape Colony, the militia companies were issued with different colour flags to identify them. By the 1780s, unit flags bore designs, such as a hand issuing from a cloud and grasping a sword.

Of more recent interest, in 1951 the SA Army adopted an orange ensign-type flag with the Army badge (a springbok head) in the fly. The colour was changed to red in the 1960s. As a result of changes in the Army badge and the national flag, there have been six different versions of the flag, the current one dating from 2003. You'll find a detailed discussion and illustrations on the Flags of the World website.

Corps (branch of service) flags were introduced in the 1970s/80s. They consisted of three horizontal stripes in the corps colours, with the springbok head on a red triangle in the hoist.

Helmet Flashes

The practice of wearing coloured patches on the khaki helmet arose during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), and was made systematic in 1923. Helmet flashes became obsolete when helmets were discontinued during World War II, but many of the branch colours and patterns, such as those of the SA Artillery (1934) have survived in present-day unit arms.

Shoulder Flashes
In 1940, the Army introduced green and yellow cloth sleeve patches to identify its different combat divisions. The shape identified the formation, e.g. 3 SA Division's patch was rectangular. After the war, units adopted individual patches, some of which were shield-shaped but were not necessarily armorial. They were superseded in the 1970s by armorial shields, which are also known as "shoulder flashes".

Tartans
Since the 1850s, a number of units have adopted Scottish traditions, including the wearing of kilts. There have been fourteen different tartans, including the Cameron, the Gordon, and the MacKenzie.

Unit Arms

In 1966, the Army began to introduce armorial shields to identify units and formations. Hundreds have been designed over the years. In the artillery, infantry, armoured corps, and commandos, each unit has an individual flash, whereas in most of the supporting branches, there is a generic design which is simply differenced for each unit by adding its number or some other charge. Example: the arms of the Cape Garrison Artillery (Per pale Gules and Bleu Céleste, a triple-towered castle Or).

References/Sources/Links

South African Heraldry Website © Arthur Radburn