Heraldry Council and Bureau of Heraldry

The Heraldry Council and the Bureau of Heraldry are South Africa's official heraldic authority.

Background
For many years , the Union Archives dealt with some aspects of heraldry, mostly of an historical and advisory nature.

The first official body to deal with heraldic registration was the Department of the Interior, which in 1935 was made responsible for registering the names, uniforms, and "badges" - which could include coats of arms - of associations and institutions such as schools and clubs. After World War II, the four provincial administrations introduced similar systems for registering municipal arms, by publishing them in the provincial Official Gazettes. Natal led the way in 1949, followed by the Transvaal in 1951, and the Cape and Orange Free State in 1953.

The purpose of both systems was to protect the owners' intellectual property rights, and heraldic correctness was not required.

In 1955, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Education, Arts and Sciences, the four provincial administrations, and the Union Defence Forces, endorsed a proposal by the SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SA Academy for Science and Art) that a proper heraldic authority be established. A committee, chaired by historian Prof Adriaan Pelzer, was tasked with investigating models for such an authority, and in 1956 it recommended the Swedish model, of a council and an executive bureau under the auspices of the national archives. However, it was six years before the necessary legislation was passed.

In 1959, the Department of Education, Arts & Sciences established a Heraldry Section, under retired chief archivist Dr Coenraad Beyers, to take over the registration of associations' and institutions' names, uniforms, and badges from the Department of the Interior, and to manage official heraldry. Inter alia, it devised the official arms for the SA-administered territory of South West Africa.
 

Heraldry Council and Bureau of Heraldry
The long-awaited Heraldry Act was passed in 1962, and it was brought into operation in 1963. It established a policy-making and advisory Heraldry Council and a Bureau of Heraldry, to register corporate, municipal, official, and personal ("family") coats of arms, flags, badges, and other items, provided they were heraldically correct.

The Act also authorised the state president and the provincial administrators to grant them to official bodies and local authorities respectively, subject to Heraldry Council approval and to registration at the Bureau, which issued certificates.

The Bureau, which was a branch of the State Archives, was headed by a State Herald, the first being Dr Beyers (1963-64). The Council consisted of the State Herald ex officio, heraldists, historians, and others, appointed by the Minister of Education, Arts & Sciences (later renamed National Education). Except for official arms, applications for registration had to be approved by the Council before the Bureau could register them and issue certificates.

The Bureau developed under the second State Herald, Norden Hartman (1964-82). Substantial changes were made in 1969, when the presidential and provincial authority to grant arms was terminated, and the Bureau became the sole heraldic authority in the country. The State Herald was authorised to approve applications for registration himself, but he could still refer applications to the Council for guidance when necessary. Matriculation, i.e. re-registration of arms for descendants, was also authorised that year.

In the 1970s, the Bureau developed a distinctive armorial style (influenced by Finnish practice), which it showcased by means of various exhibitions. Innovations included new lines of partition, e.g. gably; alternative styles of helmet; greater use of indigeneous African flora, fauna and artefacts as charges and supporters; government department arms; and standard patterns for the arms of family associations, and technical colleges.

Hartman was succeeded by his deputy, Frederick Brownell, who was the third State Herald (1982-2002). His twenty-year tenure saw further innovations, including additional lines of partition, and the design of arms for Black local authorities and regional services councils. The Bureau's 20th anniversary in 1983 was marked by an exhibition which later toured the country.

Publication of registered blazons, as a multi-volume South African Armorial, began in the 1980s.

When South Africa was re-constituted in 1994, ministerial responsibility for archives and heraldry was transferred to the Department of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology. The State Herald designed the new national flag, and the Bureau devised arms for the nine new provincial governments. However, the Cabinet chose to entrust the design of the new national arms, inaugurated in 2000, to a commercial design firm.

The present State Herald (2002- ) is Themba Mabaso. His title was changed to "National Herald" in 2004. A noticeable feature of the past few years has been the design of arms for the new local authorities which were created in the 2000 municipal reorganisation. The Department of Arts & Culture (as it is now called) has brought the Bureau into its "heritage transformation" programme, which is aimed at giving African culture its rightful place in the national heritage.

References/Sources/Links

South African Heraldry Website © Arthur Radburn