European Heritage

Although heraldry began to develop in South Africa only in 1652, it is heir to - and has been influenced by - developments in heraldry in Europe over the previous five centuries. The following are highlights of those centuries of development, which later influenced South Africa.

12th Century
Heraldry originated in western Europe in the 12th century. Scholars disagree on exactly where it arose, but wherever it was, the system soon spread to other countries. One of the earliest monarchs to adopt arms was the king of Portugal, who did so around 1140. The Portuguese royal arms were later the first arms known to have been displayed in South Africa (in the 1480s).

Later, King Louis VII of France adopted arms depicting golden fleurs de lis. Since 1875 gold fleurs de lis have been used in a number of South African arms - especially in the Western Cape - to indicate French Huguenot connections.

Around 1190, King Richard the Lionheart of England adopted arms depicting three gold lions. The English lion is the direct ancestor of the lions on the Cape Colony (1875) and South African (1910) arms, and indirect ancestor of arms derived from those two bearings.

13th Century

A long-running power struggle between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor left its mark on Italian heraldry, as supporters of the two rulers adopted augmentations to indicate their allegiance. Supporters of the emperor displayed the imperial eagle as a "capo d'impero" on their arms; one appears on the Molteno family arms which were transplanted to South Africa in 1830.

In 1294 the Holy Roman Emperor Adolphus, through one of his counts palatine, granted arms to a German prince. This is said to have been the first instance of someone obtaining arms through a grant instead of simply assuming them. The imperial counts palatine exercised this authority until the empire was dissolved in 1806, and in 1767 one of them granted arms to a German-born Cape burgher, Johann Kirst.

In 1300, one of the earliest rolls of arms was compiled, to record the arms of English knights at the siege of Caerlaverock in Scotland. Some of the arms recorded, e.g. Arderne, Bourchier (Bowker), and Grey, were transplanted to South Africa in the 19th century by descendants of the knights. The Grey arms are still borne today by several South African schools.

14th century
The custom of marshalling the arms of husband and wife on a single shield appears to have become established around the turn of the 14th century. By 1310 the quartering of two or more arms on a single shield to show ancestry had come into use.

In 1337, King Edward III of England claimed the French throne, sparking off the Hundred Years War. He quartered the French and English arms, which were also borne by his relatives, the Somerset/ Beaufort family. The 19th- and 20th-century arms of the Western Cape towns of Beaufort West, Somerset West, and Worcester were all derived from them (particularly the portcullis crest).

In the 1350s the leading authority on Roman law, Bartolo de Saxoferrato, published a treatise on the law of arms which declared that everyone had the right to assume and bear arms as long as he didn't usurp someone else's. However, he believed, arms granted by an authority were superior to assumed arms, and enjoyed stronger legal protection. This remains the principle in many European countries, including the Netherlands, and was transplanted to South Africa in 1652.

However, writing in England forty years later, the jurist John of Guildford (Johannes de Bado Aureo) ruled out assumption as a legal means of establishing arms - based on a long-standing law prohibiting assumption of military insignia - leaving grants from monarchs and their heralds as the only lawful source. This view suited the English kings and eventually became the law in England.

Although the Dutch provinces espoused the principle of self-assumption of arms, they also recognised the government's power to grant arms, and the first grant was made, to a town council, in 1398.

15th Century
By 1411 it had become the practice for Roman Catholic bishops to marshal their personal and diocesan arms on a single shield. This custom was continued by the Anglican Church after it broke away from Rome in 1534, and was transplanted to South Africa in the 19th century.

Between 1455 and 1485 the rival Lancastrian and York branches of the English royal family fought a power struggle known as the Wars of the Roses. Four and a half centuries later, the white rose of York appeared in the arms of the University of the Cape of Good Hope (1903), where it represented the then Duke of York - later King George V - who was chancellor at the time.

In 1484, King Richard III of England organised his royal heralds into the College of Arms. From 1814 to 1961, the College had authority to grant arms to South Africans as subjects of the British Empire/Commonwealth, and since 1961 it has retained the prerogative of granting arms to individual South Africans of English ancestry.

In 1488, the Portuguese navigator Bartolommeo Dias explored the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope (which he called the "Cape of Storms"). He erected several stone beacons (padraos) which displayed the Portuguese royal arms - the first known heraldic display in South Africa. These padraos have occasionally been used as charges in 20th-century South African arms.

Around 1500, the English College of Arms introduced a system of differencing personal arms by adding marks of cadency. This system was transplanted to South Africa in the 19th century, and is still used today.

16th Century
In the 1520s, King Henry VIII of England made it illegal to bear arms unless they had been granted or recognised by the College of Arms. This remains the law in England and until 1689 it was policed by means of tours of inspection known as "visitations".

In 1552, Henry's son King Edward VI established the Ulster Office as his heraldic authority for Ireland. Like its English counterpart, the Ulster Office had authority to grant arms to South Africans, as British subjects, from 1814 until the office was closed in 1940.

English seafarer Francis Drake described the Cape of Good Hope as "the fairest cape" when he passed it on his round-the-world voyage in 1580. Queen Elizabeth I knighted him, and granted him arms, after his triumphant return home.

After breaking away from Spanish rule in 1581, the United Provinces of the Netherlands adopted the arms of Holland - a red lion on a gold field - as their official arms. Like its English counterpart, the Dutch lion is the ancestor of the lions on the Cape Colony (1875) and South African (1910) arms and their derivatives. It may also be seen carved above the grand entrance which was added to the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town in 1684.

In 1586 the Dutch Reformed Church formally adopted synodal and congregational seals as its form of heraldry. The practice was transplanted to South Africa in 1652.

In 1592, the Lord Lyon was given control over heraldic matters in Scotland. Like his English and Irish counterparts, the Lord Lyon later had authority to grant arms to South Africans, as British subjects, from 1814 to 1961, and has occasionally granted arms to individual South Africans of Scottish ancestry since then.

17th Century

In 1602, merchants in the major Dutch cities formed the Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC) to trade with the Far East. It was the VOC which established the first European outpost in South Africa, and its arms and logo served as Cape symbols of government from 1652 to 1795.

In 1603, England and Scotland became a joint monarchy. King James I combined their royal arms, and combined their flags to form the Union Jack, both of which became official symbols in South Africa from 1795 onwards. The Union Jack was probably first raised in South Africa in 1620, when two English sea captains claimed the Cape of Good Hope for England. King James, however, was not interested in pursuing the claim and so, thirty-two years later it was England's maritime and commercial rival - and occasional military opponent - the Netherlands, which took control of the Cape instead.

References/Sources/Links

South African Heraldry Website © Arthur Radburn