Corporate Heraldry

MANY corporate bodies use coats of arms, though in recent years some have followed the trend towards using logos and abstract emblems for everyday purposes.

Corporate arms

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The earliest corporate coat of arms to be used in South Africa was that of the Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC), which governed the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope from 1652 to 1795. For everyday purposes, though, the company used its logo.

Corporate arms may be established by assumption or by grant. Assumption is far and away the most common method, but between 1937 and 1961, at least five corporations obtained grants of arms from the English heraldry authorities. A few organisations, which are branches of organisations overseas, use the arms of the parent bodies, and some have registered them.

Customarily, members and employees of corporate bodies may display the arms, e.g. on lapel badges or blazer badges, to show their association with the organisation.

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Corporate bodies and their arms

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Agriculture — National and regional agricultural unions, and some local societies, have coats of arms. Agricultural produce such as wheat, mealies, and grapes, and livestock such as sheep, rams, and bulls, are common charges. Ploughs are also found in several arms.

Boschendal Winery; Military History Society; Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie; Scottish Freemasons' Central District

Several wineries use coats of arms as their corporate identity symbols. Some use those of their proprietors, such as Blaauwklippen (Boonzaaier), Jacobsdal (Dumas), Overgaauw (Van Velden), and Spier (Joubert). Others display the arms of the co-operatives to which they belong, and some use pseudo-arms which, probably, were designed as trademarks. The Nederburg winery uses two versions of its arms: with a field Vert for white wines, and with a field Gules for red wines. Groot Constantia, which was taken over by the Cape colonial government in the 1880s, displays the old colonial arms on its label.

Clubs and societies — Many social clubs, and special interest societies, have coats of arms.

Commerce and industry — Various bodies, such as banks, building societies, insurance companies, mining houses, chambers of commerce and industry, law firms, and electricity and water utilities use coats of arms. Charges such as bezants (representing gold coins), quill pens, and mining equipment are typical.

Cultural organisations — Some cultural institutions, such as the SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SA Academy for Science and Art), the SA Broadcasting Corporation, libraries, and museums, have coats of arms.

Freemasons — Four constitutions or orders - Netherlandic, English, Scottish, and Irish - are active in South Africa. Each has its own heraldic customs, though general masonic symbols such as the compasses and square are common to all.

In the Grand Lodge of South Africa (formerly the South African branch of the Netherlands freemasons), the grand lodge bears a coat of arms, and the five provincial grand lodges have their own arms, or pseudo-armorial devices, which are displayed on gonfalons.

In the English masonic order, some of the districts bear the arms of the parent United Grand Lodge of England, differenced by means of bordures.

In the Scottish order, at least three of the four districts use coats of arms. The Western Province District arms, for instance, marshal the arms of Scotland, the parent Grand Lodge of Scotland arms, and the arms of the Cape of Good Hope.

In the Irish order, the provincial grand lodges appear to use the parent Grand Lodge of Ireland arms. At least one individual lodge - Hibernia, in Durban - has its own arms, depicting an Irish harp.

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Renal Patients Society; Cape Country Bowling Ass'n; Rand Water Board; Stellenbosch Voortrekkers

Medical profession — The medical profession makes wide use of heraldry. Many South African hospitals, colleges, professional associations, and other bodies in or related to medicine, have adopted coats of arms over the years, though some have since sidelined them in favour of logos.

The traditional symbols of healing and nursing are popular choices as charges. They include the Rod of Aesculapius, the caduceus (which is actually a symbol of commerce but has been borrowed by the medical profession), the ankh or ansate cross, and the nurse's lamp. Murrey (maroon), perhaps borrowed from the military medical services, is a widely used colour.

Political parties — While all the political parties in South Africa have pictorial emblems or logos, only one, namely the Herstigte Nasionale Party, appears to have adopted a coat of arms. Many parties have flags, some of which are registered at the Bureau of Heraldry - you'll find a detailed discussion and illustrations on the Flags of the World website.

Professional associations — Many professional institutes and associations have coats of arms. A few, which are branches of British institutes, bear the arms of their parent bodies (and have, in some cases, registered them), but most of the arms appear to be original South African designs.

Sport — Green and gold have been the national sporting colours since 1906. At first, they applied only to rugby, but they were later extended to other sports. A fair number of clubs and controlling bodies are armigerous. Some use the municipal coats of arms of their home towns; one uses (and registered) the arms of a London borough, and another those of a British peer. Many sailing and yachting clubs have registered burgees or pennants - you'll find a selection on the Flags of the World website.

Voortrekkers — In the Voortrekkerbeweging ('Voortrekker Movement'), which is the Afrikaner equivalent of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, some of the commandos (i.e. troops) have coats of arms. They consist of shields with, in some cases, mottoes.

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Legal protection

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Voluntary registration of corporate coats of arms was introduced in 1935, to protect official recognition of owners' 'sole and exclusive right' to their arms. In the event of misuse of its arms, an organisation can take legal action to obtain an interdict and/or damages plus costs.

Several hundred corporate arms have been registered over the past 75 years. From 1935 to 1963, they were registered as 'badges' under the Protection of Names, Uniforms & Badges Act, and heraldic norms were not applied. Since 1963, they have been registered under the Heraldry Act, but only if they are heraldically correct.

You'll find further information about registrations here. Details of arms registered up to early 2001 are available on the Bureau of Heraldry Database on the National Archives website.

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Sources/References