Most of the European or European-style governments which have ruled South African territories since 1652 have used official arms.

Colonial Powers
The Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie ("Dutch East India Company") governed the Cape Colony from 1652 to 1795, and its arms served as official arms. For most purposes, however, the VOC used its monogram, which appeared on seals, official documents, paper money, etc.

The Batavian, i.e. Dutch, arms were used from 1803 to 1806. After the British took over the colony, the British royal arms served as the official arms until the colony became self-governing in the 1870s and adopted its own arms.

Boer Republics
British rule alienated many Boers to the point where, in the 1830s, thousands left the colony in convoys of ox-wagons (the "Great Trek") and occupied territories beyond the Cape frontiers. Britain seized Natal from them in 1843, and tried in vain to control the settlements north of the Orange and Vaal Rivers too. In the 1850s, she recognised the latter two as republics: the Orange Free State and the South African Republic.

Although the Orange Free State was a sovereign state, its first government chose to approach the king of the Netherlands for a grant of arms and flag. The government fell before the grant was received and its successor, initially unaware of the pending grant, adopted a seal as its symbol.

Rather than reject the royal grant, which arrived in 1856, the government compromised by adding the seal to the arms, which thus became Argent, between three bugle horns Azure garnished and stringed Gules a representation of the Seal of the Orange Free State. The bugle horns are the badge of the Dutch royal family (the House of Orange) and the seal depicted symbols of the Great Trek, e.g. a tree of liberty and an ox wagon. Inevitably, the tree later came to be depicted as an orange tree.

These arms were discontinued when the OFS became a British colony in 1902, but were revived in 1937 as provincial arms and recorded as such at the College of Arms in 1955. They were discontinued again in 1994.

In 1858, the South African Republic in the Transvaal devised its own arms, which passed through several artistic interpretations before reaching their final form in 1872: Per fess the chief per pale, I Gules a natural lion couchant gardant contourn� Or; II Azure a bearded man in national dress wearing a hat and bandolier and holding in his right hand a gun resting on the ground proper; III Vert a Voortrekker wagon proper; on an inescutcheon Argent an anchor Sable cabled Gules. The crest was an eagle.

These arms were discontinued when the Transvaal became a British colony in 1902, but were revived as provincial arms in 1951 and recorded as such at the College of Arms in 1955. They were discontinued again in 1994, but survive in the seal of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk.

Three smaller Boer republics existed briefly in the 1880s. Two adopted official arms, which were later used as the municipal arms of their capitals: Stellaland (capital: Vryburg) from 1882 to 1885, and the Nieuwe Republiek (capital: Vryheid) from 1883 to 1888.

British Colonies
The British colonies, following general practice in the British Empire, had their official arms granted by Royal Warrants, which were recorded at the College of Arms.

The Cape Colony assumed arms in 1875 and had them formally granted by Queen Victoria the following year: Gules, a lion rampant between three annulets Or, on a chief Argent three hurts each charged with a fleur de lis Or. The crest was the figure of Hope and the supporters were a wildebeest (gnu) and a gemsbok (oryx).

The design combined the arms of the colony's founder, Jan van Riebeeck, with a lion for the Dutch and British settlers and fleurs de lis for the French Huguenots. The arms were continued after 1910 as provincial arms and were recorded as such at the College of Arms in 1955. They were discontinued in 1994.

The Orange River Colony, as the Orange Free State was called from 1902 to 1910, adopted a springbok as its flag badge in 1903, and the animal also appeared in the arms granted to the colony by King Edward VII in 1904: Argent, on a mound in base a springbok statant, on a chief Azure the imperial crown all proper. The arms were used until 1926.

The wildebeest was the emblem of Natal from the 1860s and appeared in the flag badges adopted in 1870 and 1905. Two beasts were depicted in the arms granted by King Edward VII in 1907: Azure, in front of mountains and on a plain two black wildebeest in full course at random proper. The arms were continued after 1910 as provincial arms and were recorded as such at the College of Arms in 1955. They are now obsolete.

Union/Republic of South Africa
In 1910, the Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal united to form a self-governing dominion.

The arms granted to the Union of South Africa by King George V in 1910 consisted of quarters representing the four provinces, with a wavy line for the Orange River: Quarterly, per fess wavy, I Gules a female figure representing Hope resting the dexter arm upon a rock and supporting with the sinister hand an anchor Argent [Cape]; II Or two black wildebeest in full course at random both proper [Natal]: III Or, upon an island an orange tree Vert fructed proper [Orange Free State]; IV Vert a trek wagon Argent [Transvaal]. The crest was a lion supporting four bound staves, and the supporters were a springbok and a gemsbok.

Three official emblazonments were used over the years: the original 1910 version; the "ordinary arms" version of 1930; and the "embellished arms" rendition of 1932. As the arms contained no royal symbols they were retained, unchanged, when the Union became a republic in 1961. They continued to be used after the four provinces had been divided into nine in 1994, and were discontinued in 2000.

In 1911, each province was granted its quarter of the national arms as provincial arms, but none of the provincial administrations ever used these arms, and the grants were eventually revoked by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954.

South West Africa
The German protectorate of South West Africa was occupied by South African forces during World War I, and placed under South African administration in 1920. Despite international opposition after World War II, South Africa retained control of the territory until 1989. It became the Republic of Namibia in 1990.

Kaiser Wilhelm II had assigned arms, depicting a bull's head, a diamond, and the imperial eagle, to the territory in 1914, but the outbreak of World War I had prevented them from being taken into use.

It was not until 1961 that the administration assumed arms (BoH 1964), which alluded to SWA's agricultural and mineral resources and its colonial past: Per chevron ployé Argent and Gules, dexter a karakul ram's face caboshed Sable and sinister the head and neck of an Afrikander bull proper, in base two miner's hammers in saltire Or and thereunder three triangular diamonds Argent 2 and 1; on a chief Gules a pale Argent charged with an eagle Sable langued and membered Gules, dexter a representation of Fort Namutoni and sinister a Portuguese padrao both Argent. These arms were discontinued in 1980.

Homelands
During the 1960s and '70s, the National Party government developed the ten former "native reserves" inside South Africa into self-governing "homelands", as part of the apartheid system. Four of them were later declared independent republics, which were not, however, recognised by any other country or international organisation. All ten homelands had official arms and flags. Those of the four "republics" - known as the "TBVC states" after their initials - are shown below.

The arms (BoH 1971) of the Transkei, which was the larger of the two Xhosa territories, introduced ochre as a tincture: Per chevron Ochre and Vert, a chevron dovetailed Argent between in chief dexter a mealie head and sinister a cogwheel Argent and in base a bull's head caboshed proper. The crest was a basket between two aloe plants and the supporters were two leopards. The nine dovetails and cogwheel teeth represent the nine branches of the Xhosa nation.

The arms of Bophuthatswana (BoH 1972) were depicted on a stylised Tswana shield: Per fess Gules and Vert, in chief a minehead, in dexter base a spray of millet and in sinister base a bull's head caboshed in bend sinister, all Or. The supporters were two leopards - as in the Transkei and Ciskei arms, they symbolised authority.

The arms (BoH 1972) of the smaller Xhosa territory, the Ciskei, were depicted on a Xhosa shield: Per saltire Or and Gules, in chief a bull's head caboshed proper and in base a [milkwood] tree on an island Vert. The crest was a blue crane bird and the supporters were leopards. As in the Transkei and Bophuthatswana arms, the bull's head represented both agriculture and prosperity.

The Venda homeland had two arms, the first adopted in 1972 and the second on independence in 1979: Vert, an elephant's head caboshed Or tusked Argent, the whole within a bordure Or, with a drum as crest and two elephants as supporters. The original arms depicted the whole elephant.

All ten homelands' arms became obsolete when the territories were reincorporated into the Republic of South Africa in 1994.

References/Sources/Links

South African Heraldry Website © Arthur Radburn