Arms taken into use on 27 April 2000 and published (Notice 425) in Government Gazette No 21 131 of 28 April 2000. This device is the product of a design studio and is not a work of heraldry. However there is a blazon, which reads:

Arms:

Or, representations of two San human figures of red ochre, statant respectant, the hands of the innermost arms clasped, with upper arm, inner wrist, waist and knee bands Argent, and a narrow border of red ochre; the shield ensigned of a spear and knobkierie in saltire, Sable. Thereabove a demi-secretary bird displayed Or, charged on the breast with a stylised representation of a protea flower with outer petals Vert, inner petals or and seeded of nine triangles conjoined in three rows, the upper triangle Gules, the second row Vert, Or inverted and Vert, and the third row Vert, Or inverted, Sable, Or inverted and Vert. Above the head of the secretary bird an arc of seven rays facetted Or and Orange, the two outer rays conjoined to the elevated wings.

Upon a riband vert, the motto !KE E:/XARRA //KE in letters Argent. Issuant from the ends of the riband two pairs of elephant tusks curving inwards, the tips conjoined to the wings of the secretary bird, Or, therewithin and flanking the shield, two ears of wheat Brunâtre.

As explained below, the word San is used mistakenly in the belief that it is not offensive. However, it does give offence, and the word Bushman (Bushmen) is in fact preferred. The device is constructed in two circles, described as the circle of foundation and the circle of ascendance.

Circle of foundation:

In a coat of arms most of the design is contained within the shield. In this design the shield is a small part of the whole. Around the outer edge of the shield is an outline; it is unclear whether this is intended to be a demi-border, or is merely an artistic convenience to mark the edge of the shield.

The two figures on the shield are taken from a Bushman rock painting known as the Linton stone, now housed in the South African Museum in Cape Town.

The official description of them reads: “The Khoisan, the oldest known inhabitants of our land, testify to our common humanity and heritage as South Africans. The figures are depicted in an attitude of greeting, symbolising unity. This also represents the beginning of the individual’s transformation into the greater sense of belonging to the nation and by extention, [sic] common Humanity.”

The colouring of the two men is intended to be red ochre (as stated in in the blazon), but in many versions appears rather dark and suggests a stronger connection than actually exists between the Bushman ethnic group and the Nguni and Sotho, which are Bantu-speaking communities of Negro origin.

The spear is not specified as to type, and can represent any type between the long throwing spear of the early Nguni and the short stabbing assegai of the Zulu kingdom. The knobkierie and spear together symbolise defence and authority, and since they lie at a flat angle, they symbolise peace. They are also mentioned in the official description as representing “the powerful legs of the secretary bird”, which seems a little remote, to say the least.

On either side of the shield is a wheat ear, grossly out of proportion to the rest of the elements. The official description reads: “An emblem of fertility, it also symbolises the idea of germination, growth and the feasible development of any potential. It relates to the nourishment of the people and signifies the agricultural aspects of the earth.”

The colour of the wheat is specified as brown (Brunatré), which is rare as a heraldic colour.

The use of wheat in this position is derived directly from the socialist state symbols of China, the former Soviet Union and the socialist states of Eastern Europe, where wheat, rice or some other grain crop was invariably used with just the symbolism mentioned above. When seen in the context of other symbols of this type it becomes clear that this is an unthinking addition to the composition, as well as a compliment to a political system that has elsewhere proved itself unworkable.

On the outside of the wheat ears is a pair of elephant tusks on each side (four in all), of which the official description states: “Elephants symbolise wisdom, strength, moderation and eternity.”

The tusks naturally represent the world’s largest land mammal, Loxodonta africana, which is currently found in nature in the game reserves of the northern and eastern parts of the country, as well as a remnant population in the Knysna Forest and a thriving herd at Addo, near Port Elizabeth, but were once found as far west as the Cape Peninsula. Several South African rivers are named Olifants (elephant’s), including two in the Western Cape Province. The African elephant belongs to a different genus from the only other surviving elephant species, the Indian elephant (Elephas maximas).

A third species, the Syrian elephant, was known in classical times, and was used in warfare by the Roman Empire and its enemies. Elephants are traditionally symbols of power and authority, especially in African cultures. They can be seen in the arms of KwaZulu, Venda and Swaziland.

The tusks are not in ivory colour, but appear in two different shades of gold, distinct from the gold of the shield and in contrast to the brown of the wheat (which in other emblems, whether heraldic or socialist, is usually shown as being gold). Although the gold shades used here can be likened to the dusty patina often seen on unpolished ivory, they are in fact darker and more uniform than this patina.

The use of different shades of gold is in conflict with heraldic practice, which acknowledges only one gold colour, although on different coats of arms (or in different renditions of the same arms) it might appear quite different from one shield to the next. Usually yellow ink or paint, or gold dust or gold leaf, would be used.

Motto (part of the circle of foundation):

The motto, shown on a green ribbon linking the bases of the tusks, reads: !Ke e: /Xarra //Ke.

Taken from the language of the now extinct /Xam or /Kham Bushman people, it translates as: “People who are different come together” or “Diverse people unite.”

The official description reads: “It addresses each individual effort to harness the unity between thought and action. On a collective scale it calls for the nation to unite in a common sense of belonging and national pride – Unity in Diversity.”

The /Xam language is the only Bushman language recorded as having been spoken south of the Orange or Gariep River, and therefore represents the earliest known human inhabitants of the region from which sprang the modern South African state.

The motto is almost impossible to pronounce for anyone not familiar with the click sounds of Nguni and South Sotho, which in turn are derived from the languages of the Bushmen.

This means that the motto is extremely difficult not only for foreigners and for South Africans whose language is English or Afrikaans, but also for Tswana-, North Sotho-, Tsonga- and Venda-speakers, and for members of those Swazi clans which are of Sotho origin.

The most easily pronounced click sound is /, which in Sotho and Nguni is spelt C and is close to the sound made by English-speakers that is written as “tsk-tsk”. For this sound the tongue is drawn back from the gums just behind the front teeth.

The sound represented by ! is made with the tongue initially on the front of the palate, and is spelt Q in Sotho and Nguni.

The // sound (X in Nguni and Sotho) is made with the tongue on the side of the palate, just above the molars (on either side of the mouth).

There are also other click sounds not used in Bantu languages, some of which have special characters in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The colon in the second word is one of those sounds not found in the IPA.

The letter X (in the third word) represents the sound spelt as KH in transliterations of Russian or Arabic, as G in Afrikaans, Dutch and the Sotho languages, and in Xhosa as RH. It is also sometimes spelt in a Bushman context with the letters KH.

Using the spelling of Nguni languages, the motto can be written as: Qê ê crharra xê.

Circle of ascendance:

At the base of the grouping of symbols analogous to the crest of conventional heraldry is a protea flower, resting on the crossed spear and knobkierie.

The national flower is Protea cynaroides, a fynbos species found in nature between the Boland and the Albany district (Grahamstown area). Typically it has whitish florets in an inflorescence surrounded by bracts (“petals”) that are usually pink, but in some varieties can be bright red. It characteristically has an inflorescence 150 mm or more in circumference, although one local variety (found in the Port Elizabeth district) has inflorescences only
60 mm across.

Proteaceous species are one of the characteristic vegetation types of fynbos. Fynbos, in turn, is the dominant division (the other is forest) of the Cape Floral Kingdom, and is a veld type which displays a high species diversity and a high degree of adaptation to local climatic and soil conditions.

P cynaroides also represents the protea family in other parts of the country, and of other parts of Africa. Non-fynbos species of protea grow in many parts of the eastern half of the country, while other species are found to the north of South Africa, especially in high-lying regions. One species, P gaguedi, is found in nature from Zimbabwe in the south to Ethiopia in the north, and westwards as far as the highlands of Senegal.

However, the protea shown is a stylisation of P cynaroides, and is drawn as a series of triangles and trapezoids. The bracts appear in green and gold, while the head of the inflorescence is composed of triangles in colours derived from the national flag in use since 1994.

The official description reads: “The protea is an emblem of the beauty of our land and the flowering of our potential as a nation in pursuit of the African Renassance. The protea symbolises the holistic integration of forces that grows from the earth and are nurtured from above. The most popular colours of Africa have been assigned to the protea – green, gold, red and black.”

Another part of the official description states: “The petals of the protea are rendered in a triangular pattern reminiscent of the crafts of Africa.” (The so-called petals are in fact groupings of the heads of the florets.)

Emerging from behind the protea are the head, neck and wings of a secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius).

Found in many parts of South Africa, as well as of African countries far to the north, the secretary bird is the only living bird of prey of terrestrial habits. It has a slender, powerful bird 120 cm long and with a 210 cm wingspan. It has 20 black crest feathers sticking horizontally and slightly down out of the back of the head, which make it look as if it is carrying quill pens behind its ears, as secretaries once did.

In nature it has a light grey body, black thighs and flight feathers, and white wing linings. Its tail has a pair of long central streamers, and its legs are long and have thick scales to protect the bird from snakebite.

In the arms, this bird is coloured entirely unnaturally in three shades ranging from gold to brown.

The official description reads: “The secretary bird is characterised in flight, the natural consequence of growth and speed. It is the equivalent of the lion on earth. A powerful bird whose legs . . . serve it well in its hunt for snakes symbolising protection of the nation against its enemies. It is a messenger of the heavens and conducts its grace upon the earth, in this sense it is a symbol of divine majesty. Its uplifted wings is [sic] an emblem of the ascendance of our nation, whilst simultaneously offering us its protection. It is depicted in gold, which clearly symbolises its association with the sun and the highest power.”

The final part of the device is the rising sun, depicted as a semi-circle of golden triangles (introducing a further two shades of gold) floating in mid-air above the secretary bird’s head.

The official description reads: “An emblem of brightness, splendour and the supreme principle of the nature of energy, it symbolises the promise of rebirth, the active faculties of reflection, knowledge, good judgement and willpower. It is the symbol of the source of life, of light and the ultimate wholeness of Humanity.”

The need for new arms:

It became clear even before the 1994 elections that a new national coat of arms was needed for South Africa, since the old arms were based on those of its constituent colonies (provinces). This writer, in a proposal to the Commission on National Symbols (part of the Congress for a Democratic South Africa which drafted the interim Constitution) proposed that time first be given to the new provinces to adopt their own arms, and that new national arms be considered afterwards. Other correspondents appear to have made similar representations. This time frame was in fact followed, but the arms, when adopted, were unrelated to the arms of any provinces, either the current nine or the previous four.

Design process:

Proposals for a new coat of arms were put forward by the Heraldry Council, but were rejected for reasons the Government declined to specify. During 1999 the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology requested ideas for a new coat of arms from the public. A brief was written based on ideas received and input from the Cabinet. Design South Africa, a body representing design agencies across the country, was approached to brief 10 of the top designers. Three designers were chosen to present their concepts to the Cabinet. The work of Iaan Bekker, who has previously designed numerous corporate identities for public and private sector organisations, was eventually chosen.

Post-apartheid South Africa:

The apartheid era in South Africa officially came to an end with the holding of all-race elections over three days, beginning on 27 April 1994. On that day an interim Constitution came into effect and a new national flag was hoisted.

The country – often referred to as the New South Africa – remained a parliamentary democracy, but for the first time that democracy was based on the votes of the entire adult population. The head of state was now called President (no longer State President), and Parliament comprised the President, the National Assembly (replacing the House of Assembly) and the Senate.

The country now comprised nine provinces, as opposed to the previous four: two of the old provinces – the Orange Free State (Free State Province) and Natal (KwaZulu-Natal) – retained their territory, while the two large provinces of the Transvaal and the Cape were subdivided – the Cape into Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, and the Transvaal into the PWV Province (now Gauteng), Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) and Northern Province (now Limpopo), while pieces of both Transvaal and the Cape made up North West Province. The “independent” and non-independent homelands of the apartheid era disappeared, and were integrated into the provinces into which they now fell.

Pretoria remained the administrative capital, while Parliament remained in Cape Town. The idea of moving Parliament to another centre has been mooted, but has met with strong opposition, especially from the Western Cape, and as of early 2002 no action had been taken in this regard.

The interim Constitution was characterised by a strong human rights focus and a breaking away from the previously accepted doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament. The Constitution was now seen as sovereign, and a Constitutional Court was added to the existing judicial structure with the function of interpreting the Constitution.

The Supreme Court was renamed the High Court, but retained its previous division into an Appellate Division seated at Bloemfontein and various provincial and local divisions.

The Constitutional Court, however, was based in Johannesburg, which had not previously been a formal capital. However, during the rule of Lord Milner, British High Commissioner for South Africa, it was a de facto capital when he resided in Johannesburg after his appointment in 1901 as Governor of the Orange River and Transvaal colonies, ruling through Administrators based in Bloemfontein and Pretoria. It therefore has a history as a capital city under an oppressive régime.

Relationship with the Commonwealth:

South Africa, which had been a founder member of the Commonwealth of Nations, had not been part of that organisation since 1961. In 1994 it was welcomed back with open arms.

This meant that the British sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, once again had a role to play in South Africa. She had been Queen of South Africa from 1953 to 1961 (this was the first Commonwealth member outside Britain to create a separate title for the sovereign) and Head of the Commonwealth, but although remaining Head of the Commonwealth she had ceased to have any link with South Africa. Now once more, in her capacity as Head of the Commonwealth, she was linked with the country, and in 1995 she paid a visit to South Africa in that role.

During that visit she also flew her personal flag, not to be confused with the so-called Royal Standard (in fact a banner of the royal arms).

South Africa’s rejoining the Commonwealth also meant that Mozambique was entirely surrounded by Commonwealth members, and in 1995 this former Portuguese colony was admitted to the Commonwealth despite not having any British colonial links or even the English language in common use.

Languages of the new South Africa:

Instead of just two languages, both of European origin, South Africa now had 11 official languages. These are reflected at the head of this article in the names listed for the country.

The languages are English and Afrikaans (as they had been in the past) plus nine vernacular tongues:

Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Ndebele (all of them Nguni languages), Tswana, North Sotho (or Pedi) and South Sotho (all of these Sotho languages), Tsonga (also called Shangaan) and Venda.

This also meant that the country had additional vernacular names:

Mzantsi Afrika (Xhosa), Ningizumu Afrika (Zulu and Swazi), Afrika Borwa (Sotho-Tswana), Afrika Sewula (Ndebele), Afrika Dzonga (Tsonga) and Afrika Tshipembe (Venda).

No recognition was, however, afforded to the languages of the country’s inhabitants of longest standing, the Bushmen and Khoikhoi, chiefly because of the small numbers of communities still speaking these languages.

The only surviving Khoikhoi dialect is Nama, spoken by small, isolated communities in the west of the Northern Cape, and by a larger grouping of communities in southern Namibia. Many surviving Khoikhoi communities use Afrikaans in preference to their ancestral tongue.

The Nama word for “south” is !khawagas, while the word Africa or Afrika (either the English or the Afrikaans form is used) takes a final -b (a masculine ending). So the country’s name in (grammatical) Nama is Afrikab !Khawagas. However, most Nama know the country as either Suid-Afrikab or South Africab.

Permanent Constitution:

The interim Constitution continued in use until 1996, when a definitive Constitution was finally produced by Parliament and approved by the Constitutional Court.

The chief difference between the 1996 Constitution and the interim document was that the Senate was abolished (for the second time in the country’s history) and replaced by a body representing the nine provinces, to be called the National Council of Provinces.