The International Association of Amateur Heralds

South Africa follows the British tradition of school uniforms with badges or coats of arms on the blazer pocket and headgear. In the 1970s, the Bureau of Heraldry began to encourage a new style of school and college arms, emphasising "the characteristics that school arms ought to possess, namely simplicity, maximum recognisability, and a strongly stylised design with clearly visible outlines so that the arms can easily be embroidered."

A feature of the style is the use of trefoils, triquetras, trefly lines etc to symbolise the three-way relationship of pupils, teachers, and parents.

Here's a selection which I thought might be of interest :



* Protea Park Primary School (1980) -- canting arms : the flower is a protea.
* Secunda High School (1980) -- the charge in base is "a representation of a methane molecule".
* Waterkloof High School (1980).



* Sasolburg Afrikaans High School (1981).
* Voorpos Primary School (1981).
* Glenstantia Primary School (1982) -- the chief is blazoned as "nowy gabled".



* Bakenkop Primary School (1983) -- 'Bakenkop' means 'beacon hill".
* Wolmaransstad High School (1983).
* Alberview Primary School (1984).



* Bosveld Primary School (1987) -- the charge in base is " a lozenge embowed Orange surmounted by a representation of a cooling tower Argent".
* Sivuyile Technical College (1989).
* Uitsig Primary School (1994).

The Arms of Benoni High School:
Barry wavy of eight Argent and Azure, a Lion rampant Gules armed and langued Sable on a chief embattled (no ticture mentioned), five Stars Argent representing the Southern Cross.
Crest: A tower Or, charged with a thistle slipped and leaved proper.
Wreath and mantling Argnet and Azure.
Motto: Quam Optime.

Blazon from the offical site of the Benoni High School.

Marcus Karlsson wrote:The Arms of Benoni High School:
Barry wavy of eight Argent and Azure, a Lion rampant Gules armed and langued Sable on a chief embattled (no ticture mentioned), five Stars Argent representing the Southern Cross.
Crest: A tower Or, charged with a thistle slipped and leaved proper.
Wreath and mantling Argnet and Azure.
Motto: Quam Optime.

Blazon from the offical site of the Benoni High School.

Yet when I go to their website, the arms on display are nothing close to the blazon. It appears to be Per bend sinister Sable five mullets Argent and Or the letters B H S one and two Sable, overall a bend sinister Or fimbriated Sable. I don't see a crest at all, but the motto is the same.

The arms at the school entrance.

Jeremy Kudlick wrote:Yet when I go to their website, the arms on display are nothing close to the blazon. It appears to be Per bend sinister Sable five mullets Argent and Or the letters B H S one and two Sable, overall a bend sinister Or fimbriated Sable. I don't see a crest at all, but the motto is the same.

The arms can be found on this page : http://www.bhs.co.za/gen_prospectus_info.html . They were registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in 1980. Why the school chooses to continue to use its earlier pseudo-heraldic shield (registered in 1948) rather than its proper arms beats me.

Jeremy Kudlick wrote:

Marcus Karlsson wrote:The Arms of Benoni High School:
Barry wavy of eight Argent and Azure, a Lion rampant Gules armed and langued Sable on a chief embattled (no ticture mentioned), five Stars Argent representing the Southern Cross.
Crest: A tower Or, charged with a thistle slipped and leaved proper.
Wreath and mantling Argnet and Azure.
Motto: Quam Optime.

Blazon from the offical site of the Benoni High School.

Yet when I go to their website, the arms on display are nothing close to the blazon. It appears to be Per bend sinister Sable five mullets Argent and Or the letters B H S one and two Sable, overall a bend sinister Or fimbriated Sable. I don't see a crest at all, but the motto is the same.

The arms at the school entrance.

Well then they have changed the Site since I printed out the Balzon and Picture of the School Arms. This was in 1997 so perhaps the Proper Arms has fallen into disuse.

Arthur Radburn wrote:

Jeremy Kudlick wrote:Yet when I go to their website, the arms on display are nothing close to the blazon. It appears to be Per bend sinister Sable five mullets Argent and Or the letters B H S one and two Sable, overall a bend sinister Or fimbriated Sable. I don't see a crest at all, but the motto is the same.

The arms can be found on this page : http://www.bhs.co.za/gen_prospectus_info.html . They were registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in 1980. Why the school chooses to continue to use its earlier pseudo-heraldic shield (registered in 1948) rather than its proper arms beats me.

It seems they still use the older shield as the blazer badge since it has been around longer and is more recognizable. I enjoyed their description of a lion rampant. "A lion standing erect on the left hind-leg, the other three paws are raised with the two fore-paws waving in the air. The head is held high and looking forward, the tail is erect." (emphasis mine)

Further South African school arms can be found at this index: http://www.reocities.com/wapenskild/schools.html
The links are to articles actually published on my website at Geocities (of which this is a sort of archival copy), while the shields indicate institutions which I was planning to cover.
Regards,
Mike