South African Air Force Heraldry
Posted: 16 Sep 2015, 19:06
Discovered that the Wikipedia Article on the South African Air Force contains quite a bit of the Air Forces' Heraldry. Both present and past.
Heraldry Discussion Forum
https://amateurheralds.com/forum/
They have input into the designs of the coats of arms, which are signed off by the State Herald as well as by the defence force heraldry officer. Those non-heraldic squadron badges in the third panel pre-date the formation of the Bureau -- some of them date from World War II.Chris Green wrote:What makes me think that the S African Heraldic Bureau had little or no input into these designs?
They [S African Bureau of Heraldry] have input into the designs of the coats of arms, which are signed off by the State Herald as well as by the defence force heraldry officer. Those non-heraldic squadron badges in the third panel pre-date the formation of the Bureau -- some of them date from World War II.
This may be a case of a poor digital image rather than poor heraldry.Chris Green wrote:Sadly even the shields are of uneven heraldic quality. Makhado Air Force base for example, not only breaks the tincture "rule", but makes use of a pale green possibly unique in the annals of heraldry.
All the squadron badges which are not shown on shields (and 26 and 44 Sqn's which are) date from WWII or shortly afterwards. Some of them originated as "nose art", painted on the aircraft fuselages.Trying to work out which badges might date back to WW2, I guessed that SAAF units would have used a similar design to the RAF, but apparently not. The only South African unit to do so seems to have been 26 Squadron RFC (latterly RAF) during WW1.
Chris Green wrote:They [S African Bureau of Heraldry] have input into the designs of the coats of arms, which are signed off by the State Herald as well as by the defence force heraldry officer. Those non-heraldic squadron badges in the third panel pre-date the formation of the Bureau -- some of them date from World War II.
Sadly even the shields are of uneven heraldic quality. Makhado Air Force base for example, not only breaks the tincture "rule", but makes use of a pale green possibly unique in the annals of heraldry.