German colonial arms

Heraldry of the German speaking countries
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Arthur Radburn
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Re: German colonial arms

Postby Arthur Radburn » 28 Mar 2014, 18:23

Marcus Karlsson wrote:In 2011 Jörg M. Karaschweski published the book "Wappen und Flaggen der deutschen Kolonien" bringing these Arms (and also the planed Flags) to the light again. One thing I noted now is that the German Pact Area in China Kiautschou (with main City Tsingtau) are missing. Obiviously no Arms where forseen for this Area of unknown reasons, or perhaps it is still waiting to be found in Archives?
Nor do there appear to have been any proposed arms for Nauru, the Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands, Yap or Palau. Perhaps they were to be have been done later, or perhaps they were not considered important enough.

There was also a begining of Municipal Heraldry in the German Colonies. Tanga in German East Africa was made a City on 1 April 1914. The City Council then sent a request to the Heroldsamt in Berlin for Arms and a Flag. But the World War One but a stop to this process, however the Arms and Flag was nearly done so we know how it would have looked like.
That's interesting. Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, has a coat of arms which, according to some sources, dates from the German colonial period, but I've not been able to verify this.
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Arthur Radburn

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Chris Green
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Re: German colonial arms

Postby Chris Green » 28 Mar 2014, 18:43

According to the Flags of the World web-site:

Windhoek still uses the coat of arms granted by the then Administrator of South West Africa on 01 October 1966. These were later registered with the South African Bureau of Heraldry on 02 October 1970. Initially a stylized aloe was the principle charge but this was later amended to a natural aloe on 15 September 1972. The Arms are described as:
ARMS: Argent, a Windhoek aloe (Aloe Rubrolutea) with a raceme of three flowers on an island, proper.


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Chris Green
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Re: German colonial arms

Postby Chris Green » 28 Mar 2014, 18:49

This site seems to have more municipal CoAs from Namibia/SW Africa, though the descriptions of some seem to be somewhat eccentric!

http://ookaboo.com/o/pictures/source/138638/Foundert
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Arthur Radburn
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Re: German colonial arms

Postby Arthur Radburn » 28 Mar 2014, 19:54

Chris Green wrote:According to the Flags of the World web-site:

Windhoek still uses the coat of arms granted by the then Administrator of South West Africa on 01 October 1966. These were later registered with the South African Bureau of Heraldry on 02 October 1970. Initially a stylized aloe was the principle charge but this was later amended to a natural aloe on 15 September 1972. The Arms are described as:
ARMS: Argent, a Windhoek aloe (Aloe Rubrolutea) with a raceme of three flowers on an island, proper.


Image
Thanks, Chris. This is the second incarnation of the arms. They were in existence by 1931, when they were included in a series of cigarette cards : http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.ph ... ek.zaf.jpg

Whether the design originated during the German period (pre-1915) or in the early period of the League of Nations mandate (post-1920) is unclear. The arms were replaced in 1936 by a design with three aloes, and the name 'Windhoek' in chief. A carved version can be seen here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mutu ... wn_055.jpg

The earlier design was resumed some time in the 1950s, and formally granted and registered as stated on FOTW.
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Arthur Radburn

Jude Grupe
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Re: German colonial arms

Postby Jude Grupe » 04 Aug 2014, 03:48

The motto Suum Cique was also used by the Prussian same as "Jedem das Seine" or "each to his own"

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Mike_Oettle
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Re: German colonial arms

Postby Mike_Oettle » 24 Feb 2015, 20:39

Germany clearly did not regard the loss of its colonies in the early stages of the 1914-18 war as being final. Not only did it continue with its plans for colonial coats of arms, but it also carried on printing postage stamps for the colonies.
In fact, in the case of German South West Africa, an entirely new value, three marks, was added to the key plate series illustrating the Kaiser’s yacht Hohenzollern right at the end of the war and issued in Berlin in 1919.
New stamps for Samoa, in five values, were issued in 1915, and for the Marshall Islands in 1916. A five-mark stamp was issued for Togo in 1915, and new stamps were issued for the Mariana Islands in 1916 (one value) and 1919 (again just one value). The same pattern is repeated for Kamerun, the Caroline Islands, German East Africa and German New Guinea.

However, this pales into insignificance against a story I read in the 1960s or ’70s, when it was discovered that a department of the Italian government that had been created in days of yore to provide weather forecasts for the Italian colonies was still functioning, even after Italy’s last foreign possession (Somalia, then a UN Trust Territory) had gained its independence.
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Mike
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