Postby Michael F. McCartney » 14 May 2015, 09:18
re: Mike's two objections to the tabards or surcoats of the South African heralds:
- AFAIK the arms depicted are, for better or worse, the current arms of of South Africa, replacing the old arms; so they by definition are appropriate for this purpose. Whether or not we might regret how, why & by whom they were designed and adopted, they are what they are. (FWIW, which likely isn't much coming from the other side of the globe, my initial reaction was like yours; the SA flag design by Mr. Brownell, rotated 90 degrees, would IMO have made a smashing armorial design on shield or tabards/surcoat -- but the new arms have grown on me.)
- as to tabards vs. surcoat: the South African garments are not unique in this regard - see the photo of the Flemish herald earlier in this thread; and the Slovak version, while it does repeat the arms on the sleeves, also lacks the large side panels (whatever they're called) of the other European tabards. All, however, are equally the "coats" of their respective sovereign arms, just as any shield shape is a legitimate heraldic shield, whether one of the many various historical forms from Europe, or one of the native shield shapes of the Zulus or other African nations.
Mike~~ (the other one)
Michael F. McCartney
Fremont, California