Heraldry Council

The Heraldry Council is part of the South African heraldic authority, established in Pretoria in June 1963, in terms of the Heraldry Act. It is the governing and policy-making body for the Bureau of Heraldry and consists of the National Herald ex officio, and other members appointed by the Minister of Arts and Culture. The Council is usually composed of heraldists, historians, state archivists, artists and, since the mid-1990s, African language specialists and writers.

The Council's functions were originally defined as: advising the minister and provincial administrators on heraldic matters, approving applications for registration of arms, considering objections to applications, and hearing appeals against rejected applications.[1] In 1969, approval of applications was transferred to the Bureau, and the Council's advisory function was changed to one of determining the policy for approving arms.[2]

Policies adopted over the years include:

• the format of family association arms (1966),
• the orientation of helmets to face the same direction as the crests (1982),
• the discontinuation of the use of titles on registration certificates (1988), and
• a moratorium on the registration of crowns and supporters and other additaments relating to foreign titles or ranks (2002).

In the 1980s, the Council did the groundwork for the creation of the national orders,[3] and recommended that the dark blue stripe of the then national flag be changed back to its original lighter shade. In 1999, it was consulted on the question of new national arms, but its proposals were turned down in 2000 in favour of a design from a commercial design studio.

The Heraldry Committee, made up of selected Council members and, since 1984, the National Herald ex officio, was originally set up to deal with matters referred to it from time to time. Since 1984, it has also been responsible for considering objections to applications for registration.