Ugly ZA "coat of arms"
Andrew Yong
andrew
Klaas Padberg Evenboer
In Afrikaans I have to admit: 'Die nuwe Nationale Landswapen is mooi van
lelijkheid'
It is a very modern way of expressing in a new and fresh desing. Natural
'heraldic' colours in abundance. It does not follow the strict rules of
heraldry as we know, but has plenty of symbolism for the people of South
Africa. And I think they have thought it over before presenting it as
there 'Nationale Landswapen'.
Klaas Padberg Evenboer
Francois R. Velde
> Ugh. Check out www.gov.za for the new South African state logo
Well, one had to expect some innovation. English heraldry is now
a smaller component of the national heritage than it was under apartheid,
because the "nation" has been redefined to a considerable extent. It is
not easy to design national emblems from scratch, but limiting oneself
to a Western European panoply would not have made the task any easier
("I say, how about a Moor's head for the crest? That ought to do nicely
for these people. -Splendid idea, my dear fellow.")
If one can see past the stylistic changes, there remains a simple,
symmetric design on a shield, surmounted by an animal-shaped crest
and crown, and a motto. The composition is therefore very heraldic,
which lends it the timeless classicism that eludes corporate designer
logos. Aside from the imbalance between the oversized crest and the
shield itself, I find it a very pleasing and bold design.
--
François R. Velde
ve...@nospam.org (replace by "heraldica")
Heraldica Web Site: http://www.heraldica.org/
Andrew Chaplin
"Andrew Yong" <andre...@chch.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
> Ugh. Check out www.gov.za for the new South African state logo
>
I would like to have seen wider variety in colour.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Barry Gabriel
Andrew Chaplin wrote:
> In article <8ecovj$l0l$1...@news.ox.ac.uk>,
> "Andrew Yong" <andre...@chch.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Ugh. Check out www.gov.za for the new South African state logo
> >
> [Sound of breath drawn in through teeth] Okay; I don't have to wear it.
> I would like to have seen wider variety in colour.
Eh...I've seen worse.
BG
smay...@my-deja.com
than go off on one of my typical rants, ... I posted the following and I
strongly urge the regulars here to do likewise:
Dear Sirs,
I would like to see a webpage added for the South African Bureau of
Heraldry. Mr. Frederick Brownell, your State Herald, is the ONLY herald
who doesn't have a website on the Internet.
I think his office is doing a wonderful job and I deeply appreciate the
fact that the South African government allows foreigners (who lack a
heraldic authority of their own) to register their requested coat of
arms in South Africa.
I highly commend Mr. Brownell for the work he has done and I praise the
current government for their wisdom in maintaining a heraldic agency.
Thank you for your attention. Be welll....
Sincerely,
Steven B. Madewell
As for the NEW SA coat of arms, ... no comment. (<-- That's a twist,
eh?)
Peace,
Steven
Andrew Chaplin
smay...@my-deja.com wrote:
> <snip>
>
> As for the NEW SA coat of arms, ... no comment. (<-- That's a twist,
> eh?)
>
it be blazoned?
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
Klaas Padberg Evenboer
Andrew Chaplin wrote:
> Perhaps we are avoiding the obvious interest of the herald: how should
> it be blazoned?
Probably in Sesotho ;-)
The Design Process
The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and
Technology requested ideas
for the new Coat of Arms from the public last year.
Based on the ideas
received, along with input from the Cabinet, a
brief was written. The
Government Communication and Information System
(GCIS) then
approached Design South Africa - an umbrella body
representing design
agencies across the country - to brief ten of the
top designers. Three
designers were chosen to present their concepts to
the Cabinet. Mr Iaan
Bekker's design was chosen for the new Coat of
Arms. He is a director of
the FCB Group and has designed numerous corporate
identities for public
and private sector organisations.
What you see here is that designers are designing coats of arms. These
practises you can also see in western countries like Germany. In countries
were there is no official heraldic authority.
In those countries that have an official heraldic authority a design is made
by heralds, and blazoning will be according to the heraldic rules of the
specific country.
It seems that in the case of South Africa there is no official heraldic
authority dealing with civic arms.
Only an office that is dealing with family coats of arms.
Klaas Padberg Evenboer
Andrew Chaplin
described with unique wording that will provide heralds with a useful
reference.
Michael F. McCartney
done.
An alternative (not ideal, but very useful) would be for them to add a
hyper-link to Oliver Steudler's informative website. That would of course make
your suggestion that he update the list of fees critical!
And a graphic of one of Mr. Brownell's certificates would also be a nice touch,
if Oliver has a scanner (or if someone could scan one & let Oliver link to it).
Not sure who on r.h already has a SA registration...
Mike~~
Michael Fannin McCartney
Fremont, California
Sean Rodden
IMHO the design is a nice modern piece of artistic work. Sadly I think
that it will age very poorly. As people's tastes have evolved (witness
the "static" motifs in middle-ages heraldry to "motive" or "dynamic"
motifs in modern logo design), I think that in another 50 or 100 years
tastes will be very different and this will appear old and tired.
Elsewhere in this thread someone suggested we attempt to blazon this. I
suggest that most of these Arms are just "framing". To pare it down to
the basic device I'd say "Or two men combatant conjoined brun". At least
that's all I see on the shield at the heart of the design :)
Cheers,
Sean
Disclaimer: I'm not sure that "Brun" is the correct term for "brown" but
that's what the babelfish gave me :-)
Andrew Yong wrote:
>
> Ugh. Check out www.gov.za for the new South African state logo
>
> andrew
--
Sean Rodden KSC DNRC LIVR
Warrior, Poet, Webmaster, Cornet
http://www.rodden.net