Coat of arms of South Africa | |
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Armiger | South Africa |
Adopted | 27 April 2000 |
Shield | Arms: Or, representations of two San human figures of red ochre, statant respectant, the hands of the innermost arms clasped, with upper arm, inner wrist, waist and knee bands Argent, and a narrow border of red ochre; the shield ensigned of a spear and knobkierie in saltire, Sable. Thereabove a demi-secretary bird displayed Or, charged on the breast with a stylized representation of a protea flower with outer petals Vert, inner petals Or and seeded of nine triangles conjoined in three rows, the upper triangle Gules, the second row Vert, Or inverted and Vert, and the third row Vert, Or inverted, Sable, Or inverted and Vert. Above the head of the secretary bird an arc of seven rays facetted Or and Orange, the two outer rays conjoined to the elevated wings. Upon a riband Vert, the motto !KE E:/XARRA //KE in letters Argent. Issuant from the ends of the riband two pairs of elephant tusks curving inwards, the tips conjoined to the wings of the secretary bird, Or, therewithin and flanking the shields, two ears of wheat Brunatré. |
Motto | ǃke e꞉ ǀxarra ǁke "Diverse People Unite" in |Xam |
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The coat of arms of South Africa is the main heraldic insignia of South Africa. The present coat of arms was introduced on Freedom Day, 27 April 2000, and was designed by Iaan Bekker.[1] It replaced the earlier national arms, which had been in use since 1910.[2] The motto is written in the extinct ǀXam, member of the Khoisan languages, and translates literally to "diverse people unite". The previous motto, in Latin, was Ex Unitate Vires, translated as "From unity, strength".