George
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Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of South Africa |
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GEORGE
Province: Western Cape (until 1994 Cape Province)
District Municipality : Eden
Origin/meaning
The town was named after King George III of the UK. The red cross is the cross of St George (patron saint of England), and bird in the second quarter is a Knynsa loerie, which is indigenous to the area.
These "arms" were replaced by a grant from the College of Arms in 1958 (I have no image however).
The new blazon was: Quarterly Gules and Argent, a cross per cross counterchanged between in the first quarter a horse courant of the second, in the second quarter a Knysna loerie perched upon a branch in bend sinister, in the third quarter a protea flower slipped and leaved proper, and in the fourth quarter an oak tree fructed the trunk couped Argent.
The first quarter presumably comes from the Hanoverian coat of arms, which formed part of the British royal arms until 1837. The loerie and the oak tree were retained in the second and fourth quarters respectively, and the flowers in the third quarter were replaced with a protea, which is the national flower emblem.
Literature : Image scanned from a cigarette card from the 1930s