Diocese of Cape Town
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 Civic heraldry of South Africa |
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DIOCESE OF CAPE TOWN
Denomination : Anglican
Official blazon
- (af) Gevierendeel van blou en swart: I en IV, 'n klimmende leeu van silwer; II en III, drie oop krone van goud bomekaar geplaas; oor alles heen 'n kruis van goud, in die hart belaai met 'n swart anker en in die ereplek met 'n uitgerukte takbokkop van rooi, tussen die horings 'n bree pylpunt van blou; die skild gedek met 'n biskoplike myter van natuurlike kleur.
- (en) Quarterly Azure and Sable: I and IV, a lion rampant Argent; II and IV, three open crowns palewise Or; on a cross throughout Or an anchor in fess point Sable and in honour point a stag's head erased Gules, between the attires a pheon Azure; the shield ensigned with a Bishop's mitre proper.
Origin/meaning
The arms were officially granted on January 25, 1952.
This is a simplified version of the arms borne by the diocese from 1847-51. The only significant difference is the substitution of the escutcheon of Burdett-Coutts, which appeared at honour point in the earlier version, by the stag’s head and pheon, the principal charges in the Coutts arms.
“In the registers of the College of Arms, the stag’s head in the arms of Angela Burdett-Coutts is correctly blazoned as ‘erased’, but incorrectly depicted as ‘caboshed’. The use of the erased stag’s head as a simplified charge in the diocesan arms thus corrects an earlier artistic error
The previous arms were adopted in 1847.
Official blazon
Quarterly, azure and sable: I and IV, a lion rampant argent; II and III: three open crowns palewise or; on a cross throughout also or, an anchor in fess point sable and in honour point an inescutcheon for Burdett-Coutts, to wit: Quarterly, I and IV: argent a stag’s head caboshed gules, between the attires a pheon azure, the whole within a border embattled of the last charged with four buckles or (for Coutts): II and III: azure, two bars or, each charged with three martlets gules (for Burdett).
The arms reflect four distinct elements: the service of Robert Gray in two English dioceses, the location of Cape Town in the Cape Colony and the benefactress of the diocese, Angela Burdett-Coutts.
The first and fourth quarters, together with the gold cross, are taken from the arms of the Diocese of Durham, Robert Gray the first Bishop of Cape Town having been a prebendary of Durham before his consecration.
The second and third quarters are the arms of the Diocese of Bristol, Robert Gray’s father having been Bishop of Bristol, and Robert his father’s chaplain.
The inescutcheon is in memory of the generosity of Angela Burdett-Coutts (created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871), whose endowment made possible the founding of the diocese.
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© since 1995, Heraldry of the World, Ralf Hartemink 
Index of the site
Arms of Bishops/Archbishops
<gallery perrow=0> File:capetownanglican-gray.rel.png|Robert Grey (1st Bishop 1847-1872) File:capetownanglican-westjones.rel.jpg|William West Jones (2nd Bishop 1874-1897 and 1st Archbishop 1897-1908) File:capetownanglican-carter.rel.png|William Marlborough Carter, KCMG (2nd Archbishop 1909-1930), was Bishop of Pretoria 1902-1909 and Bishop of Zululand 1891-1902. File:capetownanglican-phelps.rel.png|Francis Phelps (3rd Archbishop 1931-1937), Bishop of Grahamstown 1915-1931. File:capetownanglican-darbyshire.rel.png|Russell Darbyshire (4th Archbishop 1938-1948), was Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway (Scotland) 1931-1938. File:capetownanglican-clayton.rel.png|Geoffrey Hare Clayton (5th Archbishop 1948-1957), was Bishop of Johannesburg 1934-1948. File:capetownanglican-deblank.rel.png|Joost de Blank(6th Archbishop 1957-1963), was Bishop of Stepney (suffragan to London, England) 1952-1957. File:capetownanglican-taylor.rel.png|Robert Selby Taylor, CBE, OGS (6th Archbishop 1964-1974), was Bishop of Northern Rhodesia 1941-1951, of Pretoria 1959-1964 and of Central Zambia 1979-1984. File:capetownanglican-burnett.rel.png|Bill Burnett (7th Archbishop 1974-1981), was Bishop of Bloemfontein 1957-1967, Assistant Bishop of Johannesburg 1967-1969, Bishop of Grahamstown 1969-1974. File:capetownanglican-russell.rel.png|Philip Welsford Richmond Russell, MBE (8th Archbishop 1981-1986), was Bishop of Port Elizabeth 1970-1974 and Of Natal 1974-1981. File:capetownanglican-tutu.rel.png|Desmond Mpilo Tutu, OMSG, CH, GCStJ(9th Archbishop 1986-1996), was Bishop of Johannesburg 1985-1986. File:capetownanglican-ndungane.rel.png|Njongonkulu Winston Hugh Ndungane (10th Archbishop 1996-2007), was Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman 1991-1996. File:capetownanglican-makgoba.rel.png|Thabo Cecil Makgoba(11th Archbishop 2007-present), was Bishop of Grahamstown 2004-2007
Literature: Images and information by Mike Oettle; Archbishop West Jones Arms from Siebmacher.