The coat of arms of Namibia is the official heraldic symbol of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Introduced at the time of independence in 1990, it superseded the earlier coat of arms used by the South African administration of the territory.

History

The Constituent Assembly which drew up the Namibian Constitution in 1989 appointed a National Symbols Sub-Committee to produce a flag and coat of arms for the country. The committee enlisted the assistance of the South African

Bureau of Heraldry Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations *Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administrat ...

. After approving the flag, the committee decided to use the same design as the coat of arms, with the addition of an

African fish eagle The African fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vocifer'') or the African sea eagle, is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, Na ...

(''Haliaeetus vocifer'') for a crest, and two gemsbok (''

Oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which ...

'') as supporters.Merrington, A.J. (1990). 'New National Symbols for the Republic of Namibia' in ''Arma'' Vol 32/1990 – II. The ''Welwitschia mirabilis'' on the compartment was taken over from the former arms of South-West Africa (see below).

Blazon

The arms are blazoned as follows:

* Shield: Tierced per bend sinister Azure, and Vert, a bend sinister Gules fimbriated Argent and in dexter chief a Sun with twelve straight rays Or charged with an annulet Azure (the design of the
Flag of Namibia The flag of Namibia was adopted on 21 March 1990 upon independence from South Africa. Design The National Symbols Sub-Committee received 870 entries for the national flag. Six designs were short-listed; this was reduced to three, those of thr ...
). * Crest: Upon a traditional head-ring Vert charged with six lozenges conjoined Or, a fish eagle rising wings elevated and displayed proper. * Supporters: Two oryx proper. * Compartment: A Namib sand dune with a ''Welwitschia mirabilis'' on the foreground. * Motto: Unity Liberty Justice.

Earlier coats of arms

Proposed arms 1914

In 1914, the German Empire government decided to assign coats of arms to German colonies, including South-West Africa. Arms were designed, but

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out before the project was finalised, and the arms were never taken into use. The arms proposed for

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

depicted an Afrikaner bull's head, a diamond, and the German imperial eagle.Pama, C. (1965). ''Lions and Virgins'' In the 1920s,

neo-colonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, g ...

, the proposed arms made a short public appearance, in a slight modified form on

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s issued by the German Colonial Soldiers' League (German '' Deutscher Kolonialkrieger-Bund'') as well as decoration on calendars.The Emperor's new coat of arms
(Spiegel Online, 26 February 2009, in German). File:Proposed Coat of Arms Southwest Africa 1914.svg, 1914 proposed coat of arms of

Arms 1963–80

In 1958, the South West African administration decided that the territory should have an official coat of arms. After obtaining South African government approval, the administration engaged Dr

Coenraad Beyers Dr Coenraad Beyers (1893–1975) was a South African historian, archivist, and herald. He joined the State Archives in 1927, and was Chief Archivist from 1944 until he retired in 1953. In 1956, he served on the official committee appointed to inv ...

to design the arms. They were finalised in 1961, taken into use in 1963, and registered at the

in 1964. The arms were discontinued when South-West Africa was reconstituted into a three-tier system of government in 1980. The Representative Authority of the Whites (1980–89) took over the arms in 1981.Brownell, F.G. (1990). 'The Evolution of the Coats of Arms and Flags of SWA and Namibia' in ''Archives News'' (August 1990). The official blazon of the arms is :

* Per chevron ployé Argent and Gules, dexter a karakul ram's face caboshed Sable and sinister the head and neck of an Afrikander bull proper, in base two miner's hammers in saltire Or and there-under three triangular diamonds Argent 2 and 1; on a chief Gules a pale Argent charged with an eagle Sable langued and membered Gules, dexter a representation of Fort Namutoni and sinister a Portuguese padrao both Argent. * Crest : A gemsbok statant gardant proper. * Supporters: Dexter a springbok and sinister a kudu, both proper, resting on a desert-like knoll, with a growing ''Welwitschia mirabilis'' in the foreground proper. * Motto : Viribus unitis (''With United Forces'').Bureau of Heraldry
/ref>

File:Coat of arms of South West Africa.svg, Coat of arms of

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

(1963–80)

References

External links

The National Symbols of Namibia

South African Bureau of Heraldry
{{Coat of arms of Africa

National symbols of Namibia South African heraldry