Bulawayo’s first coat of arms (1897-1943) was a composite of suggestions submitted by the public. The final design being thrown open as a competition. A key element, at the insistence of the Town Board, had to be the elephant motif - Lobengula’s personal seal.The result was a simple arms that combined the town’s historical Ndebele roots with the imperial ideals of Cecil J. Rhodes and his British South Africa Company (BSACo). The winning designer, Mr. F.J. Mackenzie, made much of the fact in the press that Lobengula’s original seal incorrectly portrayed an Indian elephant rather than its African counterpart. That is it had small, rounded ears and three toes. His design Mackenzie stressed Africanised the animal. Many will probably recognise the inspiration behind the Milton School badge and the logos of many early Bulawayo companies. A new Coat-of-Arms by Mr V.W. Hiller, Government Archivist, was approved by the Bulawayo Council in July 1943 in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Occupation of Matabeleland and the granting of City status. A heraldically corrected version of this design was granted by Royal decree on 19th October 1943, having already been legislated a week earlier under the City of Bulawayo (Private) Act of 1943. See the arms as they appear on the floor of City Hall. A subsequent minor modification to the official arms amended the position of the dassies from a single line of three animals to the current two lines. The red on the upper portion of the shield denotes the bloodshed associated with the history of the town. The three gold dassie/imbela represent the isibango of the Khumalo Royal family. It emphasises the importance of the Ndebele Nation. The Christian Cross remembers the efforts of the early missionaries, while the stylised elephant/ndhlovu is the historical emblem of King Lobengula Khumalo. The motto Si Ye Pambili, while not strictly correct in isiNdebele, is generally translated to mean “we go forward” - appropriate as ever to this proud City of ours.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:46:25 +0000
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