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Frederick Brownell

October 25, 2023

Frederick Gordon Brownell OMSS SM & Bar MMM KStJ[1] (8 March 1940 – 10 May 2019)[2] was a South African herald, vexillologist, and genealogist.

Frederick Brownell
Born
Frederick Gordon Brownell

(1940-03-08)8 March 1940
Bethlehem, Orange Free State, South Africa
Died10 May 2019(2019-05-10) (aged 79)
Newlands, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Alma materRhodes University
University of South Africa
University of Pretoria
OccupationState Herald of South Africa (1982–2002)
Known forDesigning the flags of Namibia and South Africa
Signature

He designed the flags of Namibia and South Africa.[2][3]

Family and early life Edit

Brownell was born in Bethlehem, in what was then the Orange Free State province in South Africa on 8 March 1940. He matriculated from St. Andrew's School in Bloemfontein in 1957. He undertook his voluntary military service at the Air Force Gymnasium with 1 Motorboat Squadron (Air-Sea rescue) before going to Rhodes University in Grahamstown to read for a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Social Anthropology, which he obtained in 1961. He subsequently completed an Honours degree in history at the University of South Africa in 1965 and was awarded a Master of Arts degree (with distinction) from the same university in 1977 for a dissertation entitled "British Immigration to South Africa 1946 – 1970".

He married Christine de Villiers, whom he met whilst at Rhodes University, on 29 September 1962 in Pretoria and together they had three daughters.[4]

Career Edit

Brownell joined the Department of Immigration on 2 January 1962 as an Administrative Officer. His responsibilities included a tour of duty as Assistant Attache (Immigration) and Consul to the South African Embassy in London between 1965 and 1969.

He then joined the Department of National Education / later Arts, Culture, Science and Technology as Assistant State Herald in the Bureau of Heraldry on 1 August 1977. He was promoted to State Herald on 1 May 1982 and retired from that position in 2002.

Brownell designed many coats of arms, badges and flags, including the arms and the flag of Namibia in 1990.[5] In 1993/1994, he designed the current South African flag, with a three-armed converging cross of the sort called a pall in heraldry, to symbolise the convergence of different cultures into one for the future South Africa.[2] He later designed arms for the new provincial governments in South Africa.[6] He was awarded the Order for Meritorious Service by President Nelson Mandela in 2000 for his role in the design of the South African flag and the Vexillon Award for excellence in the promotion of vexillology in 1995 and 2015, the only recipient to have won it twice. He also published many articles and several books on heraldry and flags. He was also involved in the field of honours and awards.

Final years and death Edit

Shortly after his retirement Brownell and his wife moved to the Newlands Park retirement home, south east of Pretoria. He continued to be an active member of the Southern African Vexillological Association and completed the SAVA Journal series on South African Military Colours (1664 to 26 April 1994). Furthermore, in September 2015 he was awarded the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria for a dissertation entitled Convergence and Unification: The National Flag of South Africa (1994) in Historical Perspective,[4] based on the process of, and his role in, the designing the current South African flag.

In early 2019, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died at his home surrounded by his family on 10 May 2019.[7]

Awards and Commendations Edit

Brownell was the recipient of the following:

Publications Edit

Brownell's works include:

Books Edit

  • National and provincial symbols and flora and fauna emblems of the Republic of South Africa. C. van Rensburg Publications. 1993. ISBN 978-0-86846-074-1.
  • Nasionale en Provinsiale Simbole en Flora- en Fauna-embleme van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, C. van Rensburg Publications. 1993 ISBN 9780868460758
  • National symbols of the Republic of South Africa, Chris van Rensburg Publications, 1995
  • British Immigration to South Africa, 1946–1970. Government Printer. 1985.
  • The South African Armorial, a computerised register of arms, badges, flags etc. registered under the Heraldry Act, Vols. I to VIII (1987–2001). 1987. ISBN 9780797012509.
  • Heraldry in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, 1847–2000: coats of arms of the dioceses, collegiate and parish churches, and the Order of Ethiopia. Heraldsholme CC. 2002. ISBN 978-0-620-28606-0.
  • Consolidated index to the South African Armorial (1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2001)
  • Index to local and regional authorities which have registered arms, badges and seals with the Bureau of Heraldry (1990, 1991, 1997)
  • Alphabetical index to South African Defence Force heraldic representations registered with the Bureau of Heraldry (1991, 1997, 2000)
  • Names, Uniforms and Badges – a computerised record of the registrations under the Protection of Names, Uniforms and Badges Act, 1935, Vols. 1 – 4 (2000)

Journal articles and reports Edit

  • Report on the Transformation of National Orders in South Africa, co-authored with Dr Y Muthien and General L Moloi, 1998
  • South African Military Colours – 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part II Vol.1 – Military Colours of the Union Defence Forces and of the South African Defence Force : 1 July 1912 to 30 May 1961, co-authored with Prof H H Smith, SAVA Journal SJ: 8/99, December 1999 ISBN 0-620-30685-8
  • South African Military Colours – 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part II Vol.2 – Military Colours of the Union Defence Forces and of the South African Defence Force : 1 July 1912 to 30 May 1961 : Colours devised for the Commandos of the South African Defence Forces prior to World War II, co-authored with Prof H H Smith, SAVA Journal SJ:9, July 2005 ISBN 0-620-34701-5
  • South African Military Colours – 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part III Vol. 1 – Military Colours of the South African Defence Force 31 May 1961 to 26 April 1994 : The National Colour and Colours devised for the South African Army, co-authored with Prof H H Smith, SAVA Journal SJ:10, June 2011 ISBN 978-0-620-50804-9
  • South African Military Colours – 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part III Vol. 2 – Military Colours of the South African Defence Force 31 May 1961 to 26 April 1994 : Colours devised for the South African Air Force, Navy, Medical Service and the South African Police, co-authored with Prof H H Smith, SAVA Journal SJ:11, December 2017 ISBN 978-0-6399231-0-9
  • The Union Jack over Southern and Central Africa, 1795 – 1994, SAVA Journal SJ: 3/94, October 1994 ISBN 0-620-18833-2
  • Some Southern African Flags, 1949 – 1991, SAVA Journal SJ: 1/92, April 1992 ISBN 0-620-16598-7
  • Symbolism in the coats of arms of Special Schools for the Cerebral Palsied, in Education and Culture, II, 2, June 1978
  • The Bureau of Heraldry, its establishment, functions and procedures, in Education and Culture, V, I, March/June 1982
  • Heraldry in South Africa, in Optima, Vol. 32, 4, December 1984 (subsequently reprinted in The New Zealand Armiger, 18, December 1990)
  • Finnish Influence on South African Heraldic Design, in the Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, Helsinki, 1984
  • Historic Flags of South Africa, in the Report of the 11th International Congress of Vexillology, Madrid, 1985
  • Heraldry in Natal, in Natalia, 17, December 1987
  • New Southern African Flags, in the Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Vexillology, 1987, published in The Flag Bulletin, XVIII, 1 – 4/130, Jan – Aug 1990
  • The Evolution of the Coat of Arms and Flags of South West Africa and Namibia, published in 8 parts in Archives News, XXXII, 11 May 1990 – XXXIII, 6, December 1990
  • Kruger Gray's bookplate for South Africa House, London, in Africana Society of Pretoria, Yearbook 8, 1990
  • Symbols for Namibia, in The Flag Bulletin, XXXI, 1 – 2/145, Jan – April 1992
  • Heraldic adaptation in the Southern African context, in Genealogica & Heraldica, the Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, Uppsala, 1992
  • The flags of the Diggers' Republic, in Fahnen Flags Drapeaux, the Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Vexillology, Zurich, 1993
  • Some Bookplates in the Brenthurst Library, in Brenthurst Archives, I, 1, 1994
  • The design of the new South African national flag, SABS Bulletin, XIII, 3, May/June 1994 (subsequently reprinted in the Journal of the Dental Association of South Africa, Vol. 49, II, November 1994)
  • Creating an interim flag for South Africa, in The Flag Bulletin, XXXIII, 3/158, May – June 1994 (co-authored with B B Berry, D de Waal and T Stylianides)
  • The evolution of a distinctive South African heraldic idiom, 1963–1996, in Genealogica & Heraldica, the Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, Ottawa, 1996
  • The Cartoonist's view of the South African National Flag, in Flags in Southern Africa and the World, the Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Vexillology, Cape Town, 1997 ISBN 0 620 24397 X
  • The Seal of the Republic of South Africa – a little oversight?, in Arma (New Series), Vol. 4, 1–2, December 1998
  • Flags of the Uniformed and other services in the former African 'Homelands' of South Africa, in Flags from Sea to Sea, the Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Vexillology, Victoria, British Columbia, 1999

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ . 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c . BBC News. 26 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  3. ^ Faulkner 2014, p. 92.
  4. ^ a b Brownell, Frederick (2015). Convergence and Unification: The National Flag of South Africa (1994) in Historical Perspective (pdf) (PhD). University of Pretoria.
  5. ^ (reported by) FG Brownell (December 1990), Coats of Arms and Flags in Namibia (A series of 8 articles.)
  6. ^ Brownell 1993.
  7. ^ "SA flag designer dies". News24. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

Sources Edit

  • Arma Vol 7 No 1 (2002)
  • Beckett, Denis (2002). Flying with Pride: The Story of the South African Flag. WildNet Africa. ISBN 978-0-620-28903-0.
  • Faulkner, Donna (2014). Mandela. New Word City. ISBN 978-1-61230-749-7.
Heraldic offices
Preceded by State Herald of South Africa
1982–2002 		Succeeded by

October 25, 2023
frederick, brownell, frederick, gordon, brownell, omss, kstj, march, 1940, 2019, south, african, herald, vexillologist, genealogist, bornfrederick, gordon, brownell, 1940, march, 1940bethlehem, orange, free, state, south, africadied10, 2019, 2019, aged, newlan. Frederick Gordon Brownell OMSS SM amp Bar MMM KStJ 1 8 March 1940 10 May 2019 2 was a South African herald vexillologist and genealogist Frederick BrownellBornFrederick Gordon Brownell 1940 03 08 8 March 1940Bethlehem Orange Free State South AfricaDied10 May 2019 2019 05 10 aged 79 Newlands Pretoria Gauteng South AfricaAlma materRhodes UniversityUniversity of South AfricaUniversity of PretoriaOccupationState Herald of South Africa 1982 2002 Known forDesigning the flags of Namibia and South AfricaSignatureHe designed the flags of Namibia and South Africa 2 3 Contents 1 Family and early life 2 Career 2 1 Final years and death 3 Awards and Commendations 4 Publications 4 1 Books 4 2 Journal articles and reports 5 See also 6 References 7 SourcesFamily and early life EditBrownell was born in Bethlehem in what was then the Orange Free State province in South Africa on 8 March 1940 He matriculated from St Andrew s School in Bloemfontein in 1957 He undertook his voluntary military service at the Air Force Gymnasium with 1 Motorboat Squadron Air Sea rescue before going to Rhodes University in Grahamstown to read for a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Social Anthropology which he obtained in 1961 He subsequently completed an Honours degree in history at the University of South Africa in 1965 and was awarded a Master of Arts degree with distinction from the same university in 1977 for a dissertation entitled British Immigration to South Africa 1946 1970 He married Christine de Villiers whom he met whilst at Rhodes University on 29 September 1962 in Pretoria and together they had three daughters 4 Career EditBrownell joined the Department of Immigration on 2 January 1962 as an Administrative Officer His responsibilities included a tour of duty as Assistant Attache Immigration and Consul to the South African Embassy in London between 1965 and 1969 He then joined the Department of National Education later Arts Culture Science and Technology as Assistant State Herald in the Bureau of Heraldry on 1 August 1977 He was promoted to State Herald on 1 May 1982 and retired from that position in 2002 Brownell designed many coats of arms badges and flags including the arms and the flag of Namibia in 1990 5 In 1993 1994 he designed the current South African flag with a three armed converging cross of the sort called a pall in heraldry to symbolise the convergence of different cultures into one for the future South Africa 2 He later designed arms for the new provincial governments in South Africa 6 He was awarded the Order for Meritorious Service by President Nelson Mandela in 2000 for his role in the design of the South African flag and the Vexillon Award for excellence in the promotion of vexillology in 1995 and 2015 the only recipient to have won it twice He also published many articles and several books on heraldry and flags He was also involved in the field of honours and awards Final years and death Edit Shortly after his retirement Brownell and his wife moved to the Newlands Park retirement home south east of Pretoria He continued to be an active member of the Southern African Vexillological Association and completed the SAVA Journal series on South African Military Colours 1664 to 26 April 1994 Furthermore in September 2015 he was awarded the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy D Phil in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria for a dissertation entitled Convergence and Unification The National Flag of South Africa 1994 in Historical Perspective 4 based on the process of and his role in the designing the current South African flag In early 2019 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer He died at his home surrounded by his family on 10 May 2019 7 Awards and Commendations EditBrownell was the recipient of the following Order for Meritorious Service OMSS Class II Silver Southern Cross Medal 1975 SM and bar Military Merit Medal MMM General Service Medal Unitas Medal John Chard Decoration JCD Republic of Venda Police Star of Merit Republic of Venda Prison s Service Establishment Medal Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem KStJ Cross of Merit of Robert Caluwe instituted by the Heraldic Societies in the Baltic region for services to international heraldry Gold Commemorative Medallion of the South West Africa Territory Force William Harvey Medal of the South African Blood Transfusion Service Archives News Literary Prize 1990 Vexillon Award of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations 1995 and 2015 Fellow of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations FF Fiat Lux Award by the family of St Andrew s School Bloemfontein South African National Defence Force Emblem for Voluntary Service Honorary Life Member of the Southern African Vexillological Association Laureate of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations LF Publications EditBrownell s works include Books Edit National and provincial symbols and flora and fauna emblems of the Republic of South Africa C van Rensburg Publications 1993 ISBN 978 0 86846 074 1 Nasionale en Provinsiale Simbole en Flora en Fauna embleme van die Republiek van Suid Afrika C van Rensburg Publications 1993 ISBN 9780868460758 National symbols of the Republic of South Africa Chris van Rensburg Publications 1995 British Immigration to South Africa 1946 1970 Government Printer 1985 The South African Armorial a computerised register of arms badges flags etc registered under the Heraldry Act Vols I to VIII 1987 2001 1987 ISBN 9780797012509 Heraldry in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa 1847 2000 coats of arms of the dioceses collegiate and parish churches and the Order of Ethiopia Heraldsholme CC 2002 ISBN 978 0 620 28606 0 Consolidated index to the South African Armorial 1989 1990 1992 1997 2001 Index to local and regional authorities which have registered arms badges and seals with the Bureau of Heraldry 1990 1991 1997 Alphabetical index to South African Defence Force heraldic representations registered with the Bureau of Heraldry 1991 1997 2000 Names Uniforms and Badges a computerised record of the registrations under the Protection of Names Uniforms and Badges Act 1935 Vols 1 4 2000 Journal articles and reports Edit Report on the Transformation of National Orders in South Africa co authored with Dr Y Muthien and General L Moloi 1998 South African Military Colours 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part II Vol 1 Military Colours of the Union Defence Forces and of the South African Defence Force 1 July 1912 to 30 May 1961 co authored with Prof H H Smith SAVA Journal SJ 8 99 December 1999 ISBN 0 620 30685 8 South African Military Colours 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part II Vol 2 Military Colours of the Union Defence Forces and of the South African Defence Force 1 July 1912 to 30 May 1961 Colours devised for the Commandos of the South African Defence Forces prior to World War II co authored with Prof H H Smith SAVA Journal SJ 9 July 2005 ISBN 0 620 34701 5 South African Military Colours 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part III Vol 1 Military Colours of the South African Defence Force 31 May 1961 to 26 April 1994 The National Colour and Colours devised for the South African Army co authored with Prof H H Smith SAVA Journal SJ 10 June 2011 ISBN 978 0 620 50804 9 South African Military Colours 1664 to 26 April 1994 Part III Vol 2 Military Colours of the South African Defence Force 31 May 1961 to 26 April 1994 Colours devised for the South African Air Force Navy Medical Service and the South African Police co authored with Prof H H Smith SAVA Journal SJ 11 December 2017 ISBN 978 0 6399231 0 9 The Union Jack over Southern and Central Africa 1795 1994 SAVA Journal SJ 3 94 October 1994 ISBN 0 620 18833 2 Some Southern African Flags 1949 1991 SAVA Journal SJ 1 92 April 1992 ISBN 0 620 16598 7 Symbolism in the coats of arms of Special Schools for the Cerebral Palsied in Education and Culture II 2 June 1978 The Bureau of Heraldry its establishment functions and procedures in Education and Culture V I March June 1982 Heraldry in South Africa in Optima Vol 32 4 December 1984 subsequently reprinted in The New Zealand Armiger 18 December 1990 Finnish Influence on South African Heraldic Design in the Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences Helsinki 1984 Historic Flags of South Africa in the Report of the 11th International Congress of Vexillology Madrid 1985 Heraldry in Natal in Natalia 17 December 1987 New Southern African Flags in the Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Vexillology 1987 published in The Flag Bulletin XVIII 1 4 130 Jan Aug 1990 The Evolution of the Coat of Arms and Flags of South West Africa and Namibia published in 8 parts in Archives News XXXII 11 May 1990 XXXIII 6 December 1990 Kruger Gray s bookplate for South Africa House London in Africana Society of Pretoria Yearbook 8 1990 Symbols for Namibia in The Flag Bulletin XXXI 1 2 145 Jan April 1992 Heraldic adaptation in the Southern African context in Genealogica amp Heraldica the Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences Uppsala 1992 The flags of the Diggers Republic in Fahnen Flags Drapeaux the Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Vexillology Zurich 1993 Some Bookplates in the Brenthurst Library in Brenthurst Archives I 1 1994 The design of the new South African national flag SABS Bulletin XIII 3 May June 1994 subsequently reprinted in the Journal of the Dental Association of South Africa Vol 49 II November 1994 Creating an interim flag for South Africa in The Flag Bulletin XXXIII 3 158 May June 1994 co authored with B B Berry D de Waal and T Stylianides The evolution of a distinctive South African heraldic idiom 1963 1996 in Genealogica amp Heraldica the Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences Ottawa 1996 The Cartoonist s view of the South African National Flag in Flags in Southern Africa and the World the Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Vexillology Cape Town 1997 ISBN 0 620 24397 X The Seal of the Republic of South Africa a little oversight in Arma New Series Vol 4 1 2 December 1998 Flags of the Uniformed and other services in the former African Homelands of South Africa in Flags from Sea to Sea the Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Vexillology Victoria British Columbia 1999See also Edit nbsp South Africa portal nbsp Biography portal nbsp Heraldry portalBureau of Heraldry South Africa International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences International Congress of Vexillology Southern African Vexillological AssociationReferences Edit Pretoria High School for Girls 4 September 2015 Archived from the original on 10 July 2018 Retrieved 2 October 2015 a b c Fred Brownell The man who made South Africa s flag BBC News 26 April 2014 Archived from the original on 27 April 2014 Retrieved 25 October 2017 Faulkner 2014 p 92 a b Brownell Frederick 2015 Convergence and Unification The National Flag of South Africa 1994 in Historical Perspective pdf PhD University of Pretoria reported by FG Brownell December 1990 Coats of Arms and Flags in Namibia A series of 8 articles Brownell 1993 SA flag designer dies News24 12 May 2019 Retrieved 14 May 2019 Sources EditArma Vol 7 No 1 2002 Beckett Denis 2002 Flying with Pride The Story of the South African Flag WildNet Africa ISBN 978 0 620 28903 0 Faulkner Donna 2014 Mandela New Word City ISBN 978 1 61230 749 7 Heraldic officesPreceded byNorden Hartman State Herald of South Africa1982 2002 Succeeded byThemba Mabaso Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frederick Brownell amp oldid 1152640455, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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