Northern Cape Province, 1997

The Northern Cape coat of arms was granted on 25 August 1997. The shield depicts a thorn tree, in a diamond shape, with blue and white waves, for the coastline of the Northern Cape, where many diamonds have been sourced. The crest is a coronet with small rings embellished with beadwork of the San people. An oryx on the left and a kudu on the right support the arms; they stand on a base, multicoloured in hues of brown, representing the arid and rocky plains of the Northern Cape. The motto is “Sa kǁʔa: ǃaīsi ʔuīsi” (‘Strive for a better life’); it is in the Nǀu or !Auni language, a now extinct Khoisan language of the Nǁnǂe or ǂKhomani San people. Ms Elsie Vaalbooi of Rietfontein gave this phrase in 1997; she was one of the last people who could speak this language.