Springbok jumping to retreat
Paul Dobson takes a look at the Springbok emblem, which apparently suggests that the Boks are permanently on retreat.
We have received quite a response to the announcement of the proposed IRB scrum and breakdown law changes, with particular attention given to the scrum and the likely introduction of the word ‘touch’ between ‘hold’ and ‘engage’.
From 1906 till 1996 the springbok on the Springboks’ badge jumped inwards. Since then it has jumped outwards, to the left, which has, apparently, heraldic significance of an unpleasant kind.
After the unifying of the four national bodies in South African rugby – the SA Rugby Board, the SA Rugby Football Federation, the SA Rugby Association and the SA Rugby Union – South Africa had a new playing emblem that would last from 1992 to 1995. The new emblem, a leaping springbok above a wreath of four proteas, was designed by Lindy de Waal of the firm Ogilvy & Mather and made public at a launch at Newlands on 27 July 1992.
Her badge had three elements – springbok, protea and ball. The springbok was the leaping springbok going inwards. The ball was upright under the Bok and between four proteas – each of the four representing one of the previous national bodies. The illustrator was David Vickers who did the final art work to make it perfect.
In 1996 the World Cup was over and the emblem was again up for political debate. There were still people who wanted to shed the springbok and make more of the protea as South Africa’s sporting symbol.
In came the king protea, protea cynaroides, with the springbok leaping outwards, the new design was done by Sampson Associates of Johannesburg, and not altogether with heraldic approval.
Fred Brownell, the state herald from 1982 to 2002 found fault because in the new design the Springbok leapt to the left and not to the right, in other words away from the heart.
He said: “The springbok jumps out of the jersey, but it should jump inwards. In heraldry language we should say it is sinister, not dexter.”
Leaping to sinister has a negative connotation, but, says Brownell: “The badge with the springbok leaping to dexter above a wreath of proteas [1992-95] had nothing negative about it. That was a pleasing design.”
The springbok jumping away represented running away. “That design makes fools of us,” he said.
Brownell pointed this out but in vain.
Brownell said that the 1992 design was registered by the state herald, but not the 1996 design.
Interestingly in 2003 when the Springboks were preparing for the World Cup in Australia, Lt-Col Herman Classens of the South African National defence Force wrote to SARFU about the use of the national flag on the sleeve. The flag was first used on the left sleeve in 1998 and then moved to the right sleeve in 1999, where it still was in 2003.
Claassens pointed out that the flag should be on the left sleeve because that is closest to the heart, which is why teams’ emblems are on the left breast. He also pointed out that the flag should be flying the other way from that which it was doing on the Springbok jersey. It was from left to right, that is forward. That is the sign of a retreat. It should fly from left to right, that is the sign of attack.
In his preamble, Classens wrote: “The National Flag which is worn on the Springbok jersey lies close to my heart, and it makes me proud to see the flag worn by our best sportsmen. I believe that the National Flag is the greatest and strongest unifying factor in our country and more specifically in the sports environment.”
Brownell, the designer of the national South African flag, affirmed this. The bearer’s nose should be seen as the flagpole and the black triangle should be nearest to the flagpole.
