JOHANNESBURG
Province : Gauteng (until 1994 Transvaal)
Incorporated into : 1995 Greater Johannesburg Council
Origin/meaning :
The shield of the Johannesburg arms was originally granted under Letters
Patent from the College of Arms (London) in October 1907 and the full
achievement in June 1939. The arms were registered with the South African
Bureau of Heraldry in November 1966 and are described as:
ARMS: Vert, a fess between three battery stamps Or
CREST: A lion passant quadrant, resting the dexter paw on a battery
stamp Or
WREATH AND MANTLING: Or and Vert
SUPPORTERS: Two sable antelopes proper each gorged with a mural
crown and charged on the shoulder for distinction with a pierced mullet Or
MOTTO: FORTITER ET RECTE (Boldly and Rightly).
With the reorganisation of local government in South Africa following the
implementation of the Local Government Transition Act 1993 and the
amalgamation of previously racially segregated local government areas, the
Johannesburg City Council was dissolved in December 1994 and the Greater
Johannesburg Metropolitan Council established. The new local authority
adopted new symbols to replace those used by the former Johannesburg City
Council.
The new arms of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council were
registered with the Bureau of Heraldry on 16 May 1997 and are described as:
ARMS: Vert, a fret couped Or, the mascle voided Gules, between in
chief and base respectively four shield thongs Argent; behind the shield a
spine erect Or, plumed Sable
SUPPORTERS: Two young lions Or, armed and langued Gules, each gorged
of a beaded collar dancetty throughout Gules and Azure, the triangles
fimbriated Or
SPECIAL COMPARTMENT: A ground, the flanks Azure and the centre
Sable, separated from one another by means of narrow piles inverted, Argent
MOTTO: UNITY IN DEVELOPMENT
Literature : South Africal Armorial
coats of arms on-line ! 
