WELKOM
Province : Free State (formerly Orange Free State)
Incorporated into : Matjhabeng
Origin/meaning :
The arms allude to the fact that Welkom is a
gold-mining town. The black pale on the shield
represents a mineshaft, the gold ingots represent the
mines, the cogwheel symbolises industry, and the blue
represents water. The fleur de lis comes from the
arms of mining magnate Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (who
took the fleurs de lis from the arms of Kimberley,
which took them from the arms of the Cape Colony,
which took them from the French royal arms!).
Literature :