Frederick Gordon Brownell OMSS SM MMM JCD is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n herald

Herald

A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....

, vexillologist, and genealogist.

He joined the Bureau of Heraldry

Bureau of Heraldry (South Africa)

The Bureau of Heraldry is the South African heraldic authority, established in Pretoria on 1 June 1963. It is headed by a National Herald and its functions are to register arms, badges, flags and seals , to keep a public register, to issue registration certificates and, since 1980, to advise the...

 as Assistant State Herald in 1977, and was promoted to State Herald in 1982. He retired in 2002.

Brownell designed many arms and flags, including those of Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 in 1990. In 1994, he designed the new South African flag

Flag of South Africa

The current flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of the 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928...

, and he later designed arms for the new provincial governments. He was awarded the Order for Meritorious Service

Order for Meritorious Service

The Order for Meritorious Service was an award in South Africa which ran from 1986-2002 and was the country's highest honor. It was awarded to South Africans who have rendered exceptional public service. It was awarded to people by the order of the President...

 in 2000. He has also published many articles and several books on heraldry and flags.

See also

• Bureau of Heraldry
  Bureau of Heraldry (South Africa)
  The Bureau of Heraldry is the South African heraldic authority, established in Pretoria on 1 June 1963. It is headed by a National Herald and its functions are to register arms, badges, flags and seals , to keep a public register, to issue registration certificates and, since 1980, to advise the...