In 1921, to add to the dignity of the school's new style and rank, Herbert Wilkinson visited the College of Heralds in London and gained approval for the correctness of a coat of arms that had been considered appropriate for Queen's College.
Esse Quam Videri, 'To be rather than to seem', evidently originating from a passage from Cicero's De Amicitia, being taught by Wilkinson at the time, was selected and approved as most fitting.
In ancient north European countries a coat of arms was the heraldically embroidered garment worn over armour. The gentry, who were those entitled to bear arms, carried this form of identification to enable thier easy recognition by servants or followers in times of peace or, particularly, in battle. Armour, though often slightly varied in style, rendered the wearer indistinguishable from other knightly combatants. The coat's colour and design brought immediate recognition, for good or ill!
The Kudu had appeared on the Queenstown municipal seal from the earliest times and was adopted for the school. The crown was the obvious link with Queen Victoria. The heraldic description of the school's coat of arms is: 'On a field sable, issuing from a crown or , a kudu salient argent, attired of the first (and hoofs) with a border of the second.'
Queen's College colours, in deference to those already selected by other Eastern Cape Schools, were chosen at the same time to be black and tangerine (or orange). On ties, scarves or ribbons, the colours and insignia, whether on the playing fields or anywhere else in South Africa, immediately evoke feelings of recognition and esprit - precisely the intention behind the heraldic decorations of old.
