Name Fred Brownell | ||
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Frederick Gordon Brownell OMSS SM and Bar MMM JCD KStJ, D.Phil (born 8 March 1940) is a South African herald, vexillologist, and genealogist.
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He designed the flags of Namibia and of South Africa.
Family and early life
Brownell was born in Bethlehem, in what was then the Orange Free State province in South Africa on 8 March 1940. He matriculated from St. Andrew's School in Bloemfontein in 1957. He undertook his voluntary military service at the Air Force Gymnasium with 1 Motorboat Squadron (Air-Sea rescue) before going to Rhodes University in Grahamstown to read for a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Social Anthropology, which he obtained in 1961. He subsequently completed an Honours degree in history at the University of South Africa in 1965 and was awarded a Master of Arts degree (with distinction) from the same university in 1977 for a dissertation entitled "British Immigration to South Africa 1946 – 1970".
He married Christine de Villiers, whom he met whilst at Rhodes University, on 29 September 1962 in Pretoria and together they had three daughters.
Career
Brownell joined the Department of Immigration on 2 January 1962 as an Administrative Officer. His responsibilities included a tour of duty as Assistant Attache (Immigration) and Consul to the South African Embassy in London between 1965 and 1969.
He then joined the Department of National Education / later Arts, Culture, Science and Technology as Assistant State Herald in the Bureau of Heraldry on 1 August 1977. He was promoted to State Herald on 1 May 1982 and retired from that position in 2002.
Brownell has designed many coats of arms, badges and flags, including the arms and the flag of Namibia in 1990. In 1993/1994, he designed the current South African flag, with a three-armed converging cross of the sort called a pall in heraldry, to symbolise the convergence of different cultures into one for the future South Africa. He later designed arms for the new provincial governments in South Africa. He was awarded the Order for Meritorious Service by President Nelson Mandela in 1999 for his role in the design of the South African flag and the Vexillon Award for excellence in the promotion of vexillology in 1995 and 2015, the only recipient to have won it twice. He has also published many articles and several books on heraldry and flags. He has also been involved in the field of honours and awards.
In September 2015 he was awarded the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy (D.Phil) in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria for a dissertation entitled Convergence and Unification: The National Flag of South Africa (1994) in Historical Perspective, based on the process of, and his role in, the designing the current South African flag.
Awards and Commendations
Brownell is the recipient of the following:
Publications
Brownell's works include: