WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND SAAHIP'S EMBLEM?

 

The history of the emblem that belongs to the South African Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists dates to the year 1963 when the committee of the association broached the subject of an emblem for the association. An excerpt from the minutes for the November 1963 committee meeting chaired by Mr N van der Merwe reads as follows:

"4. (b) Arising out of the minutes

i) EMBLEM: In terms of Sect. 5a para 7 of the minutes, the incoming committee was directed ‘to appoint two of its members and two co-opted members to further investigate this subject.’ The following were accordingly appointed:-

Messrs. H L Chasen, H P Schonegevel, JS Nimmo, and D Meerkotter.”

The next reference to the emblem appears in the minutes of the Executive committee meeting held on 5 February 1964 and reads:

“3 (c) Wapen

Mnr Meerkotter is as Belêer van die Onderkomitee gekies en is opgedra om 'n Vergadering van die Komitee mettertyd te belê.”

It was recorded in the minutes of the Exco meeting held on 24th April 1964 that there was nothing further to report about the emblem.

Then the emblem appeared in black and white on the front cover of the first issue of FORUM published in 1976. It was a five- page duplicated newsletter edited by Mike Timms, a founding member of the Natal Branch of SAAHIP. He wrote the following on page four of that first issue:

ASSOCIATION EMBLEM

That’s it on the front cover. It was designed by pharmacist/artist Dirk Meerkotter (or is it artist/pharmacist?) It’s not only on the front cover – it’s also available as a lapel badge or brooch and as cuff links in red and blue enamel on gold. I noticed Roy wearing a pair of cuff links so if you want to see how they look, Roy [Shooter] is your man to see. Price to be announced.

 

Mr Meerkotter, besides designing the emblem, was also chairman in 1963 when the organization was still known as the South African Association of Institutional Pharmacists.

Mr Joe Cohen, who was national secretary of SAAHIP for many years (1981-1992), wrote a short article explaining the meaning of the various symbols comprising the emblem. This was published in the July 1979 edition of FORUM and is copied hereunder:

THE SAAHIP  EMBLEM

We are indeed indebted to Dirk Meerkotter for designing our emblem. Apart from appearing on our letterheads, a badge, cufflinks, and more recently, the Presidential chain of office, bear the emblem.

Dirk has provided the explanation for the various symbols used and we are grateful to him for this.

No explanation is necessary for the use of the Rx symbol, while the protea, the national flower of our country, need not be enlarged upon.

The open book represents the universities and colleges of pharmacy as part of our Institutional Association and also portrays the dynamism of pharmacy, its continuous growth and development.

The mortar and pestle have always been symbolic of pharmacy and known to everyone.

The old Caduceus sign as the central pivot of the emblem was adapted in such a way that the normal staff or wand was replaced by a cross to denote the main section of Institutional pharmacy, namely the Hospital Pharmacists. The whole surrounded by a benzene ring which symbolizes modern pharmacy, that is medicine of organic origin, rather than inorganic.

The choice of colours were used mainly for aesthetic reasons. Members are invited to purchase the lapel badge and cufflinks from their branches at R1.50 and R5.00 respectively.

J Cohen

The SAAHIP emblem, unlike the emblem of the South African Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation, is not registered with South Africa’s Bureau of Heraldry. The SAPSF Registration certificate was issued in 1969. The current process to register an emblem is long and cumbersome, and probably not necessary after all these years.

However, about a decade into the twenty first century, there was a move afoot to “modernise” SAAHIP’s emblem to fit in with a proposed website. This led to an immediate outcry and a flurry of objections from those familiar with the emblem’s history. The matter was quietly dropped. Would having the emblem registered prevent any such tampering in the future?