Municipality — Malmesbury was a municipality in its own right from 1860 to 2000. By 1931, the council had adopted an emblem depicting a plough in front of a sheaf of wheat, surrounded by a buckled strap inscribed
Deo frumentoque vires. This device was depicted on a cigarette card issued in 1931. In 1963, the council assumed a coat of arms, designed by
Cornelis Pama. It registered the arms with the Cape Provincial Administration in December 1963, had them formally granted by the provincial administrator on 8 July 1966 and registered them at the
Bureau of Heraldry in September 1969. The arms were :
Per chevron Sable and Gules, a chevron ermine between in chief two garbs and in base a sea-lion Or. In layman's terms : the shield was divided by an ermine chevron, the upper half displaying two golden sheaves of wheat on a black background and the lower half a golden heraldic sea-lion on a red background. The sea-lion was evidently derived from the arms of
Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, who established the church from which the town developed. The crest was an upright spade between two rhenosterbos branches, and the motto, once again, was
Deo frumentoque vires.
Divisional council — The Malmesbury divisional council, which administered the rural areas of the district outside the town, assumed a coat of arms, designed by
Ivan Mitford-Barberton, on 24 June 1958. The arms were :
Per fess Sable and Azure, a fess wavy Gules fimbriated Argent between in chief an eagle displayed between two ears of wheat palewise Or and in base a sea-lion naiant per pale Or and Argent. In layman's terms : the shield was divided horizontally into black and blue and displayed, from top to bottom, a golden eagle between two sheaves of wheat, a red wavy stripe edged in silver, and a gold and silver heraldic sea-lion. ==Sport==