Afrikaans Language Monument

The Taalmonument or Afrikaans Language Monument, at Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa, was officially unveiled on 10 October 1975, the centenary year of the founding of the Society of True Afrikaners (Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners, GRA) which had heralded official recognition of the Afrikaans language in South Africa. It was designed by the architect Jan van Wijk and is said to have been inspired by the surrounding environment (granite outcrops), and by the words of Afrikaans writers CL Langenhoven ("Afrikaans is a rapidly ascending curve") and NP van Wyk Louw ("Afrikaans stands with one leg in Africa and with the other in the West").