The establishment of the Anglican Diocese of Zululand has its roots in the visit of John Colenso, bishop of Natal, to King Mpande kaSenzangakhona in 1859 to secure his permission for a Zulu Mission.
In 1860, Colenso sent Robert Robertson from Umlazi Mission outside Durban, to start work at KwaMagwaza.
The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 saw all the mission buildings in Zululand burned to the ground, as well as a decisive Zulu victory against the British at the Battle of Isandlwana.
The second bishop, Douglas MacKenzie (1880), also made Isandlwana his headquarters and set up a training college there.
The diocese assumed arms around the time of its inception, and had them granted by the College of Arms in 1954 : Sable, a bamboo cross eradicated at the foot proper, on a canton Azure bordered Argent a mullet also Argent, a base Vert charged with an anchor Or.