An Apostille Certificate is an official government Certificate issued in terms of the Hague Convention printed or stamped onto the reverse side of a single page document or attached to multiple paged documents with green notary ribbon making it become one inseparable document. It authenticates the seal and or signature of the public official or authority such as a notary or registrar issuing the document.
The word “Apostille” (pronounced a-pos-TEE, not a-pos-TEAL or a-pos-TILL-ee) is of French origin. It comes from the French verb “apostiller”, which derives from the old French word postille meaning “annotation”, and before it the Latin word postilla, a variation of the word postea, which
means “thereafter, afterwards, next”
During the negotiations on the Hague Convention, the term “Apostille” was preferred because of its novelty. The meanings of the word Apostille described above are still valid today.