In this article I will try to answer two basic questions concerning a selection of representative South African monuments erected by different groups adhering to various ideologies. Firstly, what truths and values did patrons and designers intend to express in the Rhodes Memorial (Cape Town), the Afrikaans Language Monument (Paarl), the Women's Monument (Bloemfontein), the Voortrekker Monument (Pretoria), the Samora Machel Monument (Mbuzini), the Heroes' Monument (Durban) and Freedom Park (Pretoria)? Secondly, how did their meaning change over time on various issues such as gender, language, ethics, site, historiographry, the dialectics between different monuments, the problematics of heroism, as well as ethnic difference, especially when viewed from a postcolonial vantage point? However, the notions of "truth" and "values" in the ideological context of monuments are ambiguous, as can be ascertained from a brief survey of the methodologies applied and conclusions drawn by researchers representing those disciplines that most often deal with the subject matter of monuments. These are: art history, architectural history, cultural history, history, postcolonial studies, and occasionally also practitioners of other disciplines such as philosophy and anthropology.