What's plastic, a metre long, brightly coloured and sounds like an elephant? It's the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans and it's come to symbolise the sport in the country.

Vuvuzela: SA football's beautiful noise

Makarabas, along with vuvuzelas, are the 2 essential pieces of football fan gear in South Africa, and no doubt this locally inspired creation is going to grab the hearts and minds of international football fans during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Both the makaraba and the vuvuzela are going to contribute to the unique spectacle that will be experienced in the various football stadiums across the country during the World Cup. One thing is for sure; fans from across the world are going to be nodding their heads and saying...'only in South Africa'.

"Vuvuzela" is the symbol of South African soccer... it is a plastic musical instrument which has now become infamous around the world. It is used mostly at all sporting events to try boost their teams performance. It's an instrument, but not always a musical one. Describing the atmosphere in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas is difficult.

Many have tried to lay claim to the vuvuzela and Trademark, of this word, but let the truth be known, it belongs to the fans!

The vuvuzela has a high pitched blasting sound, much like a big air-horn on trucks.
Click here for sample sound