Jamaica coat of arms

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Official coat of arms of Jamaica

The coat of arms of Jamaica is one of the oldest colonial coats of arms .

description

The coat of arms is a silver shield with a red cross , which is covered with five golden pineapple fruits after the figure . A royal golden helmet with a red cap and a gold-silver helmet cover rests on the heraldic shield . The helmet bulge is red and silver. The crest was a green crocodile on a tree trunk in natural color .

The sign holders are people in natural colors and with an uncovered upper body. On the left an Arawak woman, holding a basket of fruit under her right arm, on the right an Arawak man adorned with a feather crown , holding a bow in his left hand. Both are dressed in red and white and adorned with red feathers, the woman also with an ermine collar.

Under the shield there is a silver banner with the state motto in black capital letters Out Of Many, One People (“Out of many, one people”).

symbolism

Today, apart from inside the helmet and in the cross on the shield, the red is shown in a pink-like, almost purple color. The banner is also shown in this color.

The red cross corresponds to the George's cross in the flag of England , the pointed crocodile is Jamaica's largest indigenous vertebrate, and the pineapple was cultivated before Christopher Columbus arrived in Jamaica. The Arawak were the indigenous people of Jamaica.

history

The coat of arms was awarded to the colony of Jamaica in February 1662, making it one of the oldest colonial coats of arms. It is said to have been designed by the future 79th  Archbishop of Canterbury , William Sandcroft , or by his predecessor William Luxon . Its elements were used in different variants on the colonial flag ( Blue Ensign ), initially as a plaque, from 1906 also as a coat of arms in a white disc.

The first small changes are documented for 1692. Changes in 1957 included the color of the helmet (originally silver) and the helmet cover (originally red instead of gold). With the independence of Jamaica in 1962, the old, Latin motto Indus uterque serviet uni (“Both India will serve one”) was replaced by today's English one. The color of the banner was initially silver, later changed to gold and finally to today's purple.

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