Newfoundland and Labrador Coat of Arms

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Newfoundland and Labrador Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of Newfoundland and Labrador was bestowed on January 1, 1637 by King Charles I on David Kirke , the then governor of the British colony of Newfoundland . The coat of arms , rediscovered in 1928, was officially introduced by the then independent Dominion Newfoundland . It was retained when Newfoundland became a Province of Canada in 1949 .

The coat of arms is square with a white cross on a red background, i.e. the inverted George cross . In the heraldic right upper and in the left lower quadrant there is a crowned golden lion , in the other two quadrants there is a chained white unicorn . The animals represent the shield holders of the British royal coat of arms . The lion stands for England , the unicorn for Scotland .

The shield holders are two Indians from the Beothuk tribe (extinct since the 19th century) who are armed with bows and arrows.

Above the coat of arms there is a red and gold helmet bulge and a European elk . The elk was probably chosen because in the 17th century no European heraldic artist knew what a native caribou looked like.

A scroll with the motto is laid out on the pedestal : Quaerite Primum Regnum Dei (“Seek first the kingdom of God”) is a quote from the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 6, Verse 33).

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