Coat of arms of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Details | |
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Introduced | 1985 |
Heraldic shield | Lion with torch |
Sign holder | Seal, penguin |
Motto (motto) | Leo terram propriam protegat |
The coat of arms of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was adopted in 1985, the year in which the territory received its own constitution.
history
Previously, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands were an area under the Falkland Islands , whose coat of arms was also valid here. Again before 1962, when the islands were still part of the British Antarctic Territory , its coat of arms was used in place of the coat of arms of the Falkland Islands.
description
The coat of arms of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands shows on a white and blue roughened shield a green overturned tip with a golden lion holding a golden torch with a red flame and accompanied by two golden six-pointed stars .
Sign holders are a fur seal on a rock on the right and a crested penguin on an ice floe on the left . Above the coat of arms is a toad-headed helmet with a blue-silver helmet cover and a blue-silver crest on which a reindeer with golden antlers stands.
Under the sign on a gold ribbon the motto of the islands in Latin and black capital letters : "Leo Terram propriam Protegat" ( The lion protect his own country ).
Symbolism: A golden lion with a golden torch and red flame symbolizes the United Kingdom and the discoveries. The blue and silver diamond pattern is taken from the coat of arms of the explorer James Cook . The fur seal and the crested penguin are both native animals to South Georgia. The reindeer is reminiscent of the two herds of reindeer found on South Georgia.
This coat of arms can be found in the flight part of the flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and in the Union Jack of the Civil Commissioner of the territory.
Coat of arms of the Islas del Atlántico Sur department
Argentina , which claims the islands as Departamento Islas del Atlántico Sur and the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur , uses the coat of arms of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as well as the coat of arms of that province for the Malvinas .