British Columbia's Coat of Arms
Firstly this is a picture I drew myself of the Provincial Coat of Arms so forgive me for my not so great Artistic skills.
The first BC Coat of Arms was approved in 1906 by King Edward VII with this present version approved by Queen Elizabeth II on October 15th, 1987.
The Coat of Arms has several important elements of BC incorporated into it.At the top of the shield is the royal crest which is a crowned lion who wears a collar of Dogwood Flowers which are the Provincial Flower and it stands upon a Golden Helmet of Sovereignty.
It is interesting to note that Supporting the shield is a stag and a ram who represent the former colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.Within the shield is a variation of the BC Provincial Flag which I also drew by hand.
As you can see at the top there is a Union Jack and symbolizes our Colonial origins. It is nearly identical to the British Flag with the exception of a crown in the middle.
Below that are wavy Blue and Silver lines which represent our Geographic Location between the Pacific Ocean and the Rock Mountains with a setting sun sitting at the bottom. The setting sun can be viewed as a representation of our position as Canada's Western most Province. Or it can also been seen as symbolic interpretation of the phrase "The sun never sets... on the British Empire."
The sun could also be a reflection of the British Columbia Latin Motto which is Splendour Sine Occasu and translates to Splendor Without Diminishment. The Provincial Latin Motto is represented at the bottom of the coat of Arms seen surrounded by more Dogwood Flowers.Also seen within British Columbia's Coat of Arms is traditional heraldic elements of a wreath and mantling in Canada's Colors.
When BC first joined confederation in 1871 the Province used a variation of the Royal Crest incorporating the letters BC into the design. The use of the royal crest through out the Common wealth nations of the Royal British Empire.
It took awhile for British Columbia to identify with any kind of Provincial Coat of Arms. In the 1890's Canon Arthur Beanlands from Victoria set out to encourage the Province to adopt an official coat of Arms and even designed his own idea of what it should look like.In 1906 King Edward VI granted British Columbia it's first Coat of Arms and it has since gone through several different changes.
Did you know that today there are a few different official versions of the British Columbia Coat of Arms. The honorable Judith Guichon was sworn in as British Columbia's 29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia back on November 2nd, 2012.
Lastly here is the great seal of British Columbia which is fairly similar to the Provincial Coat of Arms.
and my British Columbia Ambassador Study guide.
No comments:
Post a Comment