Coat of arms of British Columbia
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The Coat of Arms of British Columbia (formally known as The Arms of Her Majesty in Right of British Columbia) consists of the shield and motto in the achievement. The current form of the coat of arms was granted to British Columbia on March 31, 1906, by King Edward VII.
SymbolsThe shield features a Union Flag in chief, with a crown (known heraldically as an antique crown) at its centre. In base it has the sun setting into the ocean, representing the province's location on the Pacific. The motto Splendor Sine Occasu, is written in Latin and essentially means "splendour without diminishment" or "beauty without end." The achievement of arms was augmented with a crest, supporters, and compartment granted by Queen Elizabeth II, on October 15, 1987. The crest is the Queen's royal crest (a gold lion statant gardant—standing on all fours and facing the viewer—wearing the royal crown), differenced with a garland of Pacific Dogwood, the provincial flower. The supporters are a elk stag and a bighorn sheep. The wapiti of Vancouver Island and the bighorn sheep of the mainland of the province symbolizes the union of the two colonies which united to form British Columbia in 1866. The compartment is a garland of Pacific Dogwood. HistoryImage:BC-Arms-older.jpg
An older version of the arms in the provincial parliament building in Victoria. Note the setting sun atop the flag
The first heraldic provincial symbol was the Great Seal of the province, being the royal crest of the crowned lion upon the imperial crown as was the usual practice for British colonies, but with the letters "BC" added. This was used upon British Columbia joining Confederation. The first coat of arms of the province was created by Canon Arthur Beanlands of Victoria, whose version was similar to the modern one, except with the charges on the shield reversed: the chief was the setting sun and the main part of the shield was the Union Flag. This coat was adopted by Order-in-Council of the province as the Great Seal on July 19, 1895. While the design of the Great Seal was a provincial prerogative, coats of arms were (and are) honours granted by the Sovereign. The province attempted to register the design with the British College of Arms in 1897, but was unable to do so for several reasons. First among them was the use of the royal crest, which is the exclusive right of the sovereign and could not be granted to another entity even as a sign of utmost loyalty to the Queen. The heralds objected to the placement of the Union Flag in an inferior position on the shield (conflicting with the popular slogan, "The sun never sets on the British Empire"). The use of supporters, a high honour, was considered presumptuous, as no other province had been granted such a privilege. The shield only (with the positions of the Union Flag and setting sun reversed, and with the antique crown added), along with the motto, was granted in 1906. The remainder of the achievement, including the royal crest (its use made permissible by differentiating it with the wreath of dogwood), was granted in 1987. BlazonImage:BC-Arms.jpg
The arms rendered in stained glass in the provincial parliament building in Victoria
The coat of arms of British Columbia is blazoned as follows:
See also
External links
de:Wappen von British Columbia et:Briti Columbia vapp he:סמל קולומביה הבריטית sr:Грб Британске Колумбије |
