National coat of arms of the Virgin Islands
Coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands
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Adopted
| 15 November 1960
(63 years ago)
(
1960-11-15
)
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Shield
| Vert a Virgin proper vested Argent sandalled or holding in the dexter hand by the chain an Ancient Lamp Gold enflamed also proper between eleven like Lamps five in pale to the dexter and six in pale to the sinister
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Motto
| Latin
:
Vigilate
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The
coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands
consists of a green
escutcheon
(shield)
charged
with a woman in a white dress and gold-coloured sandals, holding a lit golden
oil lamp
and surrounded by eleven other golden lamps. Adopted shortly after the islands became a
Crown colony
, it has been the
coat of arms
of the
British Virgin Islands
since 1960. The escutcheon dates from the early 19th century and is featured on the
flag of the territory
. The woman and the lamps represent
Saint Ursula
and her companions, the namesake of the islands.
History
[
edit
]
The
Virgin Islands
were first sighted and named by
Christopher Columbus
in 1493,
[1]
[2]
during
his second journey
to the
West Indies
.
[3]
The territory was claimed by the Spanish in 1555 under a detachment dispatched by
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
,
[1]
but they did not establish any settlements there.
[3]
Privateers from the
Dutch Republic
settled on several of the islands and governed them until 1666, when English planters ? together with "brigands and pirates"
[3]
? began inhabiting the territory and forced many of the Dutch colonists to leave. The English subsequently seized control of the islands six years later at the outset of the
Third Anglo-Dutch War
, placing them under the administration of the
British Leeward Islands
.
[1]
[3]
Responsible government
was accorded to the Virgin Islanders in 1773, with a judiciary and a partially-elected legislature.
[1]
The design of the present-day coat of arms first emerged around the early 19th century. However, the territory did not utilise its own symbols until it became a
Crown colony
, with the
Union Jack
serving as the official
state flag
of the islands.
[4]
The legislature was disbanded in 1901 and authority over the islands was transferred to the
governor of the Leeward Islands
, who exercised power through a commissioner and an
executive council
that he selected. Self-government was eventually restored in 1950 and the Leeward Islands federation was dissolved in 1956. The British Virgin Islands, nevertheless, opted not to join the
West Indies Federation
when it was created two years later.
[1]
[3]
It instead became a Crown colony in 1960,
[1]
and a
royal warrant
was consequently issued on 15 November of the same year granting the territory its own coat of arms. It was then employed on the
Blue Ensign
to create the
flag of the British Virgin Islands
. This was redesigned in 1999, with the size of the shield increased and outlined in white.
[4]
Design
[
edit
]
The coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands were
blazoned
by the royal warrant of 15 November 1960 as follows:
[5]
Vert
a Virgin
proper
vested
Argent
sandalled
or
holding in the
dexter
hand by the chain an
Ancient Lamp
Gold enflamed also proper between eleven like Lamps five in
pale
to the dexter and six in pale to the
sinister
, together with the motto
Vigilate
.
Symbolism
[
edit
]
The colours and objects on the coat of arms carry cultural, political, and regional meanings. The woman wearing a white dress and clutching a golden
oil lamp
is
Saint Ursula
,
[4]
who is both the namesake and the
patron saint
of the Virgin Islands.
[6]
[7]
The eleven other oil lamps allude to her eleven virgin companions
[4]
(other accounts assert that she actually had 11,000 followers).
[6]
[8]
They were purportedly martyred by the
Huns
in
Cologne
,
Germania Inferior
, during the fourth or fifth century.
[4]
[8]
Columbus consequently named the islands
Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgenes
('Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins'), in honour of the aforementioned group of saints.
[1]
This was abbreviated to
Las Virgenes
('The Virgins').
[3]
The motto in
Latin
on a ribbon scroll under the escutcheon ?
Vigilate
? means 'be vigilant'.
[4]
[8]
Uses
[
edit
]
Both the shield and motto from the arms are featured on the flag of the British Virgin Islands,
[6]
and on the standard of
the territory's governor
.
[4]
In the latter banner, the escutcheon is encircled by a wreath of two green branches that are interlaced in the middle with a blue bow.
[9]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
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Sovereign states
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Dependencies and
other territories
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