Azure a cross argent voided gules charged in the centre chief point with a lion passant guardant, and on each member with a mullet of eight points or between in the first and fourth quarters a fleece or banded argent and in the second and third quarters a garb also or
The shield shows a blue (azure) field with a silver (argent) cross voided red (gules) with a gold (or) star on each arm of the red cross and a gold (or) lion in the centre known as the 'Lion in the South'. There is a golden fleece in the first and fourth quarters, and a wheat sheaf in the second and third quarters, both of these charges being gold (or), with the golden fleece having a band or ribbon around it coloured silver (argent).
The crest is a rising sun with each of the sun's rays tipped with a little reddish-orange flame, on a wreath or torse of blue (azure) and silver (argent).
The supporters are a golden (or) lion on the dexter (viewer's left) and a golden (or) kangaroo on the sinister (viewer's right). The supporters are usually depicted standing upon the motto ribbon as they hold the shield in an upright position.
The motto contains the Latin inscription "Orta recens quam pura nites" which, in English, means "Newly risen, how brightly you shine".
The official blazon, or heraldic description, is contained in the royal warrant, and reads:
Azure a cross argent voided gules charged in the centre chief point with a lion passant guardant, and on each member with a mullet of eight points or between in the first and fourth quarters a fleece or banded argent and in the second and third quarters a garb also or: And for a crest, on a wreath of the colours a rising sun each ray tagged with a flame of fire proper: And for the supporters, on the dexter side a lion rampant guardant: And on the sinister side a kangaroo both or, together with this motto, "Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites".
Symbolism
The blue field and white cross are derived from the earliest Australian coats of arms which show the Southern Cross that is visible in the skies of the southern hemisphere. The designer of the Arms 'voided' the white cross by laying a red cross within it, representing the red cross of St George as used on the ensign of Britain's Royal Navy, and placing a golden, 8-pointed star on each arm of the cross. This symbolises the maritime origins of NSW, with seafarers relying upon the Southern Cross to navigate the seas, and the role of the navy in protecting the State.[1]
The 'Lion in the South' is taken from the three golden lions on a red field on the arms of England, and symbolises both the sovereignty of NSW and the offspring of an old country. It represent the origins of the founders of the Colony of New South Wales as well as the independence of their succeeding generations.[1]
The wheatsheaf, or garb, also contains several layers of allusion: to the agricultural wealth of New South Wales, especially wheat growing; and to the convicts, many of whom, through their toil in producing food for the early colony, were rewarded with grants of land upon which they established the farms and rural landscapes of eastern New South Wales.[1] These allusions were clear to educated men and women at the time, and those with an interest in the political economy of New South Wales at the turn of the 20th century.
The rising sun in the crest has been used in the heraldry of New South Wales since the 1820s, essentially to symbolise hope in the future. It also depicts the geographical position of New South Wales, which faces the sun rising every morning over the Pacific Ocean. The blue and white wreath or torse shows the two principal colours in the shield, which are often used as the sporting colours for New South Wales, although there is much variation in the shade of the blue in common use.
Of the two supporters, the lion symbolises the origins of many of the people of New South Wales in the early 20th century in the British Isles. The designer particularly stressed that this was not an English nor Scottish nor Irish nor Welsh lion, but British, to represent the coming together of many different people in a new land and forming a new people.[1] It could today be understood as symbolising the multicultural nature of contemporary New South Wales society. The kangaroo has been used as a supporter in popular New South Wales heraldic practice since 1806, although this is its earliest official use. It symbolises the land and natural resources of the State,[1] and can also be understood today as representing the Aboriginal peoples who today are an integral part of New South Wales society.
The motto was first devised in 1879 for the International Exposition held in Sydney,[3] and was adopted as the State motto in 1906 to clearly replace an older motto on official seals that referred to the State's convict origins.[1] This motto reinforced the positive symbolism of the Arms with its message of hope in the future.
Designer
The Coat of Arms was designed by the NSW Government Printer, William Applegate Gullick, who had arrived in the colony as an infant with his parents. His father worked in the printing industry, and Gullick later served an apprenticeship in the printing trades with John Sands & Co, the colony's leading printers and stationers. He was appointed Government Printer in 1896, and was responsible for New South Wales postage stamp designs until 1913. Gullick was commissioned by Premier Carruthers in 1905 to design the Arms, and after some negotiation with the College of Arms in London he produced the design that was finally granted by the King. Gullick also had a role in the design of the Australian Coat of Arms.
The State Arms are described in section 4(4) of the State Arms, Symbols and Emblems Act 2004 (see below) as the Arms of Dominion and Sovereignty of the State. Arms of Dominion and Sovereignty are the symbols of intangible public authority which belong to independent states and are used by their representatives (such as government agencies) and leaders.[4]
The royal warrant granting the Arms states that they are "...for the greater honour and distinction of Our State of New South Wales ...to be borne by the said State on Seals, Shields, Banners, Flags and otherwise according to the Laws of Arms." These laws are derived from medieval English civil law, and relate to the authority to grant Arms, and the regulation of their use, although the enforceability of these laws in New South Wales is unclear.
The publication of the royal warrant in the NSW Government Gazette on 22 February 1907 confirmed their status as the official Arms of the State of New South Wales. The making of unauthorised copies of the Arms was prohibited by section 3 of the Unauthorised Documents Act 1922, and this remained the only piece of heraldic legislation in New South Wales until 2004. Although the State government made various attempts to use the Arms in a uniform manner, and despite the clear direction in the royal warrant about their use, there was wide variation in their use and uncertainty about their status. This was most notable in the courts, where the Royal Arms continued to be used to show the separation of executive and judicial powers.
In 2003, the NSW Parliament passed the State Arms, Symbols and Emblems Act 2004, which patriated the Law of Arms to some degree regarding the Arms of the State. The Act definitively established the NSW Coat of Arms, to be known as the State Arms, as the Arms of the State of New South Wales, and required the use of the Arms wherever the authority of the State of New South Wales, or of the Crown in Right of NSW, is being represented. The Royal Arms, henceforth to be known as the UK Royal Arms, are no longer to be used for this purpose, and there was subsequently a programme of replacing the UK Royal Arms with the State Arms in public buildings, places, seals and documents. The Act provides an exemption from such replacement when a representation of the UK Royal Arms (such as a stone carving of the facade of a courthouse) is considered by the Heritage Council of NSW to contribute to the cultural significance of a heritage listed building.
Future developments
The State Arms, Symbols and Emblems Act specifically provides for the Arms to be further 'ornamented', and it is possible that 'ornamented' versions of the State Arms could be prepared in the future to reflect the separation of executive, judicial and legislative functions, reminiscent of the manner in which the UK Royal Arms were used by the courts prior to 2004.
The coat of arms of South Africa is the main heraldic insignia of South Africa. The present coat of arms was introduced on Freedom Day, 27 April 2000, and was designed by Iaan Bekker. It replaced the earlier national arms, which had been in use since 1910. The motto is written in the extinct |Xam, member of the Khoisan languages, and translates literally to "diverse people unite". The previous motto, in Latin, was Ex Unitate Vires, translated as "From unity, strength".
The coat of arms of Canada, also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada or, formally, as the Arms of His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, is the arms of dominion of the Canadian monarch and, thus, also the official coat of arms of Canada. In use since 1921, it is closely modelled after the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version.
The coat of arms of Saskatchewan, officially known as His Majesty's Arms in right of Saskatchewan, is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The coat of arms of Nova Scotia is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is the oldest provincial achievement of arms in Canada, and the oldest British coat of arms in use outside Great Britain. It is blazoned as follows: Argent, a saltire azure charged with an escutcheon of the Royal Arms of Scotland.
The coat of arms of the United Kingdom are the arms of dominion of the British monarch. They are both the personal arms of the monarch, currently King Charles III, and the arms of the state. In addition to the monarch, the arms are used by state institutions including the Government of the United Kingdom, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the British judiciary. Differenced versions of the arms are used by members of the British royal family. The monarch's official flag, the Royal Standard, is the coat of arms in flag form.
The coat of arms of Western Australia is the official coat of arms of the Australian state of Western Australia. It was granted by a royal warrant of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia dated 17 March 1969.
The coat of arms of England is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England, and now used to symbolise England generally, but not officially. The arms were adopted c.1200 by the Plantagenet kings and continued to be used by successive English and British monarchs; they are currently quartered with the arms of Scotland and Ireland in the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Historically they were also quartered with the arms of France, representing the English claim to the French throne, and Hanover.
The coat of arms of British Columbia is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian province of British Columbia. The arms contains symbols reflecting British Columbia's British heritage along with local symbols. At the upper part of the shield is the Union Jack, representing the United Kingdom. The lower portion of the shield features a golden sun setting into the ocean, representing the province's location on the Pacific.
The coat of arms of Australia, officially the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, is a formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. It depicts a shield, containing symbols of Australia's six states, and is held up by native Australian animals, the kangaroo and the emu. The seven-pointed Commonwealth Star surmounting the crest also represents the states and territories, while golden wattle, the national floral emblem, appears below the shield.
The current state flag of New South Wales was officially adopted in 1876. The flag is based on the defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge, based on the coat of arms, is a white disc with the cross of St George, a golden lion passant guardant in the centre of the cross and an eight-pointed gold star on each arm of the cross.
The coat of arms of Victoria is the official heraldic symbol of the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria was the second state of Australia to gain arms, granted on 6 June 1910 by royal warrant of King George V. The state had been named in 1851 after his grandmother, who reigned at the time. The current version of the arms was granted 28 March 1978 in the royal warrant issued by Queen Elizabeth II.
The coat of arms of New Zealand is the heraldic symbol representing the South Pacific island country of New Zealand. Its design reflects New Zealand's history as a bicultural nation, with a European female figure on one side and a Māori rangatira (chief) on the other. The symbols on the central shield represent New Zealand's trade, agriculture and industry, and a Crown represents New Zealand's status as a constitutional monarchy.
The coat of arms of Scotland, colloquially called the Lion Rampant, is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland, and later by monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The coat of arms, or elements from it, are also used in heraldry to symbolise Scotland in general. The arms consist of a red lion surrounded by a red double border decorated with fleurs-de-lis, all on a gold background. The blazon, or heraldic description, is: Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second.
The coat of arms of Denmark has a lesser and a greater version.
The London County Council was granted a coat of arms in 1914 and a heraldic badge in 1956. The coat of arms can still be seen on buildings constructed by the council before its abolition in 1965.
The Coat of arms of Leeds City Council derives its design from the seventeenth century. In 1662 the Borough of Leeds received a new charter which created the office of mayor, and the arms seems to date from about this time as they incorporate part of the arms of the first mayor. These arms were recorded at the heraldic visitation of Yorkshire in 1666. By the time that the borough was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, silver owls had been added both as crest above the shield, and as supporters on either side. These additions were not authorised, however, and in 1920 application was made by Leeds County Borough Council to the College of Arms to have these additions officially granted. In the following year the grant of crest and supporters was made, with the colouring of the owls altered to "proper", or natural colourings. Gold ducal coronets were added to the supporters for further heraldic difference.
The coat of arms of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council was granted by the College of Arms in 1974.
William Applegate Gullick was a publisher and inspector of stamps in New South Wales, Australia. He was an early photographer and designed the Coat of arms of New South Wales.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Camden were granted on 10 September 1965. The borough was formed by the merger of three former boroughs, namely the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead, the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn and the Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras, from whose arms elements were utilised in the arms of the new borough.
The coat of arms of the Prince of Wales is the official personal heraldic insignia of the Princes of Wales, a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, formerly the Kingdom of Great Britain and before that the Kingdom of England.
References
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gullick, William Applegate, The New South Wales Coat of Arms, with notes on the earlier seals, Government Printer, Sydney 1907
↑ Pont, G., 'Corroborree Interrupted: food, wine and festivity at the Sydney Exhibition', in Proudfoot, P., et al., Colonial City, Global City: Sydney's International Exhibition 1879, Crossing Press, Darlinghurst 2000: 150
↑ Fox-Davies, A.C., A Complete Guide to Heraldry, Dodge Publishing, New York 1909; facsimile Bonanza Books, New York 1978: 607
Bibliography
Gullick, William Applegate, The New South Wales Coat of Arms, with notes on the earlier seals, Government Printer, Sydney 1907.
Gullick, William Applegate, The Seals of New South Wales, Government Printer, Sydney 1914.
Legislative Council, Report on the Proposed State Arms Bill, NSW Parliament, Legislative Council Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Report 23, Sydney December 2002.
'Royal Warrant Granting Armorial Ensigns and Supporters for the State of NSW', Government Gazette, Supplement, Sydney 22 February 1907: 1345-1346.
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