Heraldry of Capital Cities round the World

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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18 April 2008 18:18
 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/peru/images/lima.jpg

Lima (Peru). Granted by the King of Spain on 3 November 1536. The three Crowns represent the The Wise Men who according the Bible went to bring their gifts to the newborn Jesus. The Star is the Star of Betlehem. The inscription on the brodure translates as "This is the true signal of the kings", Lima was named by the Spanish as the King’s City. The letters I and K stands for Queen Ioanna och King Carlos (Karolus). Pic and info from ICA.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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21 April 2008 06:52
 

Continuing to the Caribbean:

http://www.ngw.nl/int/car/images/portprin.jpg

Arms of Port-au-Prince (Haiti).

 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/car/images/kingston.jpg

Kingston (Jamaica).

 

Both arms from ICA.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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21 April 2008 07:05
 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/car/images/stbarts.gif

Saint Barthélémy and its Capital Gustavia uses these arms. THe Fleur-de-Lys denotes the French rule 1648-1785 and from 1878. The Maltese Cross is for the Orders’ rule 1651-1665. The three Crowns denotes the Swedish rule of the Island 1785-1878 (the name Gustavia from the Swedish King Gustaf III is also a heritage of these times). Pelicans is part of the Island’s fauna. Ouanalao is the local name of the Island. Picture and Information from ICA.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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24 April 2008 16:12
 

Washington DC are give as using the arms of George Washington:

http://www.ngw.nl/int/usa/images/washingt.gif

 

 

Going north of the border here is the arms of Ottawa:

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Ottawa_city_coa.png

Granted in 1954. The wavy cross denotes the junction of the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers at Ottawa and also stands for the advent of Christianity to the area. The Crown stands for Queen Victoria who choose Ottawa to be capital of Canada (symbolised by the Maple leave). In the chief we se symbols of the Outaouais tribe the first inhabitants of the area, the astrolabe of Samuel Champlain who explored the area in 1613 and the grenade and axes of the Royal Engineers. The RE under the command of Lt.Col. By build the Rideau Canal and founded Bytown (the predecessor of Ottawa). The Pine denotes the importance of the Forestry and the bezant charged with and oak is from the old seal of Bytown. The supporters are a timber trimmer and a officer of the Civil Service Rifle Regiment of Ottawa.

 

Futher north we have Greenland a selfgoverning part of Denmark,the capital Nuuk (Godthåb) have the following arms:

 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/gre/images/nuuk.jpg

The house symbolises the Teacher’s College an institution who played a great role in shaping the modern Greenland. Behind is the Sermitsiag (Saddle) Mountain stading 1 210 metres above sealevel its a landmark of the City. The oar symbolises the hunting and fishing of the Inuits. Arms was approved in 1973.

 

Continuing the journey across the Atlantic one perhaps can end up in Ireland, Here is the arms of the Capital of the Republic of Ireland Dublin:

 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/ier/d/images/dublin.jpg

The burning Towers denotes the watchfulness of the inhabitants and their comittment to defending the City. The supporters are the Law and the Justice. The Motto translates as "Happy the city where citizens obey". These arms was granted in 1607 and have been in use ever since.

 

Apart from the Ottawa arms whose picture is from the Wikimedia all pictures is from the ICA.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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24 April 2008 20:44
 

Marcus K;57705 wrote:

Washington DC are give as using the arms of George Washington:


This is widely reported, but as far as I can tell it isn’t correct.  I’ve never found any official use of the Washington arms as the arms of DC—flag, yes, and the design motif of three red stars above two bars appears on street signs, official vehicles, and license plates.  But I’ve never seen it officially used in the form of a coat of arms in the nearly 30 years that I’ve lived in the area.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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25 April 2008 06:19
 

Perphaps the reports are based on the use of Washington’s arms on the City’s flag?

 
Stuart
 
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Stuart
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25 April 2008 09:10
 

What is the heraldic beast in the base of Manila’s arms? My limited spanish would say it is supposed to be an heraldic sea-lion, but I’ve never seen one like that. The top half looks more like an otter…

 
Dohrman Byers
 
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Dohrman Byers
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25 April 2008 12:01
 

Stuart;57738 wrote:

What is the heraldic beast in the base of Manila’s arms? My limited spanish would say it is supposed to be an heraldic sea-lion, but I’ve never seen one like that. The top half looks more like an otter…


The blazon describes it as half lion and half dolphin. I don’t see that that’s significantly different than what we in English call a heraldic sealion.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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25 April 2008 12:45
 

Stuart;57738 wrote:

What is the heraldic beast in the base of Manila’s arms? My limited spanish would say it is supposed to be an heraldic sea-lion, but I’ve never seen one like that. The top half looks more like an otter…

Yes it’s an Sealion, only an odd depiction.

 
AVD1
 
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AVD1
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25 April 2008 16:21
 

"...en campo azul medio leon y el otro medio delfin"

Actually a literal translation is "half lion, half dolphin"

 

I am not sure if it has been customary depicted as a sea-lion.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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27 April 2008 10:37
 

Continuing across the Irish Sea we land in London. Whose arms combind hte Sword of St Paul with the Cross of St. George (patron saints of the city and of England). Arms have not been granted by recorded sans supporters and crest by the College of Arms.

http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/l/images/london.jpg

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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27 April 2008 12:00
 

Markus,

I think the information about the supporters and crest not having been confirmed by the College of Arms is outdated, although I’m not sure of that.  In any case, the City of London isn’t really the capital of the UK—the Queen doesn’t even enter its boundaries without permission of the Lord Mayor, if I remember correctly.  The capital is really in the City of Westminster, which is part of Greater London.  I don’t know if the Greater London Authority, the current name of the body that governs the metropolitan area, has arms or not.

 

Traditional arms of Westminster:

http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/w/images/westmins.jpg

 

New arms granted 1964, after St. Marylebone and Paddington were incorporated into Westminster:

 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/w/images/westminster2.jpg

 

Both from International Civic Arms, where the images are credited to Scott-Giles, Civic Heraldry of England and Wales (London, 1932), and Laurence Jones respectively.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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27 April 2008 16:56
 

Yes you are right Joe the unit that is the City of London is not realy the seat of the political government is in the City of Westminister. Both is however part of the Greater London Authority and formerly of the Greater London Council and before that the County of London. So perhaps it is more correct to see the arms of these as those of the Capital of the UK:

http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/g/images/glc.jpg

Arms of the Greater London Council. GLC was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Counties of London and Middlesex plus some parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey. Arms was granted in the same year and includes the Saxon Crown from the arms of Middlesex and the waves form the arms of the County of London. The GLC was abolished in 1986.

 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/l/images/londonc.jpg

Arms of the County of London,granted 29 july 1914. The St George’s cross is from the arms of the City of London and the Lion symbolises the Capital and seat of the Imperial Government. The waves symbolises the River Thames.

 

Pictures and information form the International Civic Arms. The Greater London Authority created in 2000 has no arms only a quite unimaginative Logo created in 2000 by a ArtDirector named Gavin Lester (according to the Wikipedia). The Logo simply is the word LONDON with the first four letters in blue and the last two in red.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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27 April 2008 17:12
 

Crossing the Channel we land in France. The arms of Paris from the ICA:

http://www.ngw.nl/int/fra/p/images/paris.jpg

The Arms symbolises the Shipping on the River Seine. The Decorations is in the middle the Legion of Honour flanken by the Order of the Liberation and the Croix de Guerre.

 

The arms of Bruxelles and Madrid have already been shown so I continue to Portugal and Lisbon:

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Flag_of_Lisbon.png

The Flag of Lisbon with the arms. Picture from Wikipedia.

 
dr.h.roth
 
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dr.h.roth
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28 April 2008 10:14
 

http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/m/munchen.htm

There is just a wealth of information on this site about civic heraldry.