The American Heraldry Society

Other Historic Figures

Explorers of America and American Explorers

• ARM NAME BLAZON COMMENTS
• 

  Byrd, RAdm Richard Evelyn, USN (Winchester, Va, 1888-Boston, 1957)

  Quarterly of six, 1st and 6th Argent a cross flory between four martlets Gules and on a canton Azure a crescent Argent, in the 1st quarter a crescent Gules for difference; 2nd Azure a lion rampant Argent collared Or; 3rd Or a cross paty fitchy Sable; 4th Argent three bulls’ heads Sable; 5th Argent on a bend cotised Sable three crescents Argent

  Polar explorer; first to reach the South Pole by air, 1929. Arms on his bookplate.

• 

  Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez (Jerez de la Frontera, ca 1489-Seville, ca 1558)

  Quarterly, 1st Vair plain; 2nd Checky of 15 pieces Gules and Or; 3rd Or five leaves in saltire Vert; 4th Per saltire, chief and base bendy of six Argent and Gules, flanks Argent the dexter charged with the word AVE reading base to chief and the sinister with the word MARIA reading chief to base both Sable

  Led first Europeans to enter inland Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona (1532-36) en route to Mexico City following shipwreck near Galveston. From a drawing in a contemporary account of his travels; it is possible that some tinctures are in error and that the second quarter should have a bordure Azure charged with eight cows’ heads.

• 

  Cook, Capt James, RN (Marston, Yorks, 1728-Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, 1779)

  "Azure between two Polar Stars Or, a sphere on the plane of the meridian, the North Pole elevated, circles of Latitude for every ten degrees and of Longitude every fifteen, showing the Pacific Ocean between sixty and two hundred and forty West, bounded on one side by America and on the other by Asia and New Holland; in memory of having explored and made Discoveries in that Ocean, so very far beyond all former Navigators: His Track thereon marked with red lines."

  First European to visit Hawaii (1778), explored the U.S.-Canadian Pacific coast from Oregon to the Bering Strait (1778-79). Arms granted posthumously in 1785; blazon as in the original grant.

• 

  Coronado y Luján, Francisco Vásquez de (Salamanca, 1510-Mexico City,1554)

  Gules a lion rampant barry of six Argent and Gules [sic] crowned Or within a bordure Argent charged with eight fleurs-de-lis Azure

  Explored New Mexico and the American Southwest as far north as Kansas, 1540-42.

• 

  Drake, VAdm Sir Francis (Tavistock, Devon, c 1540-Portobelo, Panama, 1596)

  Quarterly, 1st and 4th Argent a wyvern wings addorsed Gules; 2nd and 3rd Sable a fess wavy between two pole-stars Argent

  Arms on the admiral’s seal, quartering the 1581 arms (see above) with those of a family of Drakes in the Tavistock area with which Sir Francis claimed kinship.

• 

  Drake, VAdm Sir Francis (Tavistock, Devon, ca 1540-Portobelo, Panama, 1596)

  Sable a fess wavy between two pole-stars [estoiles] Argent

  Explored the coast of California and Oregon, 1579, during his circumnavigation of the earth; claimed the area for England as New Albion. Arms granted 1581. See also below.

• 

  Kotzebue, Capt Otto von (Reval [Tallinn], Estonia, 1787-Reval, 1846)

  Argent three roses Azure

  Russian imperial naval officer of Baltic German descent; explored the coast of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest in 1816-17 and 1824-25.

• 

  La Salle, Réné-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (Rouen, 1643-Texas, 1687)

  Sable a greyhound courant Argent and in chief a star of eight points Or

  French explorer of the Great Lakes region, Mississippi River, and Gulf of Mexico. Arms from the Armorial du Canada français.

• 

  Lewis, Meriwether (Ivy, Va, 1774-Hohenwald, Tenn, 1809)

  Argent a dragon’s head erased Vert holding in the mouth a bloody hand proper

  Co-leader, with Capt William Clark, of the Corps of Discovery exploring the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and Pacific Northwest, 1804-06. Later governor of Louisiana. First (Lewis) quarter of arms used in his family from at least the 1690s.

• 

  Ponce de León, Juan (Santervás de Campos, Castile, ca 1460-Havana, 1521 )

  Per pale, dexter Azure three islets in pale Or; sinister Argent a lion rampant proper crowned Or

  Adelantado of Puerto Rico; discovered and explored Florida, 1513. Arms granted by King Ferdinand, 1514. The bronze tablet on his tomb in the cathedral at San Juan, P.R., shows the two halves reversed.

• 

  Vancouver, Capt George, RN (King's Lynn, Norfolk, 1757-Petersham, Surrey, 1798)

  Or three eagles displayed Gules

  Surveyed the Pacific coast between Alaska and Ventura County, Calif, in 1792-93. Arms of the noble family of van Coeverden of Drenthe, Netherlands, of which Vancouver was a male-line descendant. It is unknown whether he himself used the arms.

• 

  Verrazano, Giovanni da (Florence, 1485-West Indies, 1528)

  Per pale Or and Argent a star of eight points Gules

  Explored the east coast of North America from Cape Fear to Newfoundland, 1524; first European to enter New York Bay. Arms on a book owned by his father, now at the Boston College library, and other contemporary emblazonments.

• 

  Wilkes, RAdm Charles, USN (New York, 1798-Washington, 1877)

  Or a chevron between three ravens' heads erased in chief a crescent Sable

  Leader of the U.S. Exploring Expedition to Antarctica and the South Pacific, 1838-42. Arms on his bookplate.