The coat of arms of Belfast was officially granted on 30 June 1890, [1] although it has been used since the 17th century, making its first appearance on a seal adopted in 1640. [2]
The arms depict a sailing ship beneath a pile or triangle of vair. The ship reflects the city's maritime history, while the vair comes from the arms of Sir Arthur Chichester, the founder of modern Belfast. There is also a canton emblazoned with a bell, representing the first syllable of the name (an example of "canting" or punning heraldry). [2]
The symbolism of the shield is carried over into the supporters, a wolf and a seahorse. The wolf is a further reference to the Chichester family, whose arms were supported by two wolves, while the seahorse (which is repeated in the crest) is another maritime symbol, representing the steed on which Neptune was said to ride. [2] The mural crowns were added after Belfast became a city in 1888. [3]
The Latin motto, Pro tanto quid retribuamus, means "What return shall we make for so much?" [3] or "In return for so much, what shall we give back?" [4] This is a paraphrased version of Psalm 116:12, given in the Vulgate as Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? ("What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?"). [3]
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings, as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement. The achievement, or armorial bearings usually includes a coat of arms on a shield, helmet and crest, together with any accompanying devices, such as supporters, badges, heraldic banners and mottoes.
The coat of arms of Prince Edward Island, officially the King's Arms in Right of Prince Edward Island, are the coat of arms of Prince Edward Island, being the arms of King Charles III in right of the province. They were created when the shield and motto in the achievement were granted in 1905 by royal warrant from King Edward VII. The latest iteration was given by the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 2002.
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 or national seal of Benin, originally introduced in 1964, was readopted in 1990 after being replaced in 1975.
In heraldry, an ordinary is one of the two main types of charges, beside the mobile charges. An ordinary is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. There are also some geometric charges known as subordinaries, which have been given lesser status by some heraldic writers, though most have been in use as long as the traditional ordinaries. Diminutives of ordinaries and some subordinaries are charges of the same shape, though thinner. Most of the ordinaries are theoretically said to occupy one-third of the shield; but this is rarely observed in practice, except when the ordinary is the only charge.
The coat of arms of Toronto is a heraldic symbol used to represent the city Toronto. Designed by Robert Watt, the Chief Herald of Canada at the time, for the City of Toronto after its amalgamation in 1998. The arms were granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority on 11 January 1999.
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of 348,005 (2022), the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while being the smallest by area. Belfast City Council is the primary council of the Belfast Metropolitan Area, a grouping of six former district councils with commuter towns and overspill from Belfast, containing a total population of 579,276.
The great seal of the state of Delaware was first adopted on January 17, 1777, with the current version being adopted April 29, 2004. It contains the state coat of arms surrounded by an inscription.
The coat of arms of Ireland is blazoned as Azure a harp Or, stringed Argent. These arms have long been Ireland's heraldic emblem. References to them as being the arms of the king of Ireland can be found as early as the 13th century. These arms were adopted by Henry VIII of England when he ended the period of Lordship of Ireland and declared Ireland to be a kingdom again in 1541. When the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in 1603, they were integrated into the unified royal coat of arms of kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. The harp was adopted as the emblem of the Irish Free State when it separated from the United Kingdom in 1922. They were registered as the arms of Ireland with the Chief Herald of Ireland on 9 November 1945.
The flag of the British Antarctic Territory was granted on 21 April 1998. It features the coat of arms granted on 1 August 1963, a year after the British Antarctic Territory, a British Overseas Territory, was created. Previously, the Territory was a part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies and used the same flag. On 30 May 1969, a blue ensign with the British Antarctic Territory coat of arms in the fly was introduced as a government ensign.
The coat of arms of Vancouver was granted by the College of Arms on 31 March 1969.
The flag of Pittsburgh is the official municipal flag of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a vertical bicolor triband of black and gold with the municipal coat of arms in the center.
The coat of arms of Kropyvnytskyi is one of the city's symbols reflecting its past and the controversies of its history.
In heraldry, a pile is a charge usually counted as one of the ordinaries. It consists of a wedge emerging from the upper edge of the shield and converging to a point near the base. If it touches the base, it is blazoned throughout.
USNS William McLean is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of William McLean, a United States Navy physicist, who conceived and developed the heat-seeking Sidewinder missile. The contract to build William McLean was awarded to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company on 12 December 2008. William McLean was launched on 16 April 2011, sponsored by Dr. McLean's niece, Margaret Taylor. The ship was delivered to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on 28 September 2011.
The 212th Coast Artillery was a Coast Artillery regiment in the New York National Guard.
Sir John III Chichester of Hall was member of parliament for Lostwithiel in Cornwall in 1624.
Hall is a large estate within the parish and former manor of Bishop's Tawton, Devon. It was for several centuries the seat of a younger branch of the prominent and ancient North Devon family of Chichester of Raleigh, near Barnstaple. The mansion house is situated about 2 miles south-east of the village of Bishop's Tawton and 4 miles south-east of Barnstaple, and sits on a south facing slope of the valley of the River Taw, overlooking the river towards the village of Atherington. The house and about 2,500 acres of surrounding land continues today to be owned and occupied by descendants, via a female line, of the Chichester family. The present Grade II* listed neo-Jacobean house was built by Robert Chichester between 1844 and 1847 and replaced an earlier building. Near the house to the south at the crossroads of Herner the Chichester family erected in the 1880s a private chapel of ease which contains mediaeval woodwork saved from the demolished Old Guildhall in Barnstaple.
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 Oxford is the official heraldic arms of Oxford, England, used by Oxford City Council.